Monday, August 20, 2012

Craters of the Moon National Monument

After our overnight in Boise, we made our way to Grand Teton National Park. Along the way, we made a bit of a detour to the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. I had never heard of it prior to a week or two ago while previewing our trip on Google Maps. Apparently NASA sent the Apollo astronauts there to learn about geology prior to the lunar landings since it was thought that the terrain and geology would be similar. We decided the night before that we would make the detour and check the place out. 


We drove through the high Idaho desert, which was pretty in its own way but it is hard to imagine how people make a living out there. It was largely sagebrush, until we got very close to Craters of the Moon, at which point large stretches of bare black rock cut through the desert. We went to the Visitor's Center and learned about the "Lunar Ranger Program", which is similar to the Junior Ranger Program found at the National Parks. So we did the short seven-mile auto tour through the front country of the Craters of the Moon, stopping at various places to explore a bit. The photo below is of a "spatter cone" (so Ian reminds me, since I had forgotten). Ian and Leah had come up with the idea of holding the spatter cone up, which is why they have their hands up.


We spent about an hour and a half to two hours driving around and exploring the Craters of the Moon, which culminated in Ian and Leah being sworn-in as the newest Lunar Rangers.


Very clever, and handsome/pretty to boot!


Once they found out about the Junior Ranger Program, the kids have been keen to do the tasks at the other National Parks. More to come on that.

We are taking a break last night/this morning between Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP. If I can get a couple of posts in the bank for delayed posting, I will. Not much time remaining though. Anyways, have a wonderful day everybody. We have about four hours to Glacier, but I'm seriously looking forward to getting their!

Cheers,

Marc

No comments: