Craters of the Moon

One week in the books!

In this post, I'll include the good and the bad — also known as the dips.

After a quick sleepover north of Salt Lake City, we traveled to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho. Idaho is a new state for both of us.

We got an early start out of Salt Lake City because the campground was on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to its remote location, we didn't want to arrive and not find a site large enough for our setup.

We arrived a little before noon and secured a really nice, level spot to hang out for a couple of days. We had a quick lunch before exploring the park.

The park encompasses three major lava fields formed by eruptions during the past 15,000 years, with the most recent activity occurring around 2,000 years ago. The Lava Field Campground sits right in the middle of one of them. The hotspot that once existed here has since moved east to Yellowstone National Park.

Our first hike was up a steep pile of cinders. It was fairly easy — straight up and straight down. The top offered a 360-degree view of the crater. What we weren't prepared for was how windy it was. I had to keep my hand on my visor or tucked into my jacket. It was almost comical how intense the wind was. I think wind has been my least favorite part about Airstreaming. But thankfully, we haven't experienced fires or floods — I can imagine it could be a lot worse.

We managed to see a couple more interesting formations before dinner. Our sunset walk took us along an elevated walkway over the lava field.

The following morning, we explored the lava tube caves. The tubes were formed when the outer lava cooled and hardened while hot lava continued to flow inside, eventually draining out and leaving hollow tunnels. We brought our headlamps and ventured inside. The temperature dropped dramatically — a welcome relief from the heat outside. Some of the caves still had ice formations on the floor from the previous winter.