Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho - This morning, when we woke in West Yellowstone, Montana, the water pipes in the campground were frozen. That was our true signal to hit the road. Brother Steve had everyone else loaded in his van for what was to be a whole-day driving tour of the park, lunch and dinner included, as we waved goodbye to our family. We headed west on a zig-zaggy route - south on 20 to Rexburg, Idaho; then west on 33 to 26/93, driving through the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab. In other words - the U.S. Government Installation that has manufactured the most nuclear reactors in the world. You are not allowed to stop on this road. Basically, you don't even slow down. You have a sneaking suspicion that you are being watched, your license plate numbers have been run through a computer in Washington, DC, and they know where you live and the last activity on your credit card. My friend from Idaho Falls once told me this is the best place in America to have car trouble. The second you stop, a military helicopter is dispatched to your location and will reach you within minutes. If you need gas, they have gas. If you need water for your radiator, they have water. Etc. Of course, they also have guns, just in case you are not an Accidental Tourist.

Years ago we had stopped for a few hours at Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve. If you happen to have a degree in Geology (and in case you don't know, DT is the proud earner of said degree from Duck U) this park is like being in a candy store. You have your volcanoes, lava flows, calderas, lava tubes, Aa lava, Pahoehoe lava and block lava. Cinder Cones. Caves. Spatter Cones. Tree Molds. Oh, do try to calm yourselves from all this excitement! There is also a campground here, so we drove in to see if there was an opening. No reservations are accepted, you can stay 14 days, and there is no power or water - just dry-camping. There are 54 campsites and 4 were taken! We found a nice campsite for the night. DT went for a run, and then we went for a hike. (Is something wrong with that last sentence?)  Here are photos of our driving and hiking today.

Goldie, in our campsite


Inside a volcanic crater


Vista in Craters of the Moon National Monument


Lava flow


Scenic Craters of the Moon


Wildflowers growing in the lava


DT, in a cave (okay, technically, a lava tube)

 
Gnarly Dudes - a study of trees

We didn't get back to our camper until well after 6 o'clock. What a wonderful afternoon, and what beautiful weather. I did wear my sweatshirt later in the afternoon, but we spent most of the day in tee-shirts - what a nice change from Yellowstone's snow! The park was not very crowded, but we did meet a few fellow campers and tourists from Oklahoma, Arizona, Germany, Taiwan and Maryland. When we did arrive back, we sat outside enjoying a cocktail and the sun. The campground had really filled-up. We were visited by two begging chipmunks.

Our pet

We had such a nice dinner - considering we are "roughing it". I made foccacia bread (by hand, folks, no machine!), steamed rice, roasted chicken breasts and a tossed salad. Not bad!

RV Park: Craters of the Moon National Monument - site 45, long pull-through.