Niagara of the West Shoshone Falls Taken 8-5-2011

Crater of the Moon National Monument

One of the places mom and I went to in July was Crater of the Moons National Monument.  Craters of the Moon National Monument is located along U.S. Route 20, southwest of the city of Arco, where we stayed.  Arco is located along the Big Lost River and is a gateway to the Lost River Valley.   Arco was first called “Root Hog” then they tried to change it to Junction but folks considered Junction to common.  So they named the town Arco after Georg von Arco an inventor and a pioneer in the field of radio transmission.  Arco was the first community in the world ever to be lit by electricity generated by nuclear power. 

Crater of the Moon was an interesting place to visit.  The landscape was created by volcanic eruptions.  Cracks in the earth's crust allowed lava to blast, plop, and flow onto the surface to form such unusual features as cinder cones, monoliths, and caves.  Two Hawaiian words - pahoehoe and aa describe two of the lava formations.  Pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy)  is smooth or ropy lava.  Cooler lava hardens on the surface' hotter, more fluid lava runs under it often leaving caves or tubes behind.  Aa (ah-ah) is the rough, jagged lava.  The molten lava is much less fluid and usually moves slower.  A Crust never hardens on the surface, but chunks of cooler rock tumble along the top and sides instead.  Aa can be impassable.