Crater vs Crater
Our visits to Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon could not have been more different, and yet each were spectacular in their own way. That’s becoming something of a common thread in our adventures. We’ve been asked by friends and folks we meet about the prettiest or best or most fun place we’ve been, but is increasingly tough to rate our experiences in a top 10 listing or to categorize them by beauty or best views, trails, etc. They all seem to possess a singularly unique quality. That certain je ne sais quoi was on full display in our contrasting visits to these two parks.
Hawaiian terms are used to describe the lava types. Pahoehoe (pronounced "pah-hoy-hoy") is the ropy or flowy type of lava. A'a (pronounced "ah ah") is the name for the more jagged and rough broken blocks of lava.
Tree molds formed when lava flows around a tree and cools, leaving the tree to burn away.
When we first drove into Craters of the Moon we didn’t really know what to expect. We’d had a friend tell us it was worth a visit, but in the same sentence called it “weird.” We’re not sure that’s the right word, but it’s in the ballpark. This was a strange, yet wonderful place where you might indeed imagine you were on the surface of the moon. In fact, NASA brought the astronauts of Apollo 14 to train here! It is a geological wonderland of the results of volcanic eruptions, the most recent of which occurred about 2000 years ago. Taking a broad brush, the terrain here is mostly shades of black, with some deep rusty reds and highlights of shiny blues, and captures the flows and splatters of lava where it cooled. It is sharply jagged in places, forming “splatter cones” here and there, and in others you can see where the flowing and swirling rivers of lava lost their momentum and were frozen in time. We’re not talking about just a few acres either. This park covers over 1000 square miles that stand in stark contrast to the surrounding Idaho Midwest plains landscape. We explored lava tube caves formed when lava on the surface cooled, but the lava flows underneath kept carving a path forward. At first glance, the place looks somewhat devoid of life, but there are pockets where small desert plants like the common sage brush, wildflowers (folks with lawns call them “weeds”), and an occasional small tree working its way into volcanic dust, cracks and fissures. We didn’t see any large mammals (although the rangers say they are there), but there were smaller critters here and there to give the rather abundant raptors (kestrels, hawks, and eagles) something to chase.
Crater Lake was gorgeous from every angle. Hard to take a bad photo.
The hike up Mount Scott gave us a great view of the lake and surrounding forest.
Crater Lake was on the opposite end of the weird spectrum. The terrain here was also formed by volcanic activity, in this case from an eruption that took place about 7,700 years ago that blew about a mile of height off top off of then 12,000 feet high Mazama Mountain. With no outlets to drain it, the huge crater filled with rain water and snow melt over time until it reached its current relative stasis. Our first view of here was spellbinding, and as we took it in from various places around the lake, the magic never seemed to wear off. The water is very clean, clear and deep. With little else to reflect light in it, its color is a beautiful blue that trends to turquoise near the shallower edges. The plentiful rain and snow have allowed forests to grow up around the lake. We drove around the Rim Road stopping to take in a hike up Mount Scott for a magnificent view of the entire lake and the surrounding forests. This landscape of southwest Oregon could not be more different from the “moonscape” of Idaho where we had stood only a day earlier. Crater Lake’s deep forest greens, wildflowers of all colors, and pure blues of the lake water were almost indescribably beautiful, a picture postcard around every corner.
Sneaking a peak at the Phantom Ship