Spatter Cones at Crater's of the Moon

We did a Junior Ranger talk the first night we were there since we didn't know how long we would be staying.  Ranger Margaret and Emerald did a nice job.  Notice all the 'kids' getting sworn in.

 

Did a run this morning on the North Crater Trail (4.06 miles).  Lots of ups and downs with cool pahoehoe  and some great craters before I had to turn around.  Made me excited about the days activities.

Our 1st stop was the North Crater Flow Trail:

 You can see some good examples of the lava flows on this trail:

 Pahoehoe Lava:

Crater fragments that rafted here by lava flow:

 

Devil's Orchard, stop 2, island like fragments stand in a sea of cinders:

 

Not many plants, trees, or flowers grow here:

Stop 3, Inferno Cone

This cone can get really hot in the afternoon.

View of cinder cones along the Great Rift:

View towards the visitor center:

Stop 4, Spatter Cones:

 

Stop 5, Trail to Buffalo Cave, the Park Service drive these cool moon buggies:

 

Wildflower:

 Views of the lava flows:

 Buffalo Cave:

 Stop 6, Cave Areas

Indian Tunnel:

 Beauty Cave:

 

 Boy Scout Cave:

 

Dew Drop Cave:

 

We started around 10 this morning and ended at 4:30.  We were beat!  The kids were fantastic and enthusiastic about visiting the caves.  We walked with them on our shoulders at the end of the day, otherwise they walked about 4.5 miles in the ninety degree heat.  We headed to the visitor's center to cool off, rest, and finish up our Junior Ranger sheets.  Q got a little bit tuckered out watching the movie!

 We finally headed back to our campsite for some much needed R and R.  The green monster (the tent in the background) was something we bought (in Idaho Falls) especially for Craters of the Moon since we knew it was going to be so hot with no shade.

A cool butterfly we caught inside of the green monster:

 

 The next morning I went for a bike/hike (10.63 miles) out to the tree molds trail before we left.  There are imprints of lava charred trees and molds of upright trees. 

 

 More cool wildflowers:

 

Hike: Craters of the Moon to Tree Molds

Trails Used:  General Road to Tree Molds Trail to General Road

Distance: 10.63 miles

Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 7.2 mph
Overall Time: 1 hrs, 28 min
Total Ascent: 736 ft.

 

 

On the way back to our campsite I was lucky enough to see this beautiful double rainbow.  It was a nice farewell to Crater's of the Moon National Monument.

 

Map for Craters of the Moon: