|
A hot spot in the crust of the earth where the molten interior erupted,
and oozed onto the surface- between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago. "Craters
of the Moon" is a barren area of lava flows, cinder cones (mini volcanoes),
and volcanic tubes. This is an arid region, and the meager rainfall is
quickly siphoned away through the loose volcanic soil. Historically uninhabited,
and unused except for hunting, and trapping. It was called "Craters of
the Moon" because, it was imagined that this is what the moon must look
like. "Craters" is in southern Idaho, roughly between Boise, and Idaho
falls. It makes a good side trip if you are visiting Yellowstone.
|
|
|
|
In these photos you can see some cinder cones in the distance.
These modest volcanoes are piles of red, and gray porous volcanic gravel.
Trails lead to the top, but climbing them is still a mater of up two feet,
slid back one.
|
Climbing the Cinder Cones
|
|
|
|
Unlike the moon these craters are volcanic. The slopes
of the volcanic cones are covered with a coarse red-brown soil; volcanic
rock just being broken down into dirt. On this dark proto-soil grows carpets
of tiny purple and yellow wild flowers, a beautiful contrast.
|
|
Lava flows, like this one cover large areas. There are several
types of lava flows, the relatively smooth ones like this, known by its
Hawaiian name "Pahoehoe", and the sharp jagged uneven flows that the Hawaiians
called, appropriately enough, "Aa".
|
Underneath these flows there are lava tubes. Lava tubes
are "dried up" underground rivers of lava. Some of these tubes have roofs
that have collapsed in places. Ladders allow you to get down into them,
and explore. There are other real caves that are open to the public. You'll
need a flashlight, and boots for negotiating the slick rocks, and pools
of water.
Paradoxically, despite the hot dry surface the volcanic
rock is such a good insulator that winter ice in the caves can last through
the summer. "Boy Scout" cave had ice in it when I was there (June). In
fact one of the smaller cone shaped volcanic vents collects snow at its
bottom in the winter. The sun never shines directly down the shaft, so
the snow remains even in June. This feature is called, appropriately enough,
"Snow Cone". It brought to mind the discovery of
water ice on the moon , in the deep craters at the moons poles, where sunlight
never reaches. That is a probably a better reason to call this "Craters
of the Moon NM" than the original idea that this must be what the moon
looks like.
|
All images © John Donohue,
1995,1996,2002
Up to John Donohue's HomePage
|
|
