Brian and I had been talking about heading over to Eastern Idaho for a while. For him it was about recent memories of climbing peaks in the area with John and for me it was a tour down memory lane as these are my old stompin grounds. I grew up here.
Yes, this is what I remember about Eastern Idaho, June snow!
Craters of the Moon is a fascinating area plopped down in the middle of the upper Snake River Plain.
The next morning, Brian and I headed out for a big tour of the “Craters”
It is such an interesting landscape. Bare rock with vegetation trying to get a foothold.
In the distance, the Lost River Mountain with a fresh coating of June snow.
Brian pauses a moment to take in the view of this lava vent.
Tree images.
We stopped for a moment to visit with this youth trail crew. Kids from Arco who have landed a great summer job!
Distant peaks, on the right, Big Southern Butte, our objective for tomorrow.
Another image of an old snag.
We took some time to drop into one of the many lava tubes.
Brian emerges from the narrow exit.
The newest lava flows are only about 2000 years old and have almost no vegetation.
After a brief recover from the morning hike, we decided to take a cycling tour of the area.
Speianchi!
What a glorious afternoon.
Speianchi poses in front of a cinder cone.
Brain descends down towards the great plain of the Upper Snake River and back to camp.
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