[Rockhounds] The Most Beautiful Volcanoes In The World

[Axel Emmermann]

Hi Kreigh,

That was long before any whispers of digital cameras were to be heard.
A had a pocket camera back then, the Olympus Trip. No batteries needed,
always good photos. Amazingly sturdy and trustworthy little thing.
Unfortunately I had to change film almost at the top of Mnt. Etna. The wind
and ongoing eruption blew very sharp grained ash into the mechanism. All the
photos I took after that show signs of scraping.
I bought some slides at the bus station on the way down. I must still have
them somewhere (among 30 boxes of 50 slides each).

The 'unforgettable' impression that lingers in my mind is that of an evening
with my wife (since 1 year) in Taormina, an ancient coastal town. We went
dining in a very famous restaurant that was located in one of the old
"palazzos". Dining out on the terrace was even more expensive but for a good
reason. Breathtaking view before and after dark fall.
We were facing the volcano from were we sat. I estimate the distance between
us and the volcano about 25 to 30 km.
To the left was a  rather steep slope running down to the sea. It was
covered with cactuses and agave-like plants. All the cactuses were blooming.
To our right was the palazzo in a beautiful park. But when it got dark... Oh
boy!
Mnt Etna was spewing fountains of thin, very fluid lava up to 400 m high.
Even from that distance it was still awesome.
When night fell the town and nature got quieter and after a while we noticed
that we could actually hear the volcano's rhythmic "whoosh... Whoosh". The
whooshes were out of sync with the pulsing fountains due to the distance (in
the movies they always seem to be in sync, no matter how far they are ;-))).
We had been up the mountain the day before. The guide who was up there with
us told us the next day that the path that we had taken was now completely
covered with volcanic bombs, some the size of a Volkswagen.
I wish I could remember the restaurant's name :-(

Our visit to the East slope of the mountain had to be postponed for a week
until Etna quieted down a little.

Cheers
Axel

 


> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com 
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] Namens Kreigh 
> Tomaszewski
> Verzonden: maandag 24 maart 2008 3:28
> Aan: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors
> Onderwerp: Re: [Rockhounds] The Most Beautiful Volcanoes In The World
> 
> Axel,
> 
> I think you have solved the mystery. I found several images 
> online from that eruption that were close enough to convince me. 
> 
> I have no doubts to your memory; seeing an erupting volcano 
> is an unforgettable experience. 
> 
> I just hope you were not too awe struck to take pictures to share.
> 
> Kreigh
> 
> 
> 
> Axel Emmermann wrote:
> > 
> > I think it may be a case of mistaken identity.
> > This photo of "Yellowstone Volcano" looks VERY much like the Bocca 
> > Nuova crater of Mount Etna on Sicily, Italy.
> > I distinctly remember this view from the time I was there 
> (1984) and 
> > there was a violent eruption ongoing. I stood where this 
> picture was 
> > taken, I'm pretty sure of that. Not entirely sure but 
> pretty sure ;-) 
> > It looks different on more recent photos but so does Mnt 
> > Kilimanjaro... The snow 's gone...
> > 
> > Cheers
> > Axel
> > 
> > > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> > > Van: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
> > > [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] Namens J 
> Bryan Kramer
> > > Verzonden: zaterdag 22 maart 2008 23:50
> > > Aan: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> > > collectors
> > > Onderwerp: Re: [Rockhounds] The Most Beautiful Volcanoes In The 
> > > World
> > >
> > > There is no active volcano in Yellowstone so where that 
> image came 
> > > from is a mystery. I'm surprised one of the Kamchachka 
> volcanoes did 
> > > not make the list, there are a lot of them and some are active. 
> > > Kluchevskoy for example looks rather nice too me:
> > >
> > > <http://www.shpilenok.com/reserves/kamchatka/pages/KM_L_M_001.htm>
> > >
> > > BK
> > >
> > > On Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 6:27 PM, <betdav97 at aol.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Kreigh,
> > > >   Thanks for posting the link and nice images. But where is the 
> > > > Yellowstone Volcano?
> > > > When I Googled it, all I got was the usual stuff from 
> the USGS and 
> > > > info about it being a super volcano, which Discovery 
> Channel has 
> > > > alerted us all to by now.
> > > > The image on
> > > > Pravda, is really impressive.
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Dave
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Kreigh Tomaszewski <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net>
> > > > To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem
> > > collectors
> > > > <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> > > > Sent: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 3:40 pm
> > > > Subject: [Rockhounds] The Most Beautiful Volcanoes In The World
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Pravda is running a photo set of the ten most beautiful
> > > volcanoes in
> > > > the world.
> > > >
> > > >    http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/volcano-2399
> > > >
> 
> --
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