We headed out to Craters of the Moon around 1300 and arrived around 1600, exactly as long as we were expecting to drive. I made a small purchase in the gift shop before we hit the park. Craters of the Moon is a lava field. The last eruption was around 2,000 years ago, and they are predicting another very soon, as has been this fault's pattern, now under Yellowstone. If it wasn't for all the shrubbery and plethora of animals, it would be a vast expanse of wasteland.
But it was not a wasteland. The hardened flow was teeming with life everywhere.
This image is of ice in the Boy Scout Cave. Some of the flow created underground caverns that you (and your trusty flashlight) can wander through. It was a lot like stepping into a dark, air conditioned room. The temperature change was such a welcomed escape from the arid heat topside.
Willow, being Hawaiian, was defining the Hawaiian words that are used to describe the flow of lava. I don't know how to spell them, and I could ask her as she's sitting just behind me, but we're all tired. I might do that later.
The haze you see above the rock is mostly from heat, but there have been a lot of fires in Idaho of late. Some of that fog might be smoke.
After the caves, we went to the campsite and grilled some turkey burgers for dinner. Then we climbed a nearby lava rock hill for this sunset view.
After that (and 110 pictures, I might add), we were back in the car and homeward bound.
On the way, we saw many stars, lots of suicidal bugs, and some very peculiar red lights just outside of Mountain Home (that's a town outside of Boise). Those red lights were actually some of the brush fires that have afflicted this poor state. The air was heavy and the scent of burning wood lingered. The world is thirsty.
While the day had nothing to do with the harvest celebration that is Lughnasadh (unless you count the amazing fertility of the volcanic soil), I can't think of a better way to have spent such a day.
Happy Lughnasadh.
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