Craters of the Moon near Arco Idaho (101 degrees, HOT)
Jimmy Buffet's song Volcano definitely danced through my head during our visit to this National Monument in Idaho.
"Now I don't know, I don't know, I don't know
where I wanna go
when the volcano blows"
This time of year it was certainly essential to go early and take lots of water.. It get very HOT HOT HOT in the afternoon. The only cool places are in the lava tubes. For the most part it's a very inhospitable landscape and the few bits of vegetation which get a foothold are delightful. These little flowers are the very definition of perseverance.
This is the trail to the Indian Tunnel - the most accessible lava tube. It's a half a mile trail each way in the hot sun. When we reached the tunnel there was a metal staircase going part of the way down. The rest of the way you pick among the rocks until you get to the bottom. A walking stick and flash light come in handy. It is cool and delicious under the ground.
This vast ocean of lava must have had a very violent past 2000-7000 years ago. The lava field extends for 618 acres and it's an amazing place. This is a must see National Monument in our opinion.
Stop at the Visitor Center first to get recommendations for trails and to obtain a pass to go into a lava tube. There are five tubes to choose from with varying degrees of difficulty. The pass is just a safety precaution to reduce the chance of spreading a fungus from other caves which kills bats.
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| Art in the park |
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| Supposed to replicate going through a lava tunnel |
This time of year it was certainly essential to go early and take lots of water.. It get very HOT HOT HOT in the afternoon. The only cool places are in the lava tubes. For the most part it's a very inhospitable landscape and the few bits of vegetation which get a foothold are delightful. These little flowers are the very definition of perseverance. 
Over a two day period we went on four trails and explored one lava tube. The trails are very well maintained with lots of informational signs. Broken Top Loop Trail is a great one for birding.
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| Buckwheat wildflowers |
This is the trail to the Indian Tunnel - the most accessible lava tube. It's a half a mile trail each way in the hot sun. When we reached the tunnel there was a metal staircase going part of the way down. The rest of the way you pick among the rocks until you get to the bottom. A walking stick and flash light come in handy. It is cool and delicious under the ground.
A lava tube is formed by flowing lava which goes below hardened lava. The molten lava pours out and a very cool tunnel is left after everything hardens. In places you could see where lava drips were almost frozen in place.
The tunnel extended for quite a distance. The ceiling of it had collapsed in places making it easier to see. My pictures do not show how large and tall the tunnel was to explore. John went further in than I did. Its a little challenging for me to pick among the rocks in the dark.
The next day John went back looking for some birds in the area and added two new ones to his life list (Brewer's and Vesper Sparrow). Pretty cool. This is also the first time we have visited Idaho. We will be in this state for about a month.
We stayed in at Mountain View RV Park about 20 minutes from Crates of the Moon. The campground at the monument is closed and under construction. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and highly recommend it. They offer full hook ups and have a Good Sam discount ($38/night). Best of all there is a very small restaurant on the premises. They smoke some very delicous BBQ beef ribs and even have craft beers on tap. We ate there all three nights! The owners are very friendly and take very good care of their place and campers.
The NPS service says the monument is about due for the volcano to blow again. On average it's happens every 2000 years and it's been more than that now. We managed to dodge that occurrence. So in case you decide to go...you've been warned. I'll leave you with the last verse of Jimmy Buffet's song.
"No time to count what I'm worth
'Cause I just left the planet Earth
Where I go I hopes there's RUM!"
