Craters of the Moon National Monument is perhaps the most aptly named
place I have ever been. We stopped strictly because we saw the name on the map
on the way to Idaho Falls, our stop for the night. Craters of the Moon is
located on the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. It is at a moderate altitude
of close to 6,000 feet and is extremely volcanic in nature. The monument
encompasses several hundred square miles of lava fields interrupted by
numerous, large cinder crags and monstrous, magnificent cinder cones.
I have not been to the moon
but I have been to Sudbury, Ontario. Often described as being between a rock
and a hard place, the geographic basin surrounding the city was formed by a
major meteorite impact about 1.8 billion years ago and it doesn’t look a whole
lot different today. Let me tell you, Craters of the Moon made Sudbury look
overgrown.
It was July and it was hot
so what better place to be than on a totally black, porous surface for hundreds
of yards in all directions. Naturally something strenuous and exerting was in
order. A long, slow climb up one of the behemoth cinder cones set before us a
view of a landscape that really could not be described as anything other than
lunar. There was very little plant life and no sign whatsoever of any wildlife,
nothing but a black, open desert. As strange as it may seem I found it
fascinating and enjoyed it immensely.
Spontaneity is one of the key ingredients of a successful
road trip. Your ability to forget your schedule and seize what pops up out of
nowhere is what assures excitement and often wonder in even a mundane vacation.
for
more information go to www.thatroadtripbook.com
No comments:
Post a Comment