In eastern Idaho, a few miles northwest of Idaho
Falls there is a special place that does not even seem of this earth. I suppose
because of that some people would see Craters of the Moon as creepy or even
terrifying but I love it. Its other-worldliness allows one to be transported to
another world or outer space.
When you get there, you have either driven
south (I write this as if it were a travel guide!) from the mountains or from
the flat farmland slowly rising from the other directions. It rests at the base
of the mountains and upper edge of the fertile Snake River Plain, so you will
have either been experiencing dry mountains or irrigated farmland only to see
this strange black eruption of once molten lava. Very little plant life adorns
this strange landscape, only a little bit of unique spring wildflowers, lichen,
and an occasional twisted juniper tree rising from the black rocks looking quite
different from the average juniper. The wind is constantly blowing down from
the mountains or up from the plains throughout the day but it settles after the
sun sets. This place is very windy.
On a clear night in autumn after the sun has set
and the winds die down, the sense of being in outer space is complete with the
darkness and the brilliance of the stars and Milky Way as the only light. Be
assured that you are miniscule and lost in deep space. I know that is probably
terrifying to some, but I find it comforting to be reminded that in the scheme
of the cosmos I’m very small. It melts my trouble away quicker than any of that
ice in those lava tubes of these craters melts. It’s a great place to go to be
reminded not only of your insignificance but the sheer miracle of your own
existence. That is the fantastic gift of Craters of the Moon.
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