Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

On our way north this May, we visited Craters of the Moon. We had been intrigued by this unusual place and had wanted to visit for years. The 750,000 acre volcanic area is nothing like any other place we have visited. The lava came from long fissures across the Snake River Plain known as the "Great Rift", not from one single volcano.

 Our first hike was to the top of Inferno Cone, a large cinder cone. This is a view from the top.

 Dwarf Purple Monkeyflower growing out of the cinders.

 Another view from the top.

As we work our way to the bottom, a group of schoolchildren hike up.

We also hiked up to the rim of a large crater.

The trail to the cave area. The caves are lava tubes of varying sizes.

 The most interesting hike we did was the Indian Tunnel. You can see Claudia in the blue jacket. This is the only cave where flashlights are not required as there are enough holes to give natural light.

 Looking back towards the entrance.

 It's difficult to see, but Claudia is at the left edge of the lighted area.

 The tunnel ahead and the small hole to the left is where we are headed.

You can see light coming in the hole we had to crawl out of.near the top of the picture.

 The small  hole next to Claudia's walking stick is where we came out of the tunnel.

 Lava flows as far as you can see.

 Interesting shapes in the lava.

Larry inside Beauty Cave. Claudia stayed out in the warm sunshine for this one.

 Inside Beauty Cave. The floor was covered in slushy ice. Very dark.

Our campsite.

Bryce Canyon National Park - Flowers

We never get tired of photographing flowers. These are a small sampling of the ones we saw in Bryce.

We almost missed seeing these, as they are small and close to the ground. We had never seen this kind of flower before. It's amazing the wonders you see if you take the time to be aware of your surroundings, both big and small.

Bryce Canyon National Park

The only other time we visited Bryce was in the summer of 1989. On this trip the weather was cooler and we were able to spend more time admiring the colorful  hoodoos (pillars of rock formed by erosion).

 Natural Bridge

 You can see one of the trails disappearing into a hole in the rock.

Looks like a giant alligator.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area - Part 2

We couldn't visit here without going to the Glen Canyon Dam. It was a very controversial project. There were those that wanted the power generating dam and those who wished to preserve the beauty of the canyon.

 Looking at the visitor center and one end of the dam.

 From the dam overlook trail.

 Also from the dam overlook trail looking down river.

 The hanging gardens was the destination on our next hike. The water seeps from between the rock layers providing a perfect place for plant life which clings to the rock. It was a hot day and the cool, damp air here was very refreshing.

 The rock overhanging the gardens was massive and beautiful.

 Looking out from the gardens towards Lake Powell.

 The only flower in bloom in the hanging gardens was the beautiful stream orchid. They were all over the wall.

Most of our trail was marked by rows of rocks.

 Interesting layers of rock.

 Looking back toward the hanging gardens which are in what looks like a cave in the center of the photo.

Springtime in the desert.

Almost back to the car.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

On our migration north, the next stop after the Grand Canyon was Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. The recreation area straddles northern Arizona and southern Utah. We set up camp near Lone Rock Beach for exploring the area.

 A view of Lone Rock from our camp. The rock is much larger than it looks in this picture. The white spots down by the beach are RV's and the white specks in the water are boats.

We visited Lees Ferry, this was the only place a wagon road could be built to connect Utah with northeastern Arizona. It's a popular starting point for raft trips down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

 Lees Ferry Fort was built in 1874 in anticipation of trouble between the Navajo and settlers. It served briefly as a trading post.

 Another of the stone buildings at the fort.

 Nice views along the river trail.

 

Another short hike we took was to Lonely Dell Ranch. This pioneer cemetery was used from 1874 to 1933.

 Near the ranch.

 Lonely Dell Ranch. They used irrigation for a large garden and orchard. Nice contrast of colors.

There were some very large balanced rocks along the road on the way back to camp. For perspective, there is a person near the left edge of the picture.

We really enjoyed visiting Horseshoe Bend. Amazing.

Zooming in on some kayaks down in the river at Horseshoe Bend.