Departing Logan was tough. Everyone there was so nice to us it always makes you want to stay and make a new home. But alas, I digress and the Pacific North West beckons. Next stop - middle of nowhere.
The aptly named and very unusual Craters of the Moon National Monument is about 200 miles from Logan, UT into Idaho, west of Blackfoot and past Atomic City, definitely qualifying for what you would call the middle of nowhere. It is a giant volcanic lava flow basin which ran for about 13,000 years, completing its creation about 2,000 years ago. Arriving around 3pm it reminded me of my hiking trip to Death Valley last year. Incredibly hot and dry the only shade provided by 12" tall shrubbery - great if you're a lizard but otherwise fairly limited. Arriving before Shawn, I decided to spend the hot hours in the visitors center watching the various movies and exploring the interactive displays. These places are always very informative.
The inhospitable nature of the terrain means the public portions of the monument are fairly limited, just a few hiking trails, a 7 miles roadway and three small lava tube created caves. We decided we could do them all in less than a day, beginning when the sun went behind the surrounding mountains that evening and finishing by around 2pm the next day. I'm not sure if being in Wyoming and Utah which have average elevations of over 7,000ft made me feel stronger here at about 4,000 or if I'm actually getting more fit but that 7 mile bicycle ride around the park up some fairly large hills felt incredibly easy. It's so much more fun when you get infinite mpg and don't feel wrecked after it. That took care of about 3 of the short hiking trails and the roadway. Off to a 10pm Ranger talk and then it was time for bed, although not before an amazing lightening storm and harvest moon. Tuesday morning we were hiking by 7am and had completed the rest of the available trails by about noon, leaving just the caves in the heat of the day. They were a welcome 62 degrees and we had some great fun exploring for an couple of hours. No photos due to the extreme blackness so you'll just have to take my word for it.
With Craters completed, it was off to Ketchum/Sun Valley to do some higher elevation hiking again. Arriving around 4pm we headed straight for the ranger station and got some great information, including the location of a Farmers' market that was happening right then. Three home grown tomatoes in hand, we wandered off toward the mountains in search of the campground the ranger had mentioned. Down a dirt trail toward the river, single track opened into wide open expanse of mountains and rocky ledges. It was fairly secluded yet close to town - perfect. Shawn made a great vegetarian dinner including the newly acquired tomatoes followed by some email trading with my brother Jay in Australia, then off to sleep by dark.
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