Road Trip 2012: Leg One - Craters of the Moon, Arco, Idaho and EBR1

Our road trip this year started after the summer camp open house late Friday afternoon. We were able to make good time out of the city and arrived in Great Falls by nine that evening. After a quick dinner it was time to hit the Fairfield Inn for a one night stay.

On Saturday we were in for a six hour drive to Arco, ID, which has the distinction of being the first city light by nuclear power.

Near Arco, one can visit EBR1, the world’s first electricity producing breeder reactor. While this is of note, the real reason for our visit to the Arco area, was to see the Crater’s of the Moon National Monument.

Between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago, the Craters of the Moon Lava Field formed during eight major eruptive periods. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles. The Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields formed contemporaneously about 2,200 years ago. ~ http://www.nps.gov/crmo/naturescience/geologicactivity.htm

I can honestly say that our visit to Crater’s of the Moon National Monument greatly exceeded my expectations. As you are driving towards the monument, you pass through flat plains of dry prairie that suddenly turn into this other worldly mass of grey, black and reddish brown. At first, you blink your eyes a few times and wonder if the heat waves rising off the plus 35˚C parched land are playing tricks on your eyes. Really, it is like seeing a reverse mirage where there is not an ocean of water but undulating black lava! It is truly a sight to behold.

I can not imagine what the Mormon settlers who were following Goodale’s Cutoff on that portion of the Oregon Trail were thinking when saw that black lava for as far as the eye can see. Considering the landscape reminded all of us of “Hell, Grand Cayman Island” they must have felt like Moses in the desert!

We did the seven mile loop of the monument where we took several small hikes. We were able to see the youngest of the lava flows and some of the monoliths. I found it quite interesting to learn that many of these monoliths were rafted here by the lava flows and that the others were formed by bits of splatter cone sides ripping off like a clay vase on a potter’s wheel when it becomes lopsided!

This site gives visitors a chance to think through their impact on the world around us. In the Devil’s Orchard, we learned about how Witches Broom (Mistle Toe) twists and snarls the branches into twisted masses. Ironically, this is part of a natural relationship between to living plants that leaves these trees looking quite different from our usual expectations of what a tree should look like. At one point in the history of the monument, a head ranger had decided that these trees should be cut down because they were unsightly. It was a very good opportunity for all of us to question how we react to and what we think about things that are different. Without this great information about why the trees were so twisted and the chance to really think about what we preceive beauty to be, we might have dismissed these trees as just being what happens when you grow through lava!

We hiked up the steep Inferno Cone where we were rewarded with a breath taking view of this other worldly location. As we looked around at the sea of black lava, I could understand why some of the Apollo space missions had trained here for their time on the moon. 

After that we were off see the Splatter cones which were both larger and deeper than I imagined.

Our most interesting stop on the loop was exploring the Lava Tubes! We toured through Indian Tunnel  lava tube which was nice and cool as compared to scotching hot heat above ground. It was surprising how large the lava tubes. CubJ did a great job of negotiating the rocky terrain and climbing over some of the lava boulders despite his cast.

We highly recommend visiting this amazing National Monument! Craters of the Moon, receives eight thumbs up from the 4J’s!  

After our busy day of exploring these other worldly sights, we stopped at the local cafe, “The Pickle Place”, home of the atomic burger. I love eating at little cafes where you can sit at the counter, half the menu is deep fried and you know that it is all good food. The Pickle Place did not disappoint. I ate the best deep fried pickles that were crunchy with a light batter that rendered them more like dill pickle chips than those greasy pickle wedges that you usually get served. The Atomic Burgers were tasty and the pie was outstanding!

We stayed at the Arco/Craters of the Moon KOA in KK1!

This was a lovely little campground run by a very nice family. Each evening, they showed the London Olympics via projector in the air conditioned shop and they offered yummy ice cream for only one dollar a scoop! The kids really enjoyed riding the little bikes that they rent at the office all over the campground like banshees.

Our fire pit and picnic table behind our cabin were well used each evening as we relaxed. We watched the kids enjoy the bikes, read around the fire and watched the stars appear by the thousands. If you are going to visit Craters of the Moon, we highly recommend this quiet little KOA.

EBR1, this was the world first breeder reactor. This nuclear reactor was built in 1949 to test the principal of nuclear physics theory that additional fuel was being produced during fission. A by-product of this nuclear reactor was the ability to both use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and to power the nearby town of Arco’s street lamps. Considering that this was post WWII, showing people that nuclear energy could be positively was very important.

This was an incredibly interesting place to tour. I learned a great deal about nuclear power and it greatly improved my opinion of its use. In light of the accidents that there have been in my lifetime, Chernobyl this past year in Japan, I must say it always seemed far riskier than it actually is. Knowing the awesomely destructive power that nuclear reactions can have when used in times of war, it is not something that I have on the positive side of the tally sheet normally.

It was amusing to see how slack security was in the 1950's. There was one security guard in charge of protecting the nuclear rods in the evenings which was a stark contrast to the current security at the other nuclear sites in the surrounding area. We noted several high security areas complete with serious gate security as we made large 90˚ turns in the middle of nowhere to give great privacy to testing areas. Hilariously, this was all prior to finding out that some the sites still being used in the Idaho National Laboratory  area require that their employees are bussed in and out of the site! I am not normally a big conspiracy theory person but all of this security, bussing people in and silo domes are enough to make anyone feel like something “else” is going on. LOL

A great deal of this facility seemed pretty rudimentary. The best example of this was the SCRAM button which would immediately shut down EBR1 in case of a meltdown. At the other end of SCRAM button was scientist standing with an AXE. His job was to chop the cord that would drop the nuclear rod into a hole thereby stopping the reaction instantly! Can you imagine selling that as your fail safe in today’s world, a man with an axe! It sounds like a bad horror movie far more than it does a serious scientific facility. I am glad safety protocols have improved over the years.

I think that the littleJs learned some interesting things while they were touring EBR1 and that they will remember visiting this site for years to come. While I was excited to visit this historic location, I can say that it too exceeded my expectations for both interest value and educational content. As our final stop in the Arco area, I can honestly say that this was a fantastic place to visit on a road trip! Where else can you visit lava fields, climb through lava tubes, feel like you’re driving around an “Area 51” testing site, learn about nuclear fission and see old ICB silos being used for storing tractors?