One Small Step for the Cales: Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument & Preserve 8/13/12

That damned wildfire smoke, stalking us like some demented psychopath in a cheap horror flick, was largely irrelevant during our first day of Idaho excursions, if only because obscured visibility means little when there's little to see. At Hagerman, easily our most forgettable stop, the damn thing could have been shrouded in a pea soup of London gray for all we cared, just so long as the passport cancellation station itself wasn't on fire. The next morning, skies still daunting and campfire thick, we ventured to Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, certain that while we couldn't stray beyond the air conditioned comfort of the car for very long, the landscape promised to be unique and bizarre, with an intoxicating rhythm all its own. And so it is, even without the blissful blue contrast of a clear day. Craters of the Moon, for all of its lifeless appearance and barren beauty, is enhanced by the inherent charm that radiates from any patch of earth affected by volcanic lava. Whether dormant or excitingly active, volcanoes are among the natural world's most rip-snorting formations, reminding us that while the world can be beautiful, said beauty is usually accompanied by risk, danger, and the possibility of mass destruction. What's pleasing to the eye, then, will likely end our days on this planet.

The relatively short drive from Twin Falls gets you to Craters of the Moon with ease and comfort, though it's a bit jarring how quickly the landscape changes from typically Idaho to atypically eerie. Things start to get weird well before you reach the visitor center, and whether your eyes dart from left to right or back again, little remains distinguishable from a pre-dawn age of darkness and lunar loneliness. And while everything appears vast and endless, one has no real idea of the actual size - 750,000 acres to be exact - especially since you'll be lucky to catch 1% of the total. Silent Cal Coolidge, thanks to public curiosity and lectures by an eccentric taxidermist, as well as federally-sanctioned geological studies during the early part of the 20th century, finally declared the site a National Monument in 1924, with much of it protected as wilderness by 1970. Then, in 2000, most of the Great Rift and associated lava fields were added to the acreage. Now a joint venture between the NPS and BLM, Craters of the Moon is, against the odds, one of the quirkier additions to the park system. Still, it's why we travel the country in search of those elusive stamps. I mean, where else would one see such a thing?

Having mentioned the Great Rift...what is it? In sum, it's why the park exists at all, and, as the handy unigrid tells us, "These vast volumes of lava issued not from one volcano but from a series of deep fissures that cross the Snake River Plain." The process began around 15,000 years ago, with the most recent eruption a too-close-for-comfort 2,000 years in the past. Most geologists believe future events are likely, and the park's visitor center tracks the area's seismic activity, as if people could forget that they are having a good time on extremely turbulent ground. No tremors greeted us on this day, though I must admit I was hoping for a little jolt, if only to shake me out of the funk that the smoke had ground deep into the pit of my being. Still, the mood was light and fun at Craters of the Moon, even if I lacked the lungs, heart, and legs to light out for the territory and carve away a bit more of that massive acreage.

If there was a disappointment outside of the smoke, it remained with the all-too-brief auto tour, with only a 7-mile loop to get you going. From the visitor center, the road stops first at the North Crater Flow, which features two main walking trails through the vent of the North Crater, exiting at the Spatter Cones/Big Craters parking lot. Next, the road hits the Devils Orchard, with lava fragments amidst a sea of cinders. Following that is the Cinder Cone, with a steep 1/2-mile walk to the top, which was not exactly on the agenda with those particles circulating around us. Still, from the peak one can see Big Cinder Butte, which is one of the world's largest basaltic cinder cones. After seeing more spatter cones and the like, there are additional trails to the Tree Molds, Broken Top, and Wilderness. All were self-guiding and long, so....well, you know the score. The driving tour wraps up with the Cave Area and those glorious lava tubes. Dewdrop, Boy Scout, Beauty, and Indian Tunnel are all at the end of the 1.6-mile trail, though one needs a permit to enter. No prizes for guessing whether or not I had secured such a thing. In all, I wish the road had gone deeper into the void, but part of me also understands that if we're keen on preservation, let's keep the lion's share away from prying eyes and greedy hands.

Craters of the Moon may not have taken the time we had initially expected, but in all, we felt comfortable with our visit. The visitor center is roomy and not embarrassing, which is a high compliment indeed, given what we've encountered over the years. The film was up-to-date and informative, and the ranger so very helpful in pointing out that there were more fires in Idaho than we first thought. But she said it all with a smile, so we kept our bitching behind clenched teeth. We were stamped, sated, and ready for Montana.

FINAL RATING

7/10