An Introduction to Idaho

Craters of the Moon
National Monument 

 After saying goodbye to Maja and Shehzad, I headed north towards Idaho.  I saw a sign for the History of the Potato Museum, but got distracted by something and failed to look into it.  It made me smile to know such a thing exists though!

I kept going to Craters of the Moon National Monument.  There is harden lava fields of various ages and textures all over! The contrast between the hardened lava and the snowcapped mountains made it especially beautiful!  I went for a few hikes through the lava fields.  It’s amazing to get see the evidence of major geologic activity from so long ago!  It makes it possible to imagine what it was like when the volcanoes were actually erupting and lava was flowing everywhere!  I even got to camp among the lava.  I also was treated to the clearest sky with the most stars I have ever seen that evening!   

Craters of the Moon 
National Monument

The view from the road
just outside the cemetery

The next day, I went to Ketchum and saw Ernest Hemingway’s grave.  He sure did pick a beautiful spot for his final resting place!  Then, I drove up through the mountains towards Missoula.  Idaho is totally gorgeous!  There are mountains everywhere!  I especially enjoyed the portion of the drive that ran along a river with the mountains towering over it!  And, I learned that I wasn’t making it up about how clear the sky was the night before; Idaho has been proven to have the clearest/cleanest air in the continental United States!