Climbing Fire Moutain! Caribbean Island: Martinique City: St. Pierre February 28, 2000 by Wayne & Karen Brown

We drove toward Mont Pele but could not see the top because clouds covered it like a huge, fluffy, white hat. At 2,600 feet above sea level, the road ended and the trail began. Here we started our climb to the top of Mt. Pele, 4,470 feet above the Caribbean Sea. The trail was well marked and led almost straight up the side of the mountain. We didn't need special climbing equipment because the trail was cut into the side of Mont Pele. In many places, steps had been cut into the solid volcanic rock. There were no trees on this mountain. Ferns and grasses grew low to the ground.

Within about 20 minutes we had climbed up into the clouds. As we climbed higher and higher. Sometimes we could see the sun's dull glow through the clouds above us. Other times the clouds were so thick that the glow of the sun disappeared. At almost 4,000 feet the trail leveled off. We had come to the rim of a gigantic caldera! We looked down but couldn't see the bottom because of the thick clouds. The winds pushed the clouds quickly by us so it looked like we were flying through the clouds while standing still! Then, suddenly the clouds thinned enough so we could see the huge caldera.

Unlike the Pitons in St. Lucia, where the caldera is a big crater, Mont Pele's caldera has a huge cone that rises up in the middle into the clouds. Strangely, after the volcano erupted in 1902 the mountain grew taller than before the eruption because of an enormous volcanic plug sticking out of the center of the caldera!

We climbed down the rim about 300 feet into the caldera looking for signs of current volcanic activity. We saw none - no fire, no bubbling hot springs and no sulfurous odor. This volcano appears to be extinct. On the floor of the caldera we did see huge tree ferns, taller than we are, growing in the cool, still, dampness. We had just reached the floor of the caldera when the trail started going up to the top of the volcanic plug. This trail seemed even steeper than the trail at the start of our climb. Rain started to sprinkle, which made the trail slippery.

Finally, 2-1/2 hours after the start of our climb, we reached the top. We had hoped to show you what St. Pierre looked like from the top of Mont Pele, but we were still surrounded by clouds! The air temperature had dropped from 79ºF in St. Pierre to 72ºF at the peak. The wind rushing by made the temperature seem even colder. We sat down and had a lunch of chocolate croissants and water before starting the long climb back down. Tomorrow, join us to see how volcanoes can be deadly to people as we explore the ruins of the city of St. Pierre and the legend of Fire Mountain.

The cliffs here are called Chest of the Dead. This is where the Caribs jumped to their deaths rather than be captured by the French.

St. Pierre, Martinique. The cloud covered peak in the background is Mont Pele.

As we climb up the volcano the trail is well marked with signs or colored paint on the rocks.

The sides of Mont Pele's caldera are about 300 feet above the floor of the caldera.

As we climb down into the caldera the trail passes by these huge ferns taller than we are!

On the sides of Mt. Pele we find house-sized boulders that were shot out of the volcano. We think you would probably get a huge headache if you got whacked by one of these!