Day 12, Craters of the Moon

Slow day...got 10 hours of sleep last night, although woke up at least six times. New mattress situation better, but not like the old days.

Drove through Craters of the Moon this morning to take in the beauty. Interesting history of the volcanic activity here starting 15,000,000 years ago. Last lava flow was 2000 years ago, although last blast was 6,000,000 years ago.

One of the reasons i am drawn to this place is that it resembles The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Alaska. On June 6-8, 1912, Mount Katmai started to erupt. Instead of erupting, the mountain caved in on itself, and the hot magma and ash from three sources found a weakness in the valley floor and blew a hole through the earth five miles from Katmai, forming a new reholyte (spelling) dome, the youngest in the world, named Novarupta. For three days, that hole spewed three cubic miles (think of three big boxes a mile wide, a mile deep, and a mile high) of stuff, mostly hot ash, from the bowels of the earth. Today, the valley is still covered with ash for miles around, 300 feet deep in places. Only about 50 backpachers venture into the valley each. I backpacked solo in there for two weeks each time over four summers in the 90s. One time, i climbed the rubble that is Novarupta, 100 feet high and a mile around. I hope one day to add these journeys to my blog. Campsite 25 here in Craters of the Moon reminds me of Novarupta. Brings back good memories. I once tried to camp at the base of Novarupta but the wind was too violent to set up a tent. So i had to hike five miles along the desert-like valley floor to find a place safe from the wind. My refuge for the night was incredibly beautiful, like a different world, that i bet very few people have ever seen. You have to wonder how many more such beautiful places on this planet remain unseen by human eyes.

Took a drive into Arco today to get some lunch and stuck up on a few items. When i was heading back, we were hit with a two hour violent wind storm. I was hoping that my exposed tent was staked sufficiently instead of being blown away. Fortunately, it was still there. Then, later, we were hit with a hale storm. Now, at 530, the sun is out. So many weather changes in just a few hours.

Tomorrow we head west to western Oregon, which also is beset with freezing nighttime weather. Then we make a two-day dash to the coast. I have no idea what will be next after that, nor does Donner. But we both have high hopes.

Ed and Donner, from the road