THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE AT CRATERS OF THE MOON

Carol writes:  Southern Idaho was a hotbed of volcanic activity for millions of years, resulting in a hotspot track of ancient volcanic calderas that dot the “smiley face” of the Snake River Plain.

Arco, Idaho was our home for the next week in this very remote part of the country.  We wanted to linger a while as we revisited Craters of the Moon National Monument where we enjoyed a memorable one-night stay during our family year on the road in 1989.

Family Journal Entry from October 1, 1989:

”Wow, what a neat day!  We had a wonderful day exploring Craters of the Moon National Monument… Sometimes the small National Monuments can be as rewarding as the large National Parks and this was one of them.”

A 60-mile-long series of deep fissures known as the Great Rift flows vertically through Craters of the Moon National Monument.  Periodically, over millions of years, this fault zone has served as a pathway for magma deep within the earth to reach the surface.  The most recent eruption 2000 years ago has created a harsh basalt rock landscape destitute of vegetation.

Older lava flows had more diverse vegetation consisting of rabbitbrush in full fall bloom,

and unusual dwarf buckwheat plants spaced precisely according to their water needs.

A hike through the lava fields on a cold, cloudy day along the “Tree Molds Trail” truly felt like a walk on another planet.

On this visit we wanted to spend time inside the lava tubes at Craters of the Moon, so we jumped at the chance to catch one of the ranger-led hikes into these unique formations formed millions of years ago when liquid lava flowed through a tube which had hardened on the outside.  While we waited for the ranger to arrive, we spotted a large gopher snake quite at home in the nooks and crannies of the warm basaltic rock landscape on this cloudless sunny day.

Our ranger-led hike was into Indian Tunnel, named for the mysterious ancient stone circles near the opening of this large lava tube.

The ranger talk in the light-filled 30-ft high opening to the tube was quite informative.  

For me, the boulder-strewn scramble through the tube 

to a small exit hole was a “bit of a challenge.”

Once back up on the trail, we ventured a few hundred feet into another nearby lava tube named Beauty Cave.

Amazingly, we had the lava tube completely to ourselves.

Wow!  Craters of the Moon was certainly a unique representation of the Earth’s geologic diversity.  The  opportunity to explore the lava tubes at a leisurely pace was exactly the experience we had hoped for at Craters of the Moon.

ELKO, NEVADA

We cut our stay in Arco short by a day.  Snow seemed to be hitting the surrounding mountains with greater regularity, so we were anxious to move south to our next stop in Elko, Nevada.

We imagined that there wouldn’t be a lot to do in a small town like Elko, known more for its gambling than anything else.  It turned out that even in a tiny town situated along Interstate 80 in the middle of northern Nevada there was a lot to investigate.

Interstate 80 across the state of Nevada follows the Humboldt River along a section of the famous 2000-mile “California Trail" emigrant route from Missouri to California. 

CALIFORNIA TRAIL

The amazing story of the greatest mass migration in American history was nicely told at the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko.

Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, gold seekers from all over the world swarmed the California Trail.  For these hopeful travelers, parts of the journey were brutal through ceaseless prairies of Native American lands, waterless deserts, and unforgiving mountains.  However, despite stories of the infamous 1846 Donner Party, which had to resort to cannibalism to survive when they got stranded for the winter in the pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains, nothing could stem the tide westward.

Manifest Destiny! was the outcry of the age.  Once the secret of the richness and sweetness of California life had been publicized, western expansion was inevitable.

When we asked locals one morning what else there was to do in the Elko area, we were told to be sure and visit Lamoille Canyon, the so-called “Grand Canyon” of Nevada.  We were told its beauty would astound us.  

Just 30 miles from the flatlands around Elko we came to the entrance to Lamoille Canyon, the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains.  At first glance, we were taken aback to see how green the canyon was, 

until we read that the Ruby Mountains are Nevada’s wettest mountain range.  Helpful informational signs along the canyon road pointed out that this canyon was heavily carved by glacial activity in previous ice ages, resulting in the classic U-shaped cross section.  

A picnic along the banks of a snow-fed stream at the end of the canyon was the perfect lunch spot    

in a magnificent canyon with snow covered canyon walls that towered above fall-colored grasses and blooming rabbitbrush.

Lamoille Canyon was just another example that recommendations from locals rarely disappoint us.

GAZING INTO THE SOUL OF THE EARTH AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, PART II

Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace

Yellowstone National Park

Carol writes:  With the threat of snow on the horizon, we knew we needed to press to see as much of Yellowstone as we could.  Geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots would serve as our entertainment over the next three days as we ventured further into the park before those dark clouds on the horizon delivered the snow that was promised.

White Dome Geyser,

Fountain Paint Pots,

and the absolute glory of Grand Prismatic Spring

definitely delivered some of the highlights of Yellowstone that make it such a unique place on planet Earth.

Our life on the road living full-time in a motorhome is by no means as perfect as my travel blogs would indicate, for our modern big metal box is filled with technology that periodically provides challenges.  This time it was trouble with the Aqua-Hot, our coach’s heating system and hot water provider.  As bad luck would have it, the severity of our problem really became evident the morning we woke up to a dusting of snow in the campground.  We ended up driving 70 miles to tiny Ennis, Montana, to obtain more Aqua-Hot antifreeze solution.  It was our hope that simply topping off the Aqua-Hot antifreeze reservoir would solve our problem… And it did!

Our drive to Ennis took us past the Hebgen Lake area which was ground zero for the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that occurred on August 17, 1959.  The recent snowfall exposed most dramatically where the giant landslide broke off and slid across the canyon through which the Madison River flowed.

In a matter of seconds, 28 campers lost their lives and the canyon was totally blocked, creating a new lake upstream within a matter of days.

 

Gazing at what is now called Earthquake Lake, I stood beside a giant dolomite boulder that was hurled across the canyon in the landslide.  The steely gray skies above a dusting of snow painted a somber picture of the horrific events that happened at Hebgen Lake 58 years ago.

As often happens in the mountains after a dusting of snow, the next day’s skies were clear and blue, so we headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs for a visit that was sure to reawaken unforgettable memories of our family visit in 1989…   

September 21, 1989 Family Journal Entry: 

“… we had about an hour and a half of enjoyment watching the elk.  We observed the bull warn off other bulls and go from one female to another to get some action.  None of the females were interested and the bull would let off a huge bellow every time he was rejected.  I guess the females had a headache.  Jason said he hoped he wouldn’t have so much trouble getting a girlfriend.”

On another September day 28 years later, as we pulled into Mammoth Hot Springs, we were delighted to discover that the elk had once again taken over the village.  The bulls were bugling and were as fascinating and magnificent as ever!

Park rangers were doing a heroic job of protecting the bull, along with his harem of ladies, from the tourists.  Thanks to great telescopic sights on the cameras of today, we were able to take advantage of plenty of opportunities for superior pics of the bull

on the greens of the historic Army housing.

However, it was the constantly changing sculpture of the travertine-depositing hot springs that was the main event at Mammoth Hot Springs.

A complex series of boardwalks led all around Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces.  The view of the village and surrounding mountains from above was like a slice of Shangri-La.

Yet, the close-up lacework of crystal formation was likewise entrancing.

Minerva Terraces was certainly thought-provoking…

The heat-loving bacteria and algae at Orange Spring Mound revealed to us a canvas of living color.

The sensational drive back from Mammoth Hot Springs was filled with another bison sighting along the road,

in a snowy landscape that told the story of recovery from Yellowstone’s devastating 1988 fire that burned 36% of the park’s acreage.

We had planned our final stop of the day at the Mud Volcano Area.  A relatively steep climb to the top of the boardwalk brought us to Churning Caldron where we saw nonstop explosive action like nothing we had ever seen before.

To date, we had been in Yellowstone for almost 2 weeks; yet, in all that time we had not seen the elusive grizzly bear.  At the conclusion of our last few hours in the park, a large animal jam teeming with photographers and tripods 

suggested we might want to pull over and see what this gathering was all about.

Oh, my goodness!  Across the river was a grizzly chowing down on an elk carcass! 

That grizzly sighting was plainly animal life at its rawest in Yellowstone.  (In the future, we might want to think about a small portable tripod…) 

This visit to Yellowstone had certainly reawakened sweet memories of a family visit to Yellowstone a long time ago.  We were reassured to note that the Park Service has indeed been a good steward of this precious world marvel and has done its best to reconcile the desires of humans with the needs of animals.  

Even though we had to deal with late-summer snows, we were enthralled with the beauty of Yellowstone through the winter lens of our camera.  We were ever grateful that our visit had dovetailed nicely with the end of the tourist season and the bugling of the elk.