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:

Conquering the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

I love sleepy little people in the morning w/ bed head. I know I've done my job well as parent when she's this tuckered out!

 

Unfortunately, my other one wasn't as tuckered out and was up to his old tricks!  Doesn't he look like he's up to something?

Packed up our site this morning to head out for Norris Campground.  To ease the way we decided to have breakfast at the Mammoth Springs Dining Room.  On the way there we saw quite a bit of wildlife in town.

 

Lesson #2 learned on this camping trip.  Don't eat out in the National Parks.  The buildings may have ambiance but the food is less than bland and this is a continuous theme through all the parks that we visited. 

We had our first bear siting on the way to Norris Campground right before Roaring Mountain.  It was pretty far away so I didn't get a picture.  The kids were getting to be old pro's at helping us set up camp.  They seemed to enjoy snapping the poles into place.

 When they were done helping they would play in the dirt w/ the pine needles until we were done.

We hit the North Rim Trail (4.82 miles) today.  They liken it to the 'Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.'  Daddy dropped us at Artist Point Road and headed to Inspiration Point with the truck.  He was going to hitchhike back and catch up with us (the three of us don't go real fast) but he decided to run back and meet us.  We met up around the Lower Falls. The first part of the hike over the Yellowstone River was pretty.  The kids didn't appreciate it as much...they started moaning and groaning on this hike right from the beginning.

 The upper falls quieted them down a little.  The sound was massive.  Crystal Falls were not as dramatic but still nice.

The wildflowers were out in force.

 I'm not sure what it is about these two pictures but they seem fake and from the 70's. 

Water was an important resource to have on this trip.  Our Dakine backpacks were helpful in keeping the troops happy. 

 Stones in the shoes....that's why mommy told him to wear his hiking socks that day!

 That afternoon we did some much needed laundry, saw this bison, and went to the Visitor Center to do their Junior Ranger program. 

 Headed towards the Mud Volcano and the Sulphur Cauldrons we saw this bison sitting on the far ridge all by himself.

 We ended up hiking 5.75 miles today.  We took the long way home that night so that we could stop and see the sites we missed the other day when we were looking for a campsite.  This was the view near Tower Falls.

 Calcite Spring Overlook:

 I was glad we went the way we did so I didn't miss the mama bear and her two cubs.

 Notice the baby in the background climbing the tree!

 We stopped at the petrified tree:

 Finally, we were graced with this beautiful double rainbow pulling into our campground for the night.