Home from WESTERN U.S.!
Sep. 10-15 2022
PART 5
We interrupt our roads to bring you some great Craters of the Moon scenery!
More Craters of the Moon.
This stunning formation was referenced by many tourist websites. I saw folks walking up this formation and chewing bubble gum throughout.
This is called a spatter cone and has a trail winding up it.
A spatter cone is a mound made of lava fragments that melted together.
We now return you to roads, already in progress.
More Craters of the Moon scenery to love the hurting away.
There was an extremely - and I mean extremely - strenuous trail to one of the park's main exhibits. This might be on that trail.
A cave is sort of like a people's tunnel. This cave is on that rough trail. Vacationers can get a free permit to see this cave, as long as they promise not to wear items they've worn in other caves - in order to stop the spread of white-nose syndrome, a fungus that afflicts bats. Caves in the area once provided shelter for local people.
I only went a little bit into the cave, because the ground was a big pile of rocks I had to climb over. I wosted a whole free permit! Also, this trail is where we lost our keys. We feared they were lost down in all these rocks. Scroll down for the suspenseful ending of that story...
Keep scrolling...
The keys were later found.
This almost has to be going back southwest on US 20/26/93.
US 20/26/93 in Carey.
ID 75 at US 26/93 in Shoshone.
US 26/93 splits in Shoshone.
US 93 crosses under I-84 near Twin Falls. We went through Twin Falls during my 1996 trip, and all I remember is that a woman pulling off a side road appeared to be trying to blow a bubble without using any gum. Several years later, a campaign commercial in Kentucky used footage of an opponent doing the same.
Some good scenery near Twin Falls.
US 93 crosses the Snake River north of Twin Falls.
US 93 takes us to Nevada - a state I hadn't visited since 2002!
US 93 in Jackpot, Nev.
The mountain at left may be China Mountain.
US 93 again.
US 93 ushers in one of my favorite stretches of this trip, as we blast through always scenic northeastern Nevada.
I took US 93 going the other way on my 1996 trip.
This bridge over US 93 is probably for wildlife.
Another wildlife bridge.
US 93 approaching Wells.