Out West day Fourteen

   Ready to leave early morning.  We didn't see any mountain lions though I'm pretty sure there were lions and bear in the area.  On the way out we decided to walk to the little lake there.  We got some fantastic mirror-like reflection pictures before heading back down the narrow, winding, washboardy, gravel canyon road.  Thank the Lord we got back safely.  Got on to the 95 south towards McCall, then the Sawtooth mountains, Redfish lake, down the gorgeous Salmon river gorge to its headwaters.  Arrived at Craters of the Moon just after 5:30pm and had time, after getting our campsite, to drive around the loop road.  Full moon tonight!

7 Devils lake (I call it 7 Angels lake)

If you turn sideways, in the reflection you can see a grotesque monkey-face but I don't know where the 7 comes from.

I didn't know maidenhair ferns grew in the wild here

Hoo noo broon coo. This was at the very top by the campground.

Looking back at the area we camped in.

Overall on our trip we saw very little signs of fall colour.  Here at the top we saw a little but sometimes the valleys had more colour than the mountains.  Notice the dirt track we're on!

Lake at McCall.  The dark line of stuff on the beach is....wait for it....

Ants!

Mr and Mrs Canine stop briefly at the coffee shop.

Beautiful looking floating/rafting/kayaking along the Salmon river!  This is one place we all agreed we need to return to!

Another Sportsmobile.  Wonder if it's the same one we saw at Yellowstone.

Getting closer to the Sawtooth

What a lovely picnic area

 

Leaving the Sawtooth but not the views

At the headwaters of the Salmon, looking over the Salmon valley

Fascinating how the salmon come over 400 miles upriver to spawn here

We saw a sign for hot springs so turned in, only to find they had already closed for the season! Surely they re-open for winter!

Miles and miles of lava fields

It's truly amazing that anything can survive in this wasteland

This shows the supposed millions of years between eruptions.  Of course we know better - they happened soon after the upheaval of the flood about 4000 years ago.

A large barren cinder cone

Almost at the top

The photographer-straggler came up from behind and PASSED me!  Shoot.

King of the castle.  This shadow gave me an idea...

I'll never be this skinny again!

This was a pretty big tree to be growing on this totally rocky/magmussy cone.  I wonder if they've dated it?

A miniature volcano

Inside is a big hole

This is a hole in another spatter cone I think, maybe not??

Stuff grows...

So interesting

The moon starts to rise at sunset

Our campsite

Full moon