Phot-o' the Day: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho USA

A trail through black volcanic rock leading to a mound of black volcanic rock

Today is the 51st anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the surface of the moon, shortly thereafter, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin taking those small steps for men, giant leaps for mankind, on the lunar surface.

In all my travels, I've not yet been to the moon. I think, back in 1969, we just assumed that we would be able to visit there as tourists by now. But we're not. I've been to Moon Township, Pennsylvania. They have a very nice airport there. I've been to Half Moon Bay, California. They have a very nice ocean there. And I've been to Craters of the Moon National Monument, which is somewhere near nowhere in Southern Central Idaho. They have a lot of very nice rocks there. Lots of rocks.

I'm not sure why Craters of the Moon, the national monument, was named what it was. The surface is hard black volcanic rock. There are no craters per se. And gravity works just the same there as anywhere else on the earth's surface, so I'm not sure what's supposed to be "lunar" about the place. But I guess it's as close to the surface of the moon as I am going to get this lifetime.

Phot-o' the Day: Tree atop a Volcano; Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

A lone tree at the top of a lone volcano.

This was taken from the top of the dormant volcano (last major eruption: about 200 B.C. or so) whose periodic explosions over millions of years formed this landscape that we now call Craters of the Moon National Monument in southern Idaho, USA.

Visited September 2019.

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Lunar? Or Idahoan? Actually, probably more Big Island Hawaiian.

A few hours west of Yellowstone, in Idaho's Snake river Valley, is an area that 10,000,000 years ago was Yellowstone.  Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho.

The landscape is not so much lunar as it is volcanic.  Yellowstone sits on a major "hot spot" where large amounts of magma from the earth's core sit (but not idly) way too close to the surface.  Due to plate tectonics, the land masses atop earth's crust float.  Craters of the Moon was atop this hot spot 10,000,000 years ago.

This is the short climb up to overlook a viewpoint.  The view is of the campground.

This is the short North Crater Flow Trail.  The last eruption here that gave Craters of the Moon its lunar/Idahoan/Big Island look was a mere 2,100 years ago.  Less than a nanosecond in geologic time.

This is proof that this landscape is not the least bit lunar:

After seeing video and pictures of the Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, we know for certain that that type of tree does not grow on the moon.

But the park was named pre-Apollo 11.

The next trail was Devil's Orchard:

The dead trees do add a hellish element.

Next was the long walk up the Inferno Cone to get a view of ... well, I won't know until I walk the walk.

At the summit, with a view of the whole of Craters of the Moon:

And tree grows at the summit.  Life always finds a way.

Right behind me was a huge group of elementary school children (two bus loads) on a field trip.  I am so lucky that I just barely beat them into the restroom back at the Visitor's Center.

Next, as my calf muscles slowly recover, was the very short walk to the Splatter Cone.

It's a hole in the ground.  From which molten lava once splattered.  And, likely, will again.

Peering into the abyss:

Looking across to the next viewpoint:

Which is the Snow Cone Trail and another volcanic hole:

And, looking for the viewpoint of the Snow Cone Trail over to the Splatter Cone Trail:

And, with that, Craters of the Moon fades off into the sunset.

Well, not quite sunset since it's only noon.  But I do have a long drive back to Las Vegas and there's only one Culvers between Craters and Vegas.  Off to Twin Falls, Idaho.