Crossing America 2013: Day 83: Arco, ID

Stop 51 / State 30: Arco, ID

I had looked into several routes for getting to Idaho from Jackson Hole, WY and had just about given up trying to find one that didn't involve going through a fairly high pass (not 10,900 feet high like we did in Colorado, earlier in our trip, but still, high and steep. I was leaning toward the Teton Pass.

Kristen mentioned our dilemma to someone yesterday and learned about a route that is just a little bit longer and follows the Snake River downhill all the way out of the Rockies:

We saw a lot of people fishing, rafting and having fun in the water:

After crossing the Idaho border, we followed a long reservoir for quite a few miles:

Then it was back to the Snake River. The next couple of shots were taken from the rest area where we stopped for lunch:

I should mention that, all along this stretch of road, we saw eagles' nests on top to of the utility poles. Often the eagles were sitting in them.

Once we settled into our campsite in Arco, we took off for Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Kristen has positive memories from when her family camped at Craters of the Moon when she was young. Craters of the Moon was a must on our list of places to visit.

The park is the closest thing that I've seen on the mainland to the lava fields in Hawaii Volcanos National Park. Hawaii is still active where the last eruption here was 2000 years ago (the hotspot has shifted and is now under Yellowstone). It's pretty dry here so the vegetation hasn't broken the lava down (as is the case near Hilo where they've had recent eruptions but the dense rain forest breaks the lava down in just a couple of years). There is vegetation here but it's mostly small pines, sagebrush and a few varieties of wild flowers.