Craters of the Moon

Friday morning found us exploring the enormous lava flows from previous volcanic activity in this part of the state. We walked several of the paths and just a short ways into one of the lava tube caves. We've both seen plenty of wild caves before, so there was no real desire on either of our parts to climb much further inside.

(Yes, Katie L., I remember very well the time we took you and Sarah into a cave in central Oregon. Ken and Sarah wanted to go further, and we might have gone, too, but it was too rough for Perrin so I elected to wait, and you didn't want to go any further. What you didn't expect was that when they walked away with the flashlight it would be SOOOOO dark...I used my best calming techniques to keep you from freaking out entirely! :) Thank goodness other cavers came along soon so that we could exit with them and wait outside. (Where it was VERY hot!)

The scenery throughout the park here was amazing. The most recent flows (2000 years ago) are still quite barren, but those that occured previously had various types of plant growth here and there. I particularly liked the scrubby yellow-flowered bushes that were growing all over. The park ranger told me they are called "Rubber Rabbit Brush". Ken and I planted humorous visual images in our heads so that we could remember this name long enough to write it down!