Day 57 -- Onwards to Craters of the Moon National Monument

Travel   From: Baker City, OR   To: Craters of the moon NM, ID   Distance: 312 mi (502 km)   Travel time w/brks: 5 hr 47   Distance since start: 11,656 mi (18,743 km)

Wednesday 8/16/2006

We pulled out early in the morning as the sun was rising. The original plan called for going to the Pocatello area in Idaho so that we could subsequently make a day trip up to Craters of the Moon. But on closer examination it turned out that it would be much easier to go directly to Craters of the Moon and then head down from there.

The campground office at Trav-l-Park in Baker City, OR

Sunrise over bales of hay seen on a field in Baker City, OR

After we had left the interstate and headed for Craters of the Moon, I noticed that our fuel mileage was pretty lousy. The truck felt sluggish. The GPS helped tell us what was going on. We were on a tiny but continuous climb almost all the way up. It was very deceptive since we did not see any real hills until we got very close.

Slow and deceptive climb up the desert towards the mountains and Craters of the Moon at 7,000ft

I did not know exactly what we'd find up there, but that is part of the adventure. We saw some interesting rock formations along I-80 in the south during our 2003 trip to the west coast, as we left Yellowstone NP. It would seem like the lava field up here is part of a larger system that probably extends as far south as I-80. The more interesting stuff is up here, though. Today's drive was fairly short (about 300 miles) so we arrived at the National Monument just before noon time. When we got there I saw that they had a small campground (no hookups) with sites for $10/night. That was hard to beat. So we signed up for one of those instead of going down to Pocatello.

Our campsite at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho

We ate a quick lunch and then headed out on the loop road that allowed you to explore the area a bit. We stopped at several scenic spots. It was quite warm and dry outside.

Interesting lava formations

Makes you wonder how a tree can survive in this hostile environment

We hike up Inferno Cone, a mountain of volcanic ash, for a better view

Exhausting to climb a hot black hill on a sunny day in the desert at 7,000ft (2,100m+)
Erik wanted to try to surf the ash with his $1 snow saucer from the thrift shop in Whitehorse, but gave up due to the friction.

Bushes with yellow flowers grow next to the black lava fields

After we had looked around the general loop road for a while the kids wanted to visit the lava caves. These are basically hollow areas in the lava fields that have formed as a result of very large gas bubbles that were trapped in the hot lava. There are several such hikes you can make. Some of them are a bit rough for the everyday hiker, but definitely worth the effort. You need a flash light in some of them because it is really pitch black down there.

A path in the lava field takes you around to the various cave openings

Resting in one of the caves. Do not let the light mislead you. It was dark. I used long time exposure with the camera.

Hot outside yet it is cold enough down in the caves that you can find ice

Some of the caves are small and narrow while others are bigger, like this one

Here comes Erik, flying out of a hole in the ground

After we had hiked around a bit I felt somewhat sore. I made the mistake of hiking the caves with my sandals and ended up scraping them a bit more than I had expected. We went back to our campground and put something on our BBQ. As the sun gradually set, it cooled down nicely. At least one forest fire was burning in the south of Idaho and this made for a very spectacular sunset.

Nobody likes a forest fire, but it sure makes for a nice sunset

And then the moon comes out..

Exhausted from a long day, we went to bed.

Campground   Name: Craters of the Moon NM, ID   Our hookups: None   WiFi: No   GSM service: No   TV Channels: Don't know   Cost: $10/night   Reservation mode: Drop in

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All Pictures (c) 2006 Hamnqvist, Background features the Yukon Sky.