Ice Caves and Craters of the Moon

It was all about volcanics. North of Twin Falls and the Snake Valley Plain is a very large area of lava plain. There is the 750 000 acres national park (monument) called Craters of the Moon and many acres on private land as well.

First we visited the Shoshone Indian Ice Cave. It's a private concern and a bit kitschy but the guide was very knowledgeable and the cave was fascinating. It's a lava tube, open at both ends, and when it was first found it was full of ice. The people of Twin Falls and other local citizens (in the days before refrigeration) naturally started to take the ice to cool their food and drinks. Then they blasted the entrance to allow easier access and consequently destroyed the process that created the ice in the first place!!

A few years ago the owner experimented with various ways of recreating a front wall and eventually got the design right and now the cave again operates like a refrigerator whereby air enters the cave at one end and departs the other. Water drips down through the layers of lava stones above and freezes. The current owners pump out water so that levels are maintained at a particular point. The result is a deep layer of ice on the floor of the cave. Silly us, visiting an ice cave without thinking that it might be cold in there! It was very hot outside and we never thought to take a jacket.Luckily the tour wasn't too long.

Ice in a lava tube

Then we travelled a short distance to the Craters of the Moon. It has a visitor centre and visitors are very well managed in order to protect the environment. It is a fascinating area and we were able to drive a loop that showed us various types of volcanic features and allowed us to stop to walk short trails.

These are fragments of a crater wall blown out by a later  eruption.

Apparently in early summer (this whole area is covered in snow in winter) some hardy wildflowers appear. We were too late to see them but there were some interesting signs of life.

Tansy Bush

And in a wetland near a farm we found these noisy birds, Sand Cranes.