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
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.
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.
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| 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.
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