USA NORTHWEST 2014
~CRATERS OF THE MOON~

Copyright Ruud Leeuw Photos © R.Leeuw

 

 

USA 2014 - a roadtrip
Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush.
While some of it can be seen from the road, US 26, it really pays to enter via the Visitor Center and do the loop drive.

 

 

 

USA 2014 - a roadtrip
It is black and unpassable, all this molten lava. But there is quite a variety in this frozen display of volcanic activity, as
these photos will show. This area represents one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental United States.

USA 2014 - a roadtrip

USA 2014 - a roadtrip

 

 

 

 

USA 2014 - a roadtrip
The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and
incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.
( - Walt Whitman)

USA 2014 - a roadtrip

 

 

 

 

USA 2014 - a roadtrip

 

The Monument and Preserve encompass three major lava fields and about 400 square miles (1.000 km2) of sagebrush steppe grasslands to cover a total area of 1,117 square miles (2.893 km2).
All three lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, with some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet (240 m).
There are excellent examples of almost every variety of basaltic lava as well as tree molds (cavities left by lava-incinerated trees), lava tubes (a type of cave), and many other volcanic features.
(Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

USA 2014 - a roadtrip
Plant life is very vulnerable here, but there are 375 species of plant known to grow here in the monument.
When wildflowers are not in bloom, most of the vegetation is found in semi-hidden pockets and consists
of pine trees, cedars, junipers, and sagebrush.

USA 2014 - a roadtrip
Photo by Ada

 

 

 

USA NORTHWEST 2014
THE START: OREGON & WASHINGTON
PORTLAND, OR
WHALEWATCHING FROM ANACORTES
PAGE TWO: IDAHO & MONTANA
NATIONAL BISON RANGE
PAGE THREE: WYOMING
YELLOWSTONE NAT'L PARK
JACKSON,WY
PAGE FOUR: IDAHO
CRATERS OF THE MOON
THE END: OREGON

§
INDEX TO MY TRAVEL PAGES

 

 

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