Craters of the Moon National Monument

We continue to venture north and have made it to Southern Idaho.  We spent a few days checking out the volcanic formations at Craters of the Moon national Monument.  The lava field spreads across 618 square miles and is the largest basaltic lava field in the contiguous United states.  The most recent eruption was only 2000 years ago.  There are more than 25 volcano cones in the area.

A pile of A'A'

Cinder crags

A cinder cone crater

Lava bed

Pahoehoe lava

Another crater

Sydney was not impressed with this tree mold.

This tree mold is more distinctive.

As is this one.

Lava from the Blue Dragon flow.

A lava bomb

Inside a lava tube.

Cool formations in the lava tube

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

We are hanging out enjoying the beautiful sights and weather of Zion National Park  The geology here is amazing. The eroded sandstone cliffs and canyons are awesome.

Sandstone cliffs

Checkerboard Mesa

A forming arch

Indian Paintbrush

A look up the canyon

Sydney taking a peek over the ledge.......

at this.......

We did some hiking. It seems to always be up.

Really high up!

The Court of the Patriarches

.

Another hiking trail

Again, up the side of a cliff.

Hiking the canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park is about an hour and a half drive from Zion, so we spent a day there.  The Hoodoo formations are really cool.

Hoodoo

Arch

Lots of Hoodoos

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More Hoodoos

Canyons, Craters, and Cultures

Well, we finally made it to the big canyon that was carved by the Colorado River.  It was beautiful, and truly a must see.  However, as parks go, the Grand Canyon lacked the diversity that we've seen in many parks.  The view is spectacular and again, a must see at least once!  We hiked the South Kaibab trail to just past Skeleton Point.  It made for a nine mile round trip, with a 2000 foot elevation change. There were very good views of the river.

Sunset in Grand Canyon.

Sunset in Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon from the South Rim.

Another view of the Grand Canyon.

Another view

And yet another view.

Hiking the Kaibab trail.

There were some steep parts.

View in the middle of the canyon.

Heading back up.

I was wishing I had one of these on the way back up.

A short drive past Flagstaff took us to a small monument called. Sunset Crater Volcano.  The cinder cone volcano erupted most recently between 1040 and 1100, and has left an impressive 1000 foot cone, as well as cinder dunes.  The San Francisco volcanic field that engulfs the area, includes more than 600 hills and mountains.  In this area you can see a cinder cone volcano, a stratovolcano, and a shield volcano.

Sunset Crater Volcano and a lava flow.

A composite volcano.

Sunset Crater, a cinder cone volcano.

San Francisco Peaks, a stratovolcano.

Lava flow

Next to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is the Wupatki National Monument. During the 1100's the Pueblo people farmed, traded, and created communities in the volcano fields.  They built masonry dwellings using sandstone, limestone, and basalt, held together with a clay mortar.  The buildings included multi-level, multi-room structures that housed entire communities.

The Wupatki Pueblo.  It had about 100 rooms originally.

Wupatki Pueblo

Another view of Wupatki

The Wukoki Pueblo.  It was the tallest pueblo.

These are pueblos build in a box canyon.