Night hike to the top of a volcano before sunrise!
The Piton de la Fournaise, "Peak of the Furnace", is a shield volcano on the eastern side of the French island La Réunion, in the Indian ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
The road to get to the volcano is particularly scenic, when not hidden in dense fog...
The temperatures can get quite extreme in this lunar landscape, so we decided to start the hike early to avoid the heat. We camped at the bottom of the volcano. The night was cold and short: we started hiking at 3am to get to the top before sunrise!
It was a tricky hike in the dark: unstable and sharp lava rocks slipped under our feet. But it was magical to hike in complete darkness, just seeing other hikers’ headlamps in the distance.
At the top, a mountain of rewards: a magnificent sunrise, drone shots and a snack.
On our way back we discovered the incredible landscapes that were hidden by the night.
After 5 hours of hiking we were able to discover the amazing panorama from the outside of the caldeira. In the middle stands the Formica Leo, a "tiny" crater formed in 1753. The piton de la fournaise is right behind. Yes, we were up there just a couple of hours earlier!
For the next episode I am taking you INSIDE the volcano! This was the entrance, will you come with me?
Thank you Marie for the pictures you took of me!
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