(This post was written yesterday, but I wasn't able to finish uploading pictures and editing until today)
Molten lava, spatter cones, vast rock surfaces, craters… Geologist Harold T. Stearns once described Craters of the Moon, a little-known National Monument and Preserve, as “The surface of the moon as seen through a telescope…the dark craters and cold lava nearly destitute of vegetation.” Thus, this peculiar land in rural Idaho earned the name Craters of the Moon and proved to be an extremely interesting place for our family to spend a few days .
Driving into the National Monument on Thursday night, we were greeted by jagged outcroppings of a black rock displaying hints of red. After locating an empty campsite in the small park, we drove the 7-mile scenic route through massive rock hills, hauntingly twisted trees, lava tubes and scraggly brush attempting to grow in the rough environment.
It's theorized this bizarre landscape was formed somewhere around 2,000 years ago when a series of deep fissures, collectively known as the Great Rift, last overflowed their walls and the magma flowed outward hardening into what we see today. Lava tubes, caves, splatter cones and large craters were formed. Popular theory also suggests this area will once again explode lava from the ground sometime in the next 2 million years. Personally, I believe mankind will not be around long enough to find out, and, instead, Jesus will have returned to establish the New Earth by then, but it was certainly interesting to consider that we were walking miles above boiling lava near the Earth's core that one day could again make its grand appearance and change the landscape of Craters of the Moon. (Fun fact: In 1969, NASA’s Apollo Astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, Eugene Cernan, and Joe Engle were actually sent to Craters of the Moon to learn basic volcanic geology to prepare for their moon missions.) To check out more information on Craters of the Moon, click here
After driving the loop through the preserve, we hiked to the top of Inferno Cone, a massive cinder hill overlooking the line of cinder cones that lined the Great Rift. It's an intense uphill hike, and just when you think you’ve reached the top, it becomes obvious that you’ve only reached a plateau and have another steep stretch to reach the real summit. Not only was the climb steep, but the high-altitude affected us…especially when Maleah and I made the not-so-smart decision to run up the final stretch. Learn from our mistake and don’t try that!
After recovering from Inferno, we enjoyed one final short hike around Devil’s Orchard, so named 100-years-ago by a minister who declared that particular area “an orchard fit for the devil himself.” Featuring “island-like lava fragments in a sea of cinders,” twisted trees, and minimal brush, it was certainly a very eerie orchard.
Friday was spent mostly just chilling at the campsite. In one corner of our site, was a gnarled tree that proved perfect for hanging hammocks and clotheslines. On Friday morning, we hung two hammocks which quickly became three hammocks and a single clothesline. Shortly after that, sibling number four decided they wanted to hang their hammock, so we readjusted and found space in that one tree. After a short, but intense hike up a nearby hill, Dad decided he wanted to nap in his and Mom’s double hammock…so we rearranged again and found room for a double hammock. By the time we packed up late last night…that single tree featured four single hammocks, a double hammock and two clotheslines! It had been a puzzling, but fruitful game of musical hammocks in order to fit that many in. We truly created a “family tree!”
Friday night we went to the Amphitheater for an amusing lunar presentation by a Crator ranger. It wasn’t meant to be amusing, but when the whole presentation was about how the moon was formed in a obviously impossible (and non-Biblical) manner via an explosion between an ancient planet named Thea and the planet that is now known as Earth, and when every few minutes the Ranger lead the audience in saying “Thank you moon” … it became quite humorous. All in all, the general consensus in our family was that the actual presentation wasn’t worth attending and the time better spent sleeping. The only good part of it was when we had the opportunity to look through a high-powered telescope at the Moon and Saturn, which was a neat experience.
On Saturday we awoke to rain and had to delay our plans to explore the lava caves until mid-morning, however they were well worth the wait! The first cave open to the public is Dewdrop Cave. Due to it's collapses, it’s more like a cavern now. We enjoyed climbing down into it as a great introduction to caving for the little boys, especially Levi who was anxious about the darkness and water dripping from the top.
After climbing back out of Dewdrop, we proceeded to Indian Tunnel, named for the large, potentially ceremonial, stone rings left behind by the ancient Shoshone Indians. The cave tunnel is 800-feet-long, but the public entrance is about 200-feet from the beginning. Visitors can hike and scramble through the remaining 600-feet to hoist themselves out of a small exit hole opening onto a vast lava plain. There are post markers to mark the way from the exit back across the lava rock to the concrete path near the entrance. Our first trip through the cave took and across the plain took about 40 minutes, with many stops to observe and take pictures. We returned again in the evening, minus Mom, and made the trip through the cave and across the plain in a speedy 12-minutes. By this time, both little boys were much more confident scrambling over the rock piles where the roof had caved-in and were able to independently find sturdy footing for the most part.
For a short video with more pictures of our caving adventures, click here
Our next stop was North Crater Trail, a 1.8-mile trail that leads to the vent of North Crater and exits in the Spatter Cones area. This hike was made by everyone except Mom who drove the RV around to the parking lot to pick us up. Unbeknownst to anyone except Dad, who suggested the hike, this trail is the most strenuous path in the park, and it was intense! This trail goes up and down steep mountainous hills the entire time. The path is not paved, but raher, packed dirt, cinder rocks, lava rocks, and a few log steps. There were often steep drop-offs and, unnerving to Mom, no cell reception. Not knowing how intense of a hike it was, she expected us back sooner. When we didn’t show up, she had no way of knowing if we had gotten lost or someone was hurt. Plus, we hadn’t taken any water with. Added to this, we were in the middle of nowhere. We’d climb a hill and all that was to be seen was another hill in front of us, and several surrounding us. There were no roads to be seen, no other hikers, nothing. All we knew was that the trail would eventually come out in the Spatter Cones. Needless to say, it was an adventure, and we were exhausted by the time we finally made it to where Mom was waiting. (Click on arrow on right side of picture to scroll more shots.)
Saturday night, we went to another presentation in the Craters Amphitheater, this time about bats. This one proved to be very engaging and well worth the time spent. The speaker, a bat biologist, spoke about the misinformation and myths surrounding these little mammals, along with why bats are incredibly important to the environment for several reasons. He also addressed the challenges facing bats, such as White-Nose Syndrome, a fungus that is rapidly killing bats all across the nation. At the end of the presentation, he turned on a device that translated the bat echolocation sounds around us so that our human ears could hear them. It was really neat hearing the sounds of the bats that were swooping around our heads. Definitely worth missing out on a couple hours of sleep.
A few more random pictures from our time at Craters!
Thus ended our adventures on the ‘moon’ in Idaho. All in all, the park was well worth spending a few days at to explore its haunting beauty. If you get the chance to visit this out-in- the-middle-of-nowhere destination, do it! It's the only place like it in the US for sure, and maybe beyond.
Now it’s time to turn our attention back to Montana…this time Glacier National Park. Kram-A-Lot Inn is currently lumbering her way down the road while her occupants play games, do school, listen to music and enjoy the scenery (and in my case, write this blog). Highway 93 out of Craters of the Moon all the way to Salmon, ID is a beautiful drive along a river, with lots of grassy hills, valleys and red rock walls. Our goal is to eventually reach Glacier, but we're probably going to take our time and explore the places between here and there for a few days.
Until next time, God bless
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