Craters of the Moon

I slept very well last night and for the first time since I've been on the road, I didn't need to completely seal myself within my sleeping bag during the night due to the cold. As each day passes, I am able to pack and unpack my camp faster - which allows me to spend even more time doing the fun stuff during the day. I was on the road within 30 minutes after scrambling out of my tent. I even had time for breakfast and a quick bird bath in the camp sink.

I rolled south out of Colter Bay with my sights on Jackson Lodge which was quickly becoming my home away from tent. The wifi access and comfy chair with a stunning view of the Tetons provided a great place to blog and consider my trip through Idaho. (I still hadn't determined exactly where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do.)

Communications complete (and Idaho plans still somewhat uncertain), I drove a few short miles to the top of Signal Mountain which afforded a view in the direction opposite the Tetons (to the east). From there, I tuned Conrad's radio to Wyoming Public Radio and listened to a bio on Jimmy Rodgers, The Singing Brakeman. Jimmy's yodels accompanied me all the way to the north end of Jenny Lake where I packed a snack and some water and hit the trail to find Hidden Falls somewhere on the opposite side of the lake. The trail led me about 5 miles roundtrip. I hadn't realized that there was a ferry bringing people to the falls from the trailhead. The exercise did me good. The falls were loud and as the temperature was rising, it was nice to stand on the bridge over the falls and let the mist cool me.

I would have liked to have stayed longer in the Tetons, but I had made plans to meet with friends in Seattle on Thursday and I still had a lot of ground to cover. I drove south again to Jackson, Wyoming, climbed the Teton Pass and cut through the Targhee National Forest on my way to Idaho Falls. The landscaped flattened as I approached the city and the rain picked up. Grey sheets of rain were falling from the clouds in almost every direction over the dark green hills. Idaho Falls seems to be dying a bit; I noticed a lot of boarded storefronts. Fortunately, the local Dairy Queen was still serving small Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards.

I decided earlier to head in the general direction of the Sawtooth National Forest. As I assessed my map outside of Idaho Falls, I noticed black splotches on the map to the west. Upon further examination, they were lava beds! I was not expecting that. I pointed Conrad in the direction of Craters of the Moon National Monument located to the west on highway 20. The landscape became very desolate west of Idaho Falls with black crusty lava beds on the left side of the highway and scattered agriculture on the right. I became somewhat concerned when a sign on the highway indicated that I was entering Idaho National Laboratory with an atomic-y emblem. My concerns grew as the next sign told me to take a right if I wanted to go to the Materials and Fuels Complex. Shortly thereafter, I noticed the dot on my map indicating Atomic City. (I knew I shouldn't have left my radioactive safety suit in my closet at home!) Finally, I pulled over at a historical site in Arco, where a sign informed me that on July 17, 1955, Arco became the first city in the free world to be successfully powered by atomic energy.

The lava became more jagged as I approached Craters of the Moon. My National Park Pass admitted me to the park and I found a wonderful campsite completely surrounded by lava blocks. I set up my tent and cooked dinner. The air temperature was quite warm, so I left the rain fly off of the tent for the first time on the trip and I fell asleep while watching the stars come out and two bats swirling around overhead.