Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
A road trip across southern and central Idaho took me to many beautiful places, including Craters of the Moon National Monument (and Preserve!). You know how Idaho potatoes are famous? Well you can thank the volcanic soil and the fine water from the massive aquifers that lie beneath Craters of the Moon. By the way, the name is perfect for this park. There are expansive plains of exposed lava rock that make it feel exactly like the surface of the moon. Or rather, how I imagine the surface of the moon would feel. I’ve never actually been to the moon.
Anywho, I actually drove through the park at sunset because my campground was a few miles further (farther?) down the road outside of Arco, Idaho. Speaking of which, that is a fantastic place to camp. The lights from Arco are mostly off at night, and anyway it’s a small town. This means that the night skies are absolutely incredible. And I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Pickle’s Place in Arco. Great burgers, cheap beer, and open much later than I ever would’ve expected given the remote location. So yeah, go to Pickle’s Place.
Lava Lake, Craters of the Moon, Idaho. June 2018.
Idaho Locals. June 2018.
Big Cinder Cone. June 2018.
Many more pictures from CotM to come, I have wayyyy more to go through.
Recap and Recommendations:
Craters of the Moon National Monument - Hikes, caves, and climbing the giant cinder cone. There’s a nice long driving loop too, if you are feeling lazy and out-of-touch with nature.
Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA - A solid campground close to Pickle’s Place
Pickle’s Place - I don’t know if there are other restaurant bars within a hundred miles of Arco, but it doesn’t matter because you should just go here.
Questions? Comments? Favorite menu items at Pickle’s Place? Friends with Pickle himself? Let me know below…
The Colors Utah. March 2015.
Arches National Park, Utah, United States
We stopped by Arches National Park during a cross-country road trip from North Carolina to California, way back in 2015. I was new to DSLRs at the time, but my amazing photography professor let me borrow his Canon 7D for the duration of the trip. It was a learning experience, to be sure, but I did my best.
Petrified Domes in Arches National Park, March, 2015.
I really wish I had been shooting RAW instead of JPEGs. Oh, the horror! But I guess it was difficult to carry two weeks worth of RAW shots on a single 32GB SD card. But I guess it was better than lugging around a backpack full of film canisters.
Tiny People Climbing on Double Arch. March 2015.
Delicate Arch in March, 2015.
Off-trail. March 2015.
Desert Mesa. March, 2015.
Vista. March 2015.
After an evening in Moab enjoying 3% ABV beer and a day exploring the park by car and on foot, it was time to head to the next in a series of beautiful Utah parks. Queue “On the Road Again”.
On the Road Again, Towards Capitol Reef National Park. March, 2015.
Austin, Minnesota
Welcome to Austin, Minnesota, home of the world famous SPAM museum and the fifth-ranked “Affordable Small Towns You Actually Want to Live In” according to a 2015 article on Realtor.com (written by Yuqing Pan no less).
The Entrance to the SPAM Museum. Austin, MN. July 2018.
Back in 2018 I was making my way from California to North Carolina, stopping to visit some of the most beautiful places in the United States. Yosemite, The Badlands, Craters of the Moon, and pretty much everywhere in Montana. Then I found myself in Minnesota for the first time ever. During a conversation with my dad where I was updating him on my cross-country progress, he asked if I was stopping to visit the SPAM museum. Amazingly, I had never even heard of it. So I punched Austin, Minnesota into the GPS and the rest is history. Thanks Dad.
So is it worth it? Depends on your travel preferences. Do you like stopping at weird tourist trap places like “The World’s Most Adjectivey Noun” (“The World’s Largest Spur” in Abilene, Kansas where I stopped with my brothers on a different cross-country trip comes to mind.) Then YES! You should most definitely add Austin, Minnesota to your trip itinerary. After all, SPAM is classic Americana. Just ask this Sir-Can-A-Lot (He eats ham and jam and SPAM-a-lot):
Sir-Can-A-Lot Statue, SPAM Museum. July, 2018.
Half Dome ever looming over Yosemite Valley, June 2018
Sierra Nevada, California
In the summer of 2018, I left the sun-soaked shores of Southern California and moved across the country back to North Carolina. After scarfing down one last Grand Slam at the Denny’s in Encinitas, I began the seven hour drive to one of the most beautiful and iconic National Parks on the planet: Yosemite.
Rather than taking the 405 through the heart of Los Angeles, I decided to head East a little ways and go around (LA traffic is the worst). This decision took me up Route 395 in between Death Valley and Sequoia National Forest, and boy was it a great decision. Once you get north of the small city of Ridgecrest, continuous mountain ranges line both sides of the road. I probably stopped at least 10 times to walk around and gawk. And to take pictures.
The most important stop of the drive was at the Hi Country Market and Hardware Store in Big Pine. If I was going to spend the night camping in the Yosemite Valley (and later Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon National Park, and The Black Hills) I’d need supplies. The friendly cashier in the store mentioned I should stop at Mono Lake on the way into Yosemite. I had never heard of Mono Lake, but she said it was right beside the eastern entrance to the park which is exactly where i was heading. So after loading up on ice, firewood, hotdogs, and beer I continued on up Route 395 towards Yosemite, and Mono Lake.
An island of Tufas in Mono Lake, California. June 2018.
Mono Lake is a highly carbonic lake in the Mono Basin east of Yosemite. With no outlet to the ocean, dissolved solids from rainwater runoff accumulate in the lake making it 2.5 times saltier and 100 times as alkaline as the ocean. Towers called “Tufas” line the edge of the lake to mark where springs brought calcium ions up from the ground and combined with the carbonates concentrated in the lake water, creating rock. These towers were underwater in the early 1900’s, but humans decided to divert some of the lake’s tributaries towards Los Angeles, causing the lake level to drop by almost 50 feet in a few decades (see also: The Salton Sea). Good job humans.
Near the edge of the lake is a sign that encourages you to dip your fingers in the water and rub them together to feel the water. So I did. It feels different, like a low-viscosity lubricant. Slippery. The same sign also invites you to have a taste. So I did. The water is salty (obviously) and bitter, but not altogether unpleasant (just don’t gulp it). You could definitely float on this lake easily. But I didn’t. I had camping to do, and the light was quickly fading.
Tufas on the shores of Mono Lake with lenticular clouds in the distance.
As the sun went down, I made my way West, into Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite is one of the most breathtaking places on Earth. One of my favorite photographers, Ansel Adams, shot some of the most iconic and well-recognized photographs here. If you haven’t been, you should make it a priority.
It took me more than two hours to get from Mono Lake to the Upper Pines campground, so it was well after dark before I arrived. My brother was waiting by the fire and we sat around catching up on things. A quick aside: most large national park campgrounds with bear populations have big metal boxes for you to lock up all of your food. If you keep it in your car, a bear might smash your window to get it. If you keep it in your tent… don’t do that. I had stashed my food and beer in the box when I arrived, so after my tent was all set up I grabbed a beer from the box, pushing the door shut without locking it, and returned to the fire. No less than 3 minutes later we heard a noise from the direction of the lock box. We turned around to see a small coyote darting away across the meadow with my entire bag of Cheetos. Lesson learned.
The next day I left my brother and went to explore. I wandered along the meadows and banks of the Merced River which meanders through the Yosemite Valley, staring up at the towering canyon walls on either side. I hiked to the base of Bridalveil Fall. And finally, I drove all the way up the canyon to Glacier Point to one of the most iconic views in the world.
It took about an hour and a half to get all the way to Glacier Point. A portion of that time was spent sitting in one of about 6 rows of cars, waiting for our turn to head up. Only a certain number of cars are allowed on the mountain road at a time, so if you have the opportunity (and don’t feel the urge to pull over every half mile to take pictures like I do) you should just take the bus. Either way, it’s worth your time.
Panorama of the Yosemite Valley on the way up to Glacier Point.
There is a small cafe with food up top, and I grabbed a pair of hotdogs and set off to find a spot away from the crowds. Jumping a barrier (if you are a National Parks Service employee, I definitely did not do this), I walked a little ways down the rock face and found a tiny cave with an amazing view (The Half Dome pictures from above, the Forest and Stone picture, and Deadpool glamour shot all came from this single spot). Stellar Jays flitted through the air alongside raptors. Squirrels eyed me curiously. And the hotdogs were surprisingly tasty. Not a bad day.
But I had miles to go before I reached North Carolina. My goal for the night was to make it to Reno. So I exited the park the way I had come in, to the East, by way of California State Route 120. The views on the drive out of the park were almost as spectacular as the Yosemite Valley itself. If you haven’t taken this route, I highly recommend it.
After exiting the park and turning North, I pulled over for one last parting view of Mono Lake at sunset. Onwards, to Reno. To adventure. And walking, exhausted and smelling of campfire and sweat, into my casino-hotel room to find it already occupied. But that’s a story for another post.
Darkness falls on Mono Lake. June 2018