Craters of the Moon National Monument. Pictures cannot show what a weird place this is. Or how tall or deep some of these features are. Apollo astronauts trained here. (This is the second place we visited on this trip where astronauts trained, Meteor Crater, AZ. A blog post to come?)
There is a whole lexicon to describe volcanic geology - basalt, rhyolite, obsidian, pumice, tuff, pahoehoe, ah ah, cinder, cinder cone, spatter cone, lava tube, caldera, fissure, etc. I won’t bore you here, but if you are at all interested, just ask me sometime.
Some of the pahoehoe has a blue glaze!
Lava tubes
This incredibly hostile looking rock is actually very fertile when broken down into soil
Fun Fact - The craters on Earth's actual moon are mostly from meteorite impacts, not volcanism.
Shoshone Ice Cave. Self-proclaimed, “One of the Natural Wonders of the World.” A lava tube with ice in it. In actuality, an interesting touristy stop if you pass by on the way to somewhere else.
Black Magic Canyon. A slot canyon through lava.
The Idaho Potato Museum. A surprisingly fun and well done mix of interesting info and kitsch. https://idahopotatomuseum.com/
Lava Hot Springs. The name of the town as well as the hot springs. This is one of the many developed springs.
Soda Springs Geyser. Not quite Old Faithful, but enough to get us psyched up for Yellowstone where we will be a week from now.
Blackfoot Reservoir. We stayed in the campground for a day to rest up before heading to Grand Teton National Park. We got there a little before sunset. The next morning moose were browsing in the distance at the lake.
Idaho Potatoes
Growing
About to be eaten. (Actually these potatoes probably were not from Idaho as the vast majority of potatoes grown in Idaho are russet and these were reds. But we were getting into the spirit of things.)
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