CotM Part 2: Craters & Cones

The 2nd day of our campout at Craters of the Moon started with a very chillaxed morning. All the families ate breakfast on their own. After our boys were done eating, they played around our camp site with some of the other kids in our group (it's always more fun for them to go camping with other people!). 

While I was eating breakfast, I watched some little chipmunks run around. They obviously were used to people because they weren't afraid of getting close to us. In fact, Josh's very long feet seemed to greatly interest them rather than  fear them. I couldn't believe how many times they approached him and sniffed, walked on, and touched his feet!!!

Kanyon was so proud of earning a Jr. Ranger pin at the program the night before that he pinned it onto his shirt first thing that morning and wore it all day long! He was still aspiring to get his Lunar Ranger badge, which inspired Micah to do the activities so he could get it, too.

We discussed some options for the day's plans that morning, and debated between a couple of different hikes that we could take before lunch. After all the moms consulted with each other, we finally decided to do the 3.5 mile North Crater Trail. It starts at the Cones area and ends at a parking lot a 1/4 mile from the campground. We decided to all pile into the truck and leave it at the Cones area, and then after we all arrived at the campground, we'd take one of the other vehicles later to go retrieve it. We wanted to hike that morning before it got too hot, and by the time we were all ready, it was about 10:15 when we left our camp site.

When we parked the truck, we stopped to look at the different Cones before starting on the long trail. This is a photo of all the kids on the walk up to the Spatter Cones.

Looking down into the Spatter Cones

Right by the Spatter Cones is the Snow Cone--it's named that because there's snow year-round in the miniature volcano.

Jonah & Micah looking down to see the snow

See the bit of snow in the center of the hole?

The North Crater Trail goes up and down in elevation and passes multiple craters along the way. It was a really neat trail and one that I didn't go on the last time we were in the park in 2010. I'm so glad we went this time! Since we knew the campground was the final destination, some of the kids went ahead of the group, and they liked that they didn't have to stop and wait for some of us slower people!

The beginning of the trail is all uphill, but once we arrived at the top, the views were fantastic! We could see down into a big crater on the right, and we looked out over the valley on the left. 

Josh & Jen looking down into the first Big Crater.

The trail followed the ridge of the craters. 

Jonah, Micah, & Kanyon running ahead of the group on a downhill stretch.

Walking around the 3rd Big Crater (which is the smallest of the 3).

Sometimes when there was a tree with a bit of shade, I would stop and take a breather. At one particular tree, the faster kids were taking a break, and I was able to catch up to them for a minute. They went on ahead again, but I found myself fascinated by the patterns of the cones that were growing on the tree. I liked how they were darker in the middle and lighter on the outside.

Then Jen's friend Lael was talking about biology and how plants follow the Fibonacci pattern, which I'd just learned about in my college math class. It's a set of numbers 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-etc that follow a sequential pattern of addition. So then I took a different photo of the pine cone to see the pattern. To me, beauty is in the details.

After the trail passes the Big Craters, it meanders through different lava formations. The dead trees along the trail were just as interesting to me as the rocks, and we stopped often to take photos on (and of) the uniquely-shaped plants!

The trail goes under this awesome dead tree

Josh by a tall dead tree with a gnarly twisted root!

Abbie at the tip of a very large toppled tree.

A downhill slope behind a branch's upward climb.

Jen took this next photo of me walking on the trail. I was unaware that Josh (who'd gone on ahead) was hiding behind the rock. He likes to surprise me, because I totally freak out, and my response is hilarious to him. Thankfully, after she took the photo, she just kept standing there, waiting to take another photo of me freaking out, and that kind of clued me into the fact that something else was happening besides an innocent photo and I looked to see Josh sitting there. Instead of jumping and screaming and wagging my arms and shaking my hands in the air (I know it sounds weird but it's a natural response my body does), I just smiled and was happy to see that he'd waited for me!

Towards the end of the trail, you walk directly on top of an old lava flow in a valley between two cinder hills. To get down into and back up from the lava flow, you walk on built-in steps made from aligned tree branches. It was so beautiful to me!

My husband is so handsome!

Stairway to Heaven?

Among the lava flow that we walked across were a few small lava tube caves. I had this idea of having Josh hang over the top of one because I imagined it would look like a large bat. He actually went along with my request, but it didn't end up looking at all how I'd imagined it would. I love him for trying, though!

We arrived back at the campground in 3 different heats. The fast group of kids, then Josh & I, and then Jen & her friends and a few of their kids. We were all so hot, hungry, and thirsty! The families were in charge of their own lunches. We ate sandwiches and relaxed for a while. Jen & her friends decided to go check out the Visitor's Center. We'd already gone there after we first arrived the day before, so we stayed at the camp site. Kanyon & Micah finished their requirements for the Jr. Lunar Ranger Badge, Josh read a book, and the boys played card games with their cousins.

The ladies were gone a long time, and we were worried that by the time they came back and we went to do our last activity for the day and then retrieve the truck, that the Visitor's Center would be closed and Kanyon wouldn't be able to get his badge that he'd been working on for two days. So Josh left on his bike to go to the truck which was parked over 4 miles away. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes after he left, the ladies came back to camp! Most of his bike ride was uphill, but he made it. Then he drove it back, and we went to the Visitor's Center and Micah and Kanyon turned in their requirements and took oaths to receive their Jr. Lunar Ranger badges!

Now that the truck was back at the campground, we all piled into once again and headed to the Inferno Cone later that afternoon at about 3:30. It's a 1/2 mile hike up to the top, and has awesome views of the park and of many miles eastward.

Once we all made it to the top, we took lots of photos!

Kids' Jump Shot

Sister Wives joining hands!

Adult Jump Shot off the little rock ledge

That turned out to be a dumb idea for us old people:
the jump hurt Jen--who'd recently had a foot surgery,
and it hurt my knee that I had surgery on last year.

We wanted to take a better Jump Shot, so we took 3 more on the southwest side of the Inferno Cone that overlooks the Cones area. We had a hilarious time trying to have a spectacular photo; this was the best one of the 3:

Some of the kids raced to the bottom of the hill when we were done, and they patiently waited for us moms to make it down, too!

Walking on the black cinders all day made all our legs look like this when we were done:

We headed back to the campground once again, and ate hot dogs for dinner. Then Josh and I started packing up our trailer. Ammon had been gone to Cross Country camp in Bozeman, Montana that week, but he came home on Wednesday night, so we wanted to go home that night, too. Jen & her friends stayed one more night and went home the next afternoon. As we were packing up, the boys played and rode their bikes around the campground with their cousins and new friends one last time.

We left about 6:30, and made it home before 10:00 that night.

I'm so glad we went back to Craters of the Moon again this year! Our family enjoyed it so much! We hiked, explored caves, walked, played on rocks, met new friends, ate good food, and had a great time camping! Happy memories were made at this unique place once again!