Craters of the Moon

This park is 750,000 acres of lava fields, lava tubes ( formed when a flow hardened on the outside but still flowed within- Bridget is standing in one above), as well as cinder cones, spatter cones and inferno cones ( below). It does feel like you're in a place  kind of "out of this world".

 

The large smooth mound behind Bridget and me above is called pahoehoe- it is the legendary "serpent" that squeezed the mountains and caused the eruptions. This smooth, rope-like lava allowed for exploration because it made the fields passable. The stuff in front and behind it is called a'a lava. It is rubble like- very hard, sharp and brittle. It will cut your shoes if you continually walk on it.

Stay on the pahoehoe with those bare feet Mark!

Beautiful delicate flowers, lichen, limber pine and sagebrush still find a way to grow and flourish in this harsh environment. This is one of the few places left where you get a true dark night sky. Like Fort Davis Texas, it would be a great place for an observatory. By 2025 there wont be anyplace left in the eastern US, except maybe Northern Maine, where you can experience a night sky free of light interference.