Mormon Row
Mormon Row
Site 38, Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID
2011 Trip - Day 71
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Monday, June 27 -Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID - 227.7 miles, 11,884.9 for the trip
As the title says, I'm at the Craters of the Moon, Site 38. If you have never been here, as its name implies, it is a strange place. All the campsites are carved out of black pumice, with rocks the size of basketballs that you can hold in one hand. Most of the sites are fairly small, although a few are large enough for a 36' Class A or large 5th wheel. There is water available (although no hookups, and no dump station). I'm in the back section which is only for small trailers or tents. Very quiet, and I hope it will be dark enough for some star pictures tonight. The skies are clear...
On the way out of the Tetons I made one last stop at Mormon Row - better lighting, but not quite what I was looking for. Oh well, maybe next time...
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Mormon Row |
Mormon Row |
Site 38, Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID |
I'm not sure how long I'll stay here - I do want to see some of the caves, the cinder mounds, etc here in the park so it will probably be two days unless I get tired of not having electricity (or worst, at least for others, a shower!)
Although I usually prefer to wander through our parks on my own, I decided to take the 4:00 Cave Tour with a park ranger. It was interesting, and I did learn quite a bit that I wouldn't have discovered if on my own.
As I said earlier, Craters is quite a place. The "Caves" are actually Lava tubes - the park has hundreds of them although only a few are developed for visitors to tour. We went through Indian Tunnel, a large (30' high, 50' wide and 800' long) lava tube that is large enough for easy tours. The tour stopped near the middle of the tunnel, however a number of us continued to the end where you climb out through a small hole. All in all an interesting experience.
After that I took one of the nature loops & took some photos of gnarled trees, one of my favorite subjects (other than waterfalls). Two of the sections I wanted to see are closed. I looks like they are doing a lot of work on improving the roads & parking areas - there is no access to the Snow Cone or Spatter Cones, or the Tree Mold Trail.
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Inferno Cone |
Lava Field |
Lava Field |
Collapsed Lava Tube |
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Inside Indian Tunnel |
Inside Indian Tunnel |
Inside Indian Tunnel |
Inside Indian Tunnel |
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Inside Indian Tunnel |
Inside Indian Tunnel |
A Tree |
A Tree |
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A Tree |
Pink Flowers Everywhere! |
A Tree |
It's 6:00 & I'm back at the trailer. After dinner I'll set things up to try for some star photos.
Till next time -
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Last Update:
March 20, 2012