One minute we were admiring the rich green crops, then the next minute the view out the motor home window turned to desolate black scenery.
It does look like we have arrived in another part of the universe, but we are still in Idaho. We just arrived at our stop for the day--Craters of the Moon National Monument. We are here to celebrate all things volcanic, as this desolate black field is a result of a giant lava flow. We drove the loop road inside the national monument that allows visitors to stop at some of the park's best view points. For example, we walked out to the cinder cone fragments. These are thought to be the hardened neck of one of the many volcanoes in this park. It's hard to tell how big they are, until you see Mark standing among them in the picture below.
We got some good exercise today, including walking up this inferno cone. It was only a quarter mile to the top, but it felt steep.
From up there, we could see the black lava fields that surround us for many miles.
We also walked to the top of this spatter cone. This is a miniature volcano, formed when blobs of molten lava were lobbed into the air. These cones were formed over 2,000 years ago.
As we walked in different parts of the park, we see that we have once again wandered into more of God's wonders. How else can you explain this lava that hardened into these rope-like structures?
Before today, we thought that all lava was black. But in several areas of the park we found blue lava. A stop back at the ranger station explained that the speed of the hardening process can result in this blue crystal forming on top.
Lava is a fascinating substance that can be almost lacy in texture.
Even in this desolate blackened ground, some of the toughest plants thrive. They enjoyed a nice bloom of dwarf buckwheat flowers at Craters of the Moon this summer.
We enjoyed visiting the topographical wonders of this national monument, but Mark was most interested in wandering in the wonders underground. We have done some wild caving in other parts of the country, and Craters of the Moon has some lava tubes to explore as well. You have to figure that if the sign says, "Beware of Hazards" and "Proceed with Caution" that Mark is going in. You also have to figure that Denisa will have to follow him to keep him out of trouble.
We had to get a permit to go into the caves. That just means that we had to listen to the ranger's talk about the white nose syndrome that is decimating bat populations that live in caves like this. It's spreading across the United States at an alarming rate, and we've heard this speech before. Denisa is happy to say that we didn't see any bats today.
Some of the caves had huge openings that were as big as ball rooms.
While others were not tall enough to allow us to stand up. Mark will be wearing the bruise on the top of his head for a while from this low ceiling.
The less-visited caves have small openings that require crawling to enter.
Some of the openings are very, very small. These are the darkest and the coldest of the tunnels. If we turned off our flashlights, we could get a real feeling of total darkness, and the temperature dropped 30 degrees just inside the small opening.
The most visited cave is Indian Tunnel. It even has a ladder to help get through the over-sized opening. Collapses in the ceiling have made sky lights, so flashlights aren't even needed here. Because it's so easy, many people go through this tunnel. However, only Mark climbed to the top of the rock piles made when the ceiling collapsed.
The blue skies and the sky lights made for some interesting pictures today, as Mark scrambled to the top of another rock pile.
We wore old jeans and shirts today, knowing that hanging out in these tunnels can be dirty work. But it's the kind of work that Mark loves.
We took one more picture toward of the end of the tunnel. Visitors can exit out the way they entered, or they can walk the entire 800 feet to the end of this tunnel. You would think that the big hole would be a good place for people to exit.
But the exit point is actually through a tiny hole. You can just see Mark emerging from the exit in the middle of the picture below.
It's a 1.5-mile walk from the car and back to get to this section of the park with the best tunnels. We appreciated the paved trail through this sea of lava, because walking through its uneven and sharp surfaces can be treacherous--about as treacherous as exploring lava tubes.
We had a fun day of exploring another of God's unusual wonders above and below the ground today. Then we hooked the car back up to the motor home, and continued our trip down the road to our next destination in Idaho Falls.
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