Our trip to Craters Of The Moon
National Monument and Preserve - September 2008...
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On our way home from Yellowstone National Park, we spent a night and most of a day at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho. The campground was closed as they were making improvements to the water system but they did allow dispersed camping in a few selected parking areas throughout the preserve. You can read more about the Preserve here. |
| Just one other rig in this parking area and the view out of our window is superb... |
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We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset out of one window... |
| And the next morning were greeted by a beautiful sunrise and the promise of a nice day out of the other... |
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We started with the morning a walk through the "Devil's Garden". I'm always fascinated by dead trees and this one caught my eye... |
| Much of the sagebrush was still in bloom. These two provided a nice contrast between land and sky... |
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Piles of broken lava are everywhere here in the "Garden"... |
| This piece of the crater wall floated a long way on the lava flow before coming to rest here... |
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Dwarf Mistletoe caused the deformations and additional growth (called "Witches Broom") in the branches of this Limber Pine tree. Previous park administrators poisoned or cut more than 6,000 trees in the preserve in an attempt to eradicate the Dwarf Mistletoe and preserve the Limber Pines. Now, they recognize that both Limber Pine and Dwarf Mistletoe are species native to this land and they leave them alone as part of the natural "Preserve".. |
| Elsewhere, in the Preserve, these lava cinders are being colonized by dwarf buckwheat.... |
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A lava flow in the foreground with a cinder crater in the background. The Preserve is a juxtaposition of textures and colors.... |
| We walked up and had a look inside of a couple of "spatter" cones. Spatter cones are created (obviously, I suppose) by lava being ejected in "spatters". Gradually, cones like these are built up from the spatter.. |
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This one was called "Snow Cone". One can see the snow in the bottom of the crater (along with some lava fall) where the sun never reaches to melt it.... |
| The view out of a spatter cone crater... |
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A landscape of lava. Miles and miles of it. This broken lava is called "Aa" lava (pronounced "Ah Ah").... |
| The more rounded and pillowy lava is called "Pahoehoe". We found ourselves walking around, pointing and saying "Aa" and "Pahoehoe" just like we knew what we were talking about... |
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Some of the patterns and textures were quite beautiful. Like the ripples in this lava frozen in time.... |
| This one looked like a buffalo patty... |
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Life, as it always does, was gaining a toehold even here in the middle of the inhospitable lava flows... |
| We took a walk out on the Caves Trail. We really wanted to see the "Wild Caves"... |
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Sure enough it wasn't long before we came upon one of the "Wild Caves". These are actually "Lava Tubes". The lava crust freezes or solidifies but the lava continues to flow underneath. When the source of the lava stops or is cut off the lava drains away leaving these tubes or caves of varying sizes. This one looked a bit too wild for us so we continued onward... |
| The path to the "Wild Caves" was pretty tame but not quite wide enough for a wheelchair, I wouldn't think.. |
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This rock showed signs of having come from a frothy part of the lava flow... |
| Aha! Another wild cave. And this one looks tame enough for us to enter. So, we did... |
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Looking back, I began to wonder if this was such a good idea. But Jackie yanked me forward... |
| As I looked at where rock had fallen from the ceiling I wondered if Jackie had increased the amount of life insurance I was carrying and my head began to anticipate a rock falling on it... |
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This Wild Cave dweller probably thought I was nuts for not trusting my lovely wife. Note the sharp lava points in the cave ceiling above the pigeons head.... |
| Down the cave bottom a ways I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Stay away from the light!", my mind screamed. Actually, towards the light is where we wanted to go, this time.... |
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The cave roof was pretty interesting with algae growth and various patterns but I could see clearly where large rocks had fallen in the past... |
| Jackie carefully picks her way through the cave in the light of the camera flash... |
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We reached a large pile of rubble and I climbed up it to see if there was an easy way across to the openings on the other side but, to me, it just looked like a leg breaker so I stopped for a breather. Jackie's waiting to see if I can find the way on... |
| Looking back I could see the lights of other intrepid "Wild Cave" explorers. Note how large this Lava Tube actually is.. |
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On our way out of the tube I couldn't help but notice the large cracks in the ceiling... |
| I was quite relieved to be out of the cave and into the wide open spaces again... |
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One of the many interesting lava rocks we saw... |
| We really enjoyed our time at Craters of the Moon but Jade says it's time to go home. We'll look forward to returning and exploring the Preserve further... |
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