Wednesday, 2 May 2018
On our way between Elko, Nevada, and Grand Tetons National Park, we decided to visit Craters of the Moon National Park.
Craters of the Moon is a relatively recent lava flow (2000 years old) that is associated with the same volcanic "hot spot" that underlies Yellowstone, and has left calderas across the Snake River plain. It is a truly otherworldly landscape. Not too surprisingly, it is reminiscent of Hawaii and Iceland. I was recovering from an early morning bout with food poisoning (or a flu-like virus?), so Lon took a couple of very short hikes by himself. I'd like to return and spend a whole day here.
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| The landscape is mixture of lava flows, large "cinders", and ash deposits. |
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| Brightly colored lava rocks with lots of gas pockets. |
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| Inferno Cone (at right) has a smooth ash-like surface. What looks like a shadow (or a flare in the camera lens) is actually the trail to the top of the cone. At the right is Paisley Cone, and the Lost River Mountains are in the far background. |
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| At the top of Inferno Cone. |
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| Inferno Cone is at the left, and "spatter cones" are at the right. Spatter cones are formed by lava being tossed out of the center, and the resulting lava rocks ("cinders") building up the cone. |
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| Snow Cone is a spatter cone that still has some winter snow deep in the shadows at its center. |
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