Day 50-May 9, 2018-Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and to Twin Falls, ID
Drove 109 miles in 4-3/4
Temp got up to 79, a bit overcast
Craters of the Moon is less than 14 miles from the campground so we drove through it before continuing to our next stop. It’s over 43,000 acres, 1110 square miles of lava, cinder cones with large vent holes, spatter cones, and tubes. There’s a visitor’s center where we watched a movie about the craters and then drove the 7 mile loop which includes scenic view points and info along the way. We stayed at the campground on the lava fields a few years ago and it was great. We woke up to white snow on the black lava but this year we opted to stay at a private campground instead. No snow on the lava this year but on the Pioneer Mountains all around. The road is nicely paved and there seemed to be a lot more vegetation, mostly sagebrush, growing on the lava. It’s not from only one volcano but a Great Rift in the Snake River Valley. It started over 15,000 years ago and the most recent eruption was less than 2000 years ago. They expect it’s not done yet, either. There are quite a few trails through the lava and up a huge cinder cone but we just drove through. Route 93 runs with routes 20 and 26 through the lava fields and it’s the only way in or out of the area. Even when you leave the park you’re still on Federal land for quite a few miles. Then, after the National Park sign, the road gets worse and the lava abruptly stops. We stopped for lunch at a scenic stop for one last look. Now we see a lot of farms and ranches, mostly cows but some sheep and horses. This is the Snake River Plains and we drove through small towns like Carey, population 482 and Richfield, population 604. The adult cows are always grazing but the calves haven’t gotten the gist of it yet and they either stand around or nurse. But most of them are laying down napping. They’re very small this time of year, too. Drove to Shoshone where route 93 gets better and the farms get greener and bigger. This is called the Magic Valley, 500,000 acres irrigated by the Snake River that is one of the most prolific crop-producing regions of the country, mostly malt barley, alfalfa and dry beans. Dairy is big here too and there are a lot of dairy cattle farms. Twenty miles down the road is Twin Falls, where we’re staying for a couple of nights. Set up, then drove into town to the Ford dealer. The windshield washer doesn’t work. They said we’d have to leave the truck, they’d check it out and probably have to order a part. We don’t want to stay here over the week-end so we’ll get it fixed at another stop. Back to the campground we made some reservations for the next few day. We finally have a plan. There are lilac trees all over the campground and the smell is wonderful. The twittering of the birds is almost deafening and we’re watching them build nests in the trees. One is building a nest in the tree right outside our window and he keeps bringing sticks that are bigger than he is.