What, you didn’t know Idaho had lava fields? Well, join the club. Until a few days ago, neither did I.
Driving along Highway 26, just a few miles from Craters Of The Moon National Monument, I saw what looked like recently turned earth. I mean, it was black. But like big chunks of black earth. Car-sized chunks. Then I saw that it didn’t look like fresh dirt. It almost looked like asphalt – 3-4 foot thick sections of asphalt, broken up with a bulldozer. And then I realized it wasn’t any of those things.
“It’s a lava field!” I said to Michael.
“A what?”
When I first saw the words lava field on the map the day before, while plotting our route towards Driggs, I really didn’t know what to make of it. I’d read about Mammoth Cave, which is an old lava tube, but nowhere had I read anything about a lava field. I figured I’d know it when I saw it.
And here it was.
I don’t think my pictures do it justice, but if you’re ever in southern Idaho, you totally need to check this place out. It’s so cool! Who knew there was an ancient lava field here?
My only complaint is that all the trails inside the National Monument are too short. We did go on a trail run, a trail called the Tree Molds, which parallels a lava field. Check that one off the bucket list, I guess. I mean, this trip is a bucket list, and it’s turning out to be full of cool stuff I never realized I wanted to do. Running across an ancient lava field is one of those things.
We debated about paying to camp inside the National Monument. We’d arrived too late for the cave tour (which was at 10am and 1pm daily), and if we camped, then we could go the next morning. That meant we’d miss our Saturday window for the Driggs post office. And the dogs wouldn’t be able to run free – we’d have to keep them tied up.
At this point it was 4pm and the campground didn’t open until 4:30, and for some reason that was the deciding factor. We pressed on, stopping for the night at a BLM trailhead called Twentymile. There was nobody there so we just camped at the trailhead. BLM rules, right? The area reminded me a little bit of Valley of the Gods, down in Utah. It’s a BLM site that’s the free version of Monument Valley.
This is what the trailhead looked like:
Totally free. It was a great place to watch the full moon come up. Although I’d love to be in this area with a new moon, too. There’s nothing around here – not for miles, unless you count the Idaho National Laboratory. I think all their stuff is underground anyway, since we drove across it after leaving Craters of the Moon and didn’t see a damn thing. I bet these are super-dark skies.
We got an early start to Saturday. The Driggs post office is open on Saturdays from 10am to noon, and we did not want to miss that window. It was such a pretty drive, and I can finally say we saw the part of the state where they grow potatoes. I’ve been looking! We’ve been in the state for nearly three weeks and I’d yet to see a potato field, or any evidence of where Idaho’s famous potatoes come from. Saturday morning we drove past acres and acres of fields, punctuated with the occasional long, silver sheds that hold the spuds. We even passed a potato truck, which was exciting for me, at least.
I’m happy to report our success: we arrived at the Driggs Post Office at 10:30am, and left with our sleeping bags at 10:35 am.
We ended up hanging out in Driggs for a few days. I mean, with this view, how could you not?
And yeah, those are big clouds overhead. The sun just doesn’t want to shine for us up here. Really bad weather was supposed to arrive by Thursday the 22nd, in the form of rain and snow. So we decided to ride Grand Targhee and then head down to Utah. Ride Park City, and then head down to Moab.
You might have seen Michael’s post on Instagram – you do follow GoGoTacoNegro on Instragram, right? – but here’s a nice picture he took of me:
Grand Targhee was a blast! Unfortunately for us, though, the resort decided its mountain bike season had ended on Sunday the 18th. They pulled all the trail markers and maps. We arrived to ride on the 19th. Luckily we had our own map, and after a few turn-arounds and shrugs and “I don’t know, let’s just keep riding uphill” we got our bearings. Personally I think we were there at the perfect time. We had it to ourselves! And I’ve never seen orange aspen leaves before.
If you ever find yourself in Driggs, Idaho, I highly recommend heading over to Grand Targhee. I also highly recommend going to the local grocery store in Driggs, Braulim’s. That place is HUGE and it puts Whole Foods to shame. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a grocery store so much before.
As much as I like this corner of Idaho, I’m excited to move on to Utah. I’m ready for warmer (read: drier) weather. Plus, we can spend as much time as we want in Moab. In all our years of vacationing there (we’d go about every other year), we’ve never had that luxury before. I’m already dreaming of riding the Magnificent Seven, Klonzo, Navajo Rocks, Slickrock, and Sovereign trails… and running the Fisher Towers trail… so many possibilities!