Arco, Idaho
Houston- we have no problems.
Three ancient lava fields lie across The Great Rift of central Idaho. This landscape, spanning over 300,000 acres, represents some of the world’s best open lava rift cracks. Considered one of the youngest lava fields, Craters of the Moon was created 2,100 years ago when the earths crust split along the great rift and molten lava poured out, creating the cinder cones and lava tubes visible today. The minerals from this event have created rich soil across Idaho, the reason potatoes grow so plentiful across the state.
We were once again, very lucky, and snagged the last open camping spot within The Craters of the Moon National Monument. We set up Carl atop the hardened lava rock and had a nice, quiet night staring up at the Milky Way beneath a blanket of stars. The next day we explored the monument- a strange and unique landscape. We hiked to the top of the Inferno Cone for a view from above, explored some caves formed by the cooled lava, and tried to differentiate Aā Aā lava (ah ah), jagged, from pahoehoe (PA-Hoy-Hoy), smooth, lava rock. It was a unique place with an interesting landscape. It was also hot as hades so we didn’t stay too long 🙂
