Craters of the Moon

Last week was quite the blitz. I had a long couple of days teaching at the AFB, and by Wednesday afternoon I was ready to hunt for an adventure. It was the National Parks Service's 100th birthday, and the closest national park was Craters of the Moon Naitonal Monument, so off I went.

 Craters of the Moon is a ~2500 year old lava flow in southeastern Idaho. To the north, there are rolling foothills. To the south, the Snake river valley. It was a few hours' drive from Mountain Home, through high farmlands. I pulled into the parking lot as the ranger was locking  the door to the visitors' center, but he assured me that the 7 mile driving loop remains open 24-7, so off I went again!

In several areas, paths take you onto the the lava fields. The flows range from taffy-like, to frozen froth, to gravelley, to the texture of petrified wood. Some places were scattered with sagebrush or knotty pines. I jogged through the Devil's Orchard, sprinted up a cinder cone, and hiked across the glassey flows.  

My last hike was a mile out to tree molds. Can you see the imprint of the bark?