Craters of the Moon
We had a good day with the hikes at Craters of the Moon. It is a very interesting place - miles of craters, cones and caves created by volcanoes. They are deep in the earth's crust - known collectively as the Great Rift. They are dormant but not extinct so they will erupt again at some point.
At the top of the inferno cone. It is one of the world's largest basaltic cinder cones.
It was a LOOONG steep hike up to the top!
See our blue truck at the bottom? That's how far straight up we went!
Spatter cone
Just crazy - miles of lava flow fragments
Entrance of the cave to see the lava tubes.
We heard a bat - but didn't see any
Going deeper in the cave
This was one of the hot lava tubes.
Heading back out
After 2,000 years - the lava is beginning to be turned back into soil - the trees have gotten a hold in some areas
The lichen does the majority of the job to change rock into dirt.
Each area had a slightly different character
Deep caverns
We chose NOT to crawl into this cave - a bit small!
October 2021