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| Surrounded by Lava |
We head out early in the morning in hopes of securing a
camping site at the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Arriving well before noon and we have our
pick of sites. We choose a site on a
slight elevation with views of the lava and surrounding area, there is a stark
beauty to this place. Since this is dry camping (no connections for electric,
water or sewer) we use our solar electric system and watch our water consumption
and disposal. It’s actually not bad, as
the cappuccino machine fares quite well on solar power and after a full day of
hiking a quick cool shower is all we need. (All matters of priorities.)
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| Lava Tube-caves |
There is so much to see and do here. We start off by stopping by the visitor
center and watch a short film about the area. We also pick up a cave permit.
The permit is necessary to help prevent the spread of white nose syndrome amongst the bat population. This is a fungus that has killed over 5 million
bats in the eastern United States.
Basically the Crater’s Staff will only issue permits to folks who are
not carrying any clothing or equipment that has been in any other caves, mines
or bat habitats.
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| Limber Pine Cones |
In the cool of each evening we walk to the small
amphitheater to listen to a ranger lead presentation on various topics. We learn about: the people of the lava - the
early Native Americans and the pioneers, the raptors - eagles, falcons, hawks
and owls that inhabit the area, The animals – bats, picas, foxes, chipmunks,
squirrels, deer and antelope that survive in this harsh environment, and the
plants – the expected desert sages and cacti, but this is also home to some
stunning pine trees and beautiful night blooming flowers.
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| Weird and Scenic |
When we think of volcanoes, we usually picture a mountain
spewing lava. The Craters is a rift
volcano; which basically is a crack in the earth that spews out lava. Here we climb the cinder cones, explore the
collapsing lava tubes, visit splatter cones and generally marvel at this weird
and scenic landscape. The bold shapes and subtle colors call out to us. The weather is hot and dry and every day we are inundated
with more smoke from the wildfires burning across Idaho.
After four days on the moon we trek 18 miles east to the
town of Acro. Arco was the first community in the world ever to be lit by
electricity generated by nuclear power. We stay at the Mountain View RV Park. The place is clean and has decent
WIFI. They also have a café that serves their guests a free breakfast of pancakes and eggs and some great home-style comfort food at
reasonable prices for dinner. Their specialty: a smoked Idaho potato with all
the fixin’s that comes with the dinners or can be purchased as a side dish.
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| 4 lightbulbs - representing the first non military use of Nuclear Energy |
Just outside of Arco is the EBR-1 Atomic Museum. EBR stands for Experimental Breeder
Reactor. This was the first power plant
in the world to produce electricity using atomic energy. The tour is educational and we can now say
that we stood on top of a nuclear reactor.
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| Nuclear Jet Engines - A Really Dumb Idea |
Outside in the parking lot, two prototype nuclear engines for jet airplanes
are on display. Fortunately, this (really
stupid idea of a project) was axed by President Kennedy, and all we have is a
pile of rusting crap that cost a ton-o-money.
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| Atomic City |
We also drive through the towns of Springfield (which sports the Homer’s
Bar and Grill – named after that well known Springfield nuclear plant worker)
and Atomic City – a virtual ghost town of 25 +/- inhabitants, a bar that’s for sale
and a racetrack. It has no ties to anything atomic, other than being in the general vicinity of the EBR.
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