Today we drove (1.5 hrs. away) to the
Craters of the Moon National Monument. This place completely blew us both away (
pun intended). The lava is not from volcanoes, but from a massive 52-mile fissure and mostly the lava oozed up. When gases built up, there were explosions that made cinder cones. This place is totally fascinating! It was difficult to choose pictures for the blog, and I might have gone overboard, but here they are. Enlarge the pictures for better views.
First thing we learned was that there are different kinds of lava: Pahoehoe, A-a, and Block. Mostly what we saw was Pahoehoe and A-a. (Hawaiian words)
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| The Pioneer Range in the background. |
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| The Pioneer Range in the background. |
On our next stop, we climbed up to the top of a cinder cone; it was steep but not bad. The view was spectacular but alas, there was a big wind and some rain when we got up there. Didn't stay long. There was one lone tree growing up there.
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| Enlarge this one and you can see our blue Silverado in the parking log. |
Next we visited some spatter cones, what's left of them after years of uncontrolled access. Very interesting! Molten rock takes on some amazing shapes.
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| Looking down into the cone; what's that white stuff down there? |
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| It's ice! |
A lot of the lava here is called "Blue Dragon" because there is a very thin blue coating on it. It really shined in the sun. Years ago the scientists thought it was caused by titanium, but after modern testing shows there isn't any titanium in it. They are still studying this blue layer.
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| See the blue? |
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A view of one part of the fissure.
When this one "blew" it made the large cinder cone to the left; only the base of it is in the picture. |
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| The edge of the lava flow. |
The final stop of our day was the lava tube caves area, and it was the highlight of our day. The Indian Tunnel is the biggest lava tube open to the public. There are several collapses of the roof of the tunnel, which is how you get in and out.
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| Enlarge this so you can see the words and the map. |
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| Going down..... |
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| There was rocks scrambling involved... |
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Enlarge this, and you get a sense of how BIG it is.....
Imagine this thing filled with molten lava!
(this is the part where our flashlights came in handy) |
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| Climbing out the other end.... |
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| Exit hole. |
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| Does this look like rock to you? It is. |
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| One of the roof collapses of the Indian Tunnel. |
Yes, we really enjoyed tromping around Crater of the Moon, so much to see that's out-of-the-ordinary for most of us. Glad you made it into the lava tube AND got the heck out, too! Great photos.
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