Fire on the Mountain A first hand experience with the natural surroundings of this region’s visible and notorious landmark, Mt. Vesuvio

The planning started late last week at work, where, due to a lack thereof, I found myself with a lot of free time to set up an excursion up the side of the only volcano in western europe. Finding information on the National Park of Vesuvius was easy enough…we easily determined that the park was indeed centered on the mountain itself and encompassed most of the surrounding townships…after two weeks in Italy, the image conjured was not one of solitary enjoyment but of a much inhabited and tourist ravaged landscape….despite this, I was certain that there would be found a way up the volcano that would not involve too many of these distractions….so the internet was scoured, and there was found a wonderful website that gave information on the 9 official trails that found their way through the park (http://www.vesuviopark.it/grancono/index.asp#parco); each with distinct characteristics, lengths, difficulties…..upon careful inspection, I decided the best route to take would be an old route which was used in the ‘20s and ‘30s by two brothers in their trips up the mountain which was now converted as park trail no. 6, “La Strada Matrone” (http://www.vesuviopark.it/turismo/matrone.htm). This one would offer the best views of the surrounding areas, and with the high difficulty and long round trip (7hrs!) would most likely deter many of the tourists.

The Pre-Hike Hike
The head of the trail was located just north of the town of Trecase (information gleaned from the park’s website), and it didn’t seem like too much of a task to make it there from the local train station. Then again, we weren’t referring ourselves to a topographical map, and we hadn’t quite grasped the distance from the station nor the change in elevation from the sea to the trailhead. So, it took the better part of two hours to walk through the towns at the foot of Vesuvio, up through the tourist resorts and villas until we finally reached the gate of the park; which was locked….seemingly a common occurance, though, due to the well worn path around the gate and through a hole in the barbed wire fence, and finally onto La Strada Matrone. This may have turned out to be some of our best luck because the trail was nearly empty all day (we only saw two other people walking that day)…..The four of us, (Myself, Manal, our co-worker Kelly and her friend from London, Richard) started out on the journey up the mountain after resting 5 minutes from the journey from the train line….

The Long and Winding Road
I have the slightest memory of recollection from this time. I recall chasing lizards most of the walk up through the pine forests at the foot of the mountain. They were too fast. I spent much intellectual effort to determine how I could outsmart them, because I would obviously not be able to beat them on speed. I concluded that I was a poor hunter, or rather, had been shopping too long to instinctually hunt my prey. The best solution to the problem I found, with all my superior human intellect, and with nearly two hours of contemplation of the task at hand was to throw my shirt at them, hoping that like a bird in a cage, the lizard, with my shirt draped over its head and eyes, would think it was nighttime allowing me to capture it. This plan never panned out, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. We ate ham sandwiches, already dead, cooked and sliced to our preference. Our shade was sparse, the red dust of the giant loomed, and for the first time I realized how ridiculous a desire it was to climb knowingly towards and struggle up to the lip of a mouth that had smothered and destroyed who knows how many thousands throughout history…..I sat before this living genesis, humbled by its mass and in the waning cool provided by its prehistoric life, and I held it in reverence.

A Race to the Top
The importance of draping meaning in meaningless rhetoric can never be overestimated. However I often find this statement itself a problem, as I know some others may. Even now I am waging a battle with myself and the phrase ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire’…but why?....yes, I remember…..
As the journey contines up Vesuvio, we are now out of the sparse shade of our recent respite, much farther removed from the fragrent peace of the wooded foothills, and fully engulfed in the heat of the midday sun, which is now magnified from the fiery lava rock below foot, itself a loose collection of pebbles that makes it difficult to find your footing and ascend the remaining kilometers….Motivation comes from the surroundings though, in bursts of the high mountain winds and spectacular unobstructed views of the Mediterranian. With our legs pumping we make it up to the final piece of well defined trail before we must find our final ascent to the crater on a obscured footpath, maybe out of regular service for quite some time. Climbing, winding round the side of the cone, following the remnants of a fence bounding the trail on the right, then on the left, we’re offered exhilirating heat, wind and the adrenaline of having climbed this fantasy.
At one point its necessary to traverse a washed out span of the mountainside; the accumulated dust and pebbles make this place very susceptible to erosion. We climb up, then around, pausing in the middle of the washout to admire the very vacant trough which we’ve for that moment decided to settle in….then its around one more bend and there is the cone…..from our first glimpse we can only see the hoard of tourists who took the bus up the opposite side of the mountain, having shaded themselves in the comfort of their vehicles as they ascended, missing out partially, I would say, on the splendor of this mountain……..at a second glance, developing into a glimpse of wonder, we ourselves see the massive crater that leads downward, some 600 meters into the center of the mountain…..
…..but, this big hole in the ground is not what I came for, rather I came for the journey up the face of the legendary volcano….so, I took a look for one last time at those surroundings that had been made so familiar during the last 5 hours, I grabbed myself a glowing piece of the crag, and I took the long, relaxing journey back down the other side…….  ¶ 10:31