Craters of the Moon Indeed!

As I write, we are in a campsite surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges, a vast meadow, a meandering creek.  We are in a National Forest campsite that has a level parking area, a campfire ring, picnic table and gentle breezes through the trees.  It will cost us $6 for the night.   To top it off, we have internet access (a most valuable but unusual commodity for these remote parks). 

Today, we have just come from Craters of the Moon National Monument where we were off the grid for the past few days.  Off the grid and out of this world, is more like it!  What an unusual and intriguing park!  Standing on endless miles of lava fields, Craters stretches over a good-sized chunk of Southeast Idaho.  We got settled in our site amongst the chunks of lava and wasted no time getting on the hiking trails. 

We walked around on a’a (big, chunky and sharp) and pahoehoe (smooth and river like) lava then up a volcano and along the ridge.  We learned about spatter cones where at the end of an eruption cycle when the lava has begun to cool, the still hot magma below plops up to the surface and leaves cones of debris behind.   Hours later we wearily returned to our campsite to settle in for the night.

We again had our share of interesting neighbors who were willing to join us for a beer and we had 8 new acquaintances by night’s end.  Especially fun were our Alaskan neighbors who wore shorts, sandals and tank tops as we added layer upon layer as the sun set! 

The next morning we woke to rain on the roof which quickly turned to flurries which then turned to SNOW!  We thought it was an anomaly but it continued for hours!  We bundled up and ventured out to the visitor center to watch the movie provided (thus my extensive and impressive knowledge on lava!) and ran into our Alaskan friends once again.  With an offer to venture further in the park via their car after lunch, we had our means of afternoon entertainment.

With Jennifer, the mom, and daughter Jessica in front and son Andrew in back with Rob and I, we all headed out for the lava tube caves at the far end of the developed park.  Lava tubes are where the upper surface of a river of lava hardened while lava still flowed beneath leaving sometimes huge tunnels and caves below the surface.  Having two college kids as added entertainment, we wandered through the caves until our hands were numb – even the Alaskans had extra layers on by then!

Back at the campsite, we warmed up until the clouds finally broke and we jumped on our bikes to conquer the 11.5 mile road through the park.  The first 2 miles were a steady and very challenging climb up the crater before the road plunged down the back side.  The final 6 miles were up, down and around and a great way to burn off some energy before we gathered the traditional evening crowd for … well, BEER!

We enjoyed the company of a couple from Boise (Dominique and Dave) and their wine rep friend (Carsten) from San Francisco who showed up with designer Manhattans to share in return (a big treat for me!)  We all parted for dinner with plans to reconvene for the rhubarb crisp I had planned to share.  With the delicious aroma filling the RV, the rain began again and Rob and I enjoyed the finished product alone with everyone holed up in their tents!

This morning we packed up and once again said our goodbyes.  On the way out we climbed Inferno Cone and the tree mold trail where imprints of trees caught in the lava’s path left their imprint.  We found lots of elk tracks in the moist ground along the trail and watched the minimal plant life open up with the fresh dose of rain. 

And we’re back to where this post began.  The campfire is now set for lighting and there’s corn on the cob and burgers on the grill.  The sun is sinking toward the horizon and it’s time to put these hands in some gloves!   Moonshadow, out!