Craters of the Moon National Monument - Part 1

I arrived at Craters of the Moon National Monument early the next morning, a Sunday, after having slept in my car at a rest area.  Craters of the Moon is about 15 miles southwest of Arco, Idaho and would be the furthest west I would make it on this trip.

In what was really the only time I missed something,  I arrived about 7 in the morning to find the campground full.  Looking around, I saw that there had been a Star Party the previous two nights.  I don't regret the time I spent at Two Medicine, but I think if I'd known this was going on, I'd have left earlier or pushed on the night before.  By 9am, the campground was nearly empty.

The sun rising over Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The vertical shadow on the left is from the sign announcing you're entering the park.

Sunrise.

This is from the first proper turnout and is not far from the actual park entrance.

One of the peaks.  This is an old volcano if I recall correctly.

A short nature walk behind the campground.

Even here in the middle of volcanic rock and scrub plants, there were flowers.

Along the hiking trail.

This tree had a disease called Witch's Broom.  Thousands of trees were destroyed in the past because they were deemed unsightly.  As conservation methods and the National Parks mission has evolved, these trees are no longer cut down.  This particular tree was dead, but it had died of natural causes.

A closeup of the broom.