Any active volcanoes you can ride to the top of?

[twobob]

Any experience of riding to the top of active volcanoes people ? and how close can you get without walking ?
Have had a long fascination but hate climbing.
And as I've evolved into a higher primate ( homo throttleiticus ), would like to take the easy way.

[tommysmithfromleeds]

Hey twobob. Last year the I watched an episode of Top Gear where one of the presenters drove to the top of Eyjafjallajokull; unfortunately the volcano in question promptly erupted afterwards so not sure if its ok to ride.

In terms of suitable volcanoes; you would need one formed by lava. This is where an eruption occurs in a crack on the Earth's surface causing hot magma to leak. Over time the magma cools to form a soft slope that forms the volcano. With a set of hard rubber compound tyres designed for gravel/sand you should be able to get close to the summit of one, although you would have to make a cooling system for each tyre as the heat would cause them to melt.

To find an active one may be tricky though, as most are found on the seabed. I have heard of a place in Eritrea called the 'Devil's Pit' that might be interesting to ride to; it is essential a large hole in the ground with magma spewing out of the bottom.

Good luck!

[twobob]

I wasn't thinking so hardcore tommy , but I'll keep the mods in mind. More along the lines of feeling the rumble, smelling the sulphur etc. ( truth is I'm a wimp, I think with a bike I might have slight hope of out running an outburst )

[tommysmithfromleeds]

Haha, you never know, it would make fantatsic viewing on youtube.

[twobob]

hehe Yeah ....This is where the "big bike boys" enter the conversation, what could out run a volcano

[Tim Cullis]

Think in term of outrunning what used to be described as a nuée ardente but nowadays are called pyroclastic flows.

Lots of seriously long dead volcanoes in Morocco, you can ride to the bottom of the caldera of one of them.

[Scrabblebiker]

Volcan Masaya in Nicaragua (near Granada) is considered a "drive up" volcano. I'm not sure it meets your definition of "active" but it does emit sulfur fumes which will limit your stay. I managed to handle it for about 30 minutes before having to go on a hike around some inactive craters away from the toxic one. There's a paved road leading to a parking lot right beside the crater's edge. A short walk up a bunch of steps takes you to a viewpoint where you can look into the crater. Depending on the wind you may or may not be able to see deep into the crater because of the sulfur fumes. They charged me $5US to ride the motorcycle to the crater.


...Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com

[Warthog]

How about Mount Etna, or Vesuvius. Dormant, so active-ish.

Google maps suggests that there are tracks/roads a fair way up the slopes.

[MedMan]

I am hoping to ride to (near) the summit of Mt Etna on my forthcoming journey to Italy (if it's not TOO active)! and to take lunch on Stromboli.

[Tony P]

I walked to the top/brim of the volcano on the island of Vulcano (what else?) just north of Sicily.
Although it has not erupted since 1890 but there is steam and sulphur fumes blowing out of cracks all the time.

I am sure any reasonable lighter 'off road' bike could be ridden to the top - subject to local laws!

[backofbeyond]

You can't quite drive / ride all the way to the top of Vesuvius but you can get pretty near. From the car park it's about 15mins walk to the rim.

All very sanitised as it's set up for day trip tourists (as we were when we went ) but there's enough smoke and sulphur to make you aware that buying property in Naples might be a chancy proposition .

[tommysmithfromleeds]

Following my recent post about a big hole with lava in it somewhere on the Horn of Africa;

To clarify, Erta Ale is a Lava Lake in the Afar region of Ethiopia, and as stated it is a big hole filled with lava.

There is also 'The Gates of Hell' in Derweze, Turkmesitan.

[farqhuar]

I have driven right up to the caldera and lava flow of Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii.