Craters of the Moon

Okay, this is a cool place!

Several times over the last 15,000 years, Craters of the Moon has been the site of volcanic events along a long rift. We learned about the types of lava flows ("pahoehoe" is smooth or ropy and forms when the lava is very fluid; "aa" is very jagged and rough, carrying along rocks in its thick flow). Even our campsite is cleared out of the middle of the lava field.

We wandered through cinder gardens, climbed a cinder cone (called "inferno cone") and two splatter cones (one called "snow cone" that always has snow deep inside--this tickled the girls). Even in early June, the sun on the black cinder and lava fields made it hot, and the girls were happy to find shade anywhere they could. We also explored caves or lava tubes. The girls did a great job climbing over the rocks to get into the undeveloped caves. Although the girls loved the exploring, I think their favorite thing was the butterfly that landed on Gloria's hand and hitched a ride for a while. They are very focused on animals!

Gloria became a junior ranger: her 4th junior ranger badge. And we all loved exploring here. It was such a great contrast to Yellowstone's landscape, but it was still another way to talk about volcanic activity. We all want to come back here again.

After a full day exploring and a second night at Craters of the Moon, we hit the road early for a marathon day of driving and are spending the night in Hermiston, Oregon. We took a break to visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, and Gloria said she learned a lot about the wagon trains to Oregon. They had life-size displays of scenes from the trial and lots of videos in addition to the wagon ruts themselves that record the course of the wagon trains.

Tomorrow, we'll head toward Portland to see Kevin, Chris and Carter. Gloria has been asking for days when she will get to see Carter. It can't happen early enough for her.