I first visited Craters in the early 1960s and spent the next four years, along with my brother, exploring. My Dad was the Chief Ranger and our summers we were free to run from dawn to dinner time. I also worked there as a seasonal ranger in the early 1970s. The Craters are my home. The yellow plant you zoomed in on is rubber rabbit brush and the small grey plant is a type of buckwheat. Greatly enjoyed your video and found myself naming all the cones and remembering all the times climbing them.
As a photographer, I have learned to get my “clear” atmosphere shots early in the day. As the land heats up, the clouds build and the humidity often increases, and the haze increases. But mostly, you are getting the wild fire smoke.
I suspect that the overnight dew settling from cooling brings down the moisture to the ground and the particulates with it. Then as you say the daytime heating brings the water back up as humidity. Thus even wild fire smoke is partially cleared in the morning unless there is heavy inflow all night. Plus the water in the air as humidity is seen as haze as well.
Finally COTM in the field! I did a volcanic Western USA drive in '97 starting with Yellowstone and ending with Mt Shasta but COTM was the most memorable because the volcanic features are human-scale and more interactive than, say, a giant caldera.
I'm with you about avoiding the 3-ring circus… Yeah, 274 feet brought a chuckle. My experience matches yours in terms of air quality and clarity. My experience is that it's true even without smoke to deal with. "Did First Nation people sit here and watch this?" I don't know, but if it were me, I certainly would. I've been watching the Iceland volcano on RU-vid for weeks!
wait...my cabin door (the one with the Cedar tree in the doorway, often a photo op) opened on the tourist migration route from the Yosemite Lodge bus terminal to Yosemite Falls...never to me were they a "circus"...it's a Clark's Nutcracker! (JM smacking his forehead...)🙄
Thanks for the tour Nick. Each time I’ve been through this area, it was 110 dg. We were on motorcycles, so doing the trails were not in the cards. I’m hoping to go back sometime, when temps are a little more moderate. You’re spot on about the plain! We rode by lava fields for hours. It was awe inspiring! It had to be an amazing sight for the 1st Nation people who witnessed these eruptions.
I was there the second week of June last year and the temp was comfortable. Nevertheless, I made sure that I had a hydration pack similar to a Camelbak. Having hiking poles came in handle where the trail crossed a lava field.
It really makes this place come alive after having watched the Iceland Eruption for the last seven months or so! You can actually see how it formed, and why it all looks that way!
You continue to provide some of the best video on RU-vid in my humble opinion. I really appreciate your insights into our geology in the Pacific Northwest! Thank You so much!
Just as for Nick, CTM holds special memories for me. As a child in the early sixties we would pack up the old station wagon and drive from Idaho Falls to Craters for a picnic. I especially remember going into lava tubes, and how frightened I was, until Dad picked me up and carried me. My wife and I go there every time we are close to it, as it’s still one of my favorite places, especially in the spring when wildflowers abound.
I've always enjoyed checking out COM. I usually spend a week kicking around in the mountains over there. Nick reminds me of a joke we'd always talk about from packing mules with the occasional rock for ballast. "One of these days a geologist is going to be in the middle of these mountains, look down, and wonder how the heck a rock from the Wallowas ended all the way over here".
I'm watching this in June of 23. Very enjoyable. Last night I was watching the live cam from Kilauea. It was directed at a spatter cone that has formed at the edge of the crater wall in this current eruption. Seeing that last night makes seeing this spatter cone in COTM this morning easy to imagine when it was active. I can also remember looking into a spatter cone at Craters in the early 1980s. I enjoy the hikes with Nick! Yes smoke does dye down at night then build up through the day. We've had some many summers of heavy smoke now in the Wenatchee Valley that I've learned that. My asthma has cleared almost completely but is now only triggered by smoke. This has caused me to pay attention to the patterns through the day.
Don't apologize about your breathing Nick, we would worry if you were not breathing. The smoke during the night could be settled down with the night dew.
Hi Nick, a resident of Caldwell, ID, a victim of COPD I wake up with California’s most famous export every morning and go to bed with it at night. It has been getting worse every year. I enjoy your lectures on Northwest Geology and would enjoy one in person. I graduated from BSU with a BFA, two of my favorite science 101 classes were Geology and Astronomy. Enjoy your reunion at ISU. The only bad rock is the one that has never been kicked down the hill.
Your school must have been richer than mine. We had iodine for wipeouts. At home it was mecurichrome. Some friends had hydrogen peroxide at home. Bactine was just too expensive.
@@markpashia7067 I remember that little brown bottle of Merthiolate we had as kids. The red stuff. They'd put it on your scrape, and then blow on it because it burned so bad. That stuff was torture! It had the same pain relieving properties as setting yourself on fire. lol They finally figured out that pouring mercury in an open wound wasn't a great idea and outlawed the stuff.
Your observation about the haze makes sense. It is, after all, particulate matter, so settles in the calm air of the night. During the day thermals mix up the lower layers of the atmosphere and carry the stuff higher up again. Turbulence of air pockets of varying density may even affect clarity directly by refraction.
Also since you asked about young basaltic flows in Western USA...Lots of them in New Mexico and Arizona, like Carrizozo in NM and Sunset Crater in AZ which is only a thousand years old
@@DrewskisBrews There's a continental rift going right thru' the middle of NM called the Rio Grande Rift that drives a lot of volcanism in NM. It's supposedly "failed" in that it's no longer pulling NM (and the continental USA) apart, but magma is still making its way up to shallow depths (see the Socorro Magma Body for the "latest" magma intrusion into NM).
@@larry8lo I'll have to look into that. I know there is one in the region in which I live, Kansas (Mid Continent Rift, runs all the way up to the Great Lakes). There are some unusual...magmatic? volcanic?...features in Kansas (kimberlites, lamproites), but they are much older, and I don't know if they are related to the MRS. Hard to study, because everything is buried under sediment. There is more going on beneath the plains (in terms of geologic interest) than most people realize.
If you want to see how the combo of pahoehoe and aa formed, watch the early Icelandic eruption videos of Gutn Tog and others. The flow is very fluid, but it travels a long way down gently sloping valleys, which allows the surface to cool. As the liquid lava continues flowing underneath, the stiff surface buckles and folds into aa-like jumbles.
I remember my first time coming here for a school field trip from Bellevue. I spent the entire time trying not to step on any cracks because as the saying went for kids in the early 90’s, if you step on a crack, you’ll break your mamas back. 🤷🏻♂️😂
Beautiful textures of the basalt. Sometimes it looks like crocodile skin, petrified wood, dried sponge, animal's skeleton... giving the strange feeling of life and death in a mineral world. I can imagine the Native American people watching this in fascination 2000 years ago the way people do now in Iceland. Very nice field video as always.
We loved camping at the Craters on our way between Nevada and Montana, preferring the quiet 2-lane roads to the circus of the Interstate. Thanks so much for sharing this video! It brings back memories.
@@kczcb4697 So far, so good 🤪 Do you realize we'll be coming up on 2 years this coming March since the first "Nick At Home" live-streamed? Mind-boggling!
@@jessiebunker-maxwell3914 yeah the first one was on st. Patrick’s day I think. I still watch nicks stuff. Glad he’s teaching in front of larger classes. We were spoiled getting his time and information for free basically.
I will not ever be able to visit CotM (or do any of the hikes up and down mountains that you do), but your personal and unrehearsed meanderings and observations help me *see* these astounding geological wonders. Bless you.
Winds die down at night as it cools. When the day heats up the winds start to increase and bring in the smoke from the west. That is a general statement with a lot of possible variables.
I was here on July 7th, 2021. I am from Atlanta, Georgia. I loved this place so much. It was amazing being there. I was right there with you, Nick. Thank you for taking us on your journey.
My stomping grounds, except I mostly go to the southern portion of the Monument. I can be in it in about 1/2 hour. Going to go out there in a few weeks for a few days of camping with friends. No entrance fees. Few people. Plenty of cattle and sheep. Some interesting spots. Like Pillar Butte. And a flow of AA that I call The Wall of Death. Indians made two trails over it just over a mile long instead of walking 10+ miles around it. Back in the 1970's a rancher used a bulldozer and generally following one of the trails cut a road over it. Can still see a few remnants of the trail. Road is an easy drive but kind of spooky. Drive it with your windows down so you can hear your tires on broken glass.
Thought it looked like something my Dad referred to as “flocking”back in Virginia. I live in Idaho and while ranging around have seen this stuff and admired its ability to grow (like those trees he mentions) seemingly out of no soil. Almost always see them growing on decomposed granite. CHEERS!!
Last time I was at Craters, all the trails were either crushed cinder lined with two by four lumber, or just dirt and rock where people had been stumbling along. 1957 I think. My mother got sick from the gases coming from the vents scattered through the area. We were returning home from Yellowstone Park, so We The Kids were suitably unimpressed. When I took my wife and kids there in the early 1980s, the kids had the same idea, but my wife and I found it quite interesting.
The smoke is thicker later in the day because, in general the winds pick up as the day wears on and drop in speed as night comes on. This cloud of smoke that increases during the night shades the land in the morning. This reduses the morning ground temp and so the fire is less active in the morning. As the day wears on the winds in general pick up and blow the smoke away from the fire and the Sun hits the ground with higher enegy. That is what I have learned this season. Great show! I must recommend above the ankle boots for that walk!
hi, walked around here in 1957. as a kid we picked up rocks, hauled to michigan, dad had a great camera, look for photos, maps, postcards. and rocks piled around.
On a clear day, I can see COTM from my house 105 miles away. The lava is broken by frost action. A ah is seen at the ends of the flows where its cooler. Great Southern Butte is a Rhyolite 'spear'.
I had a Toyota tercel also loved it. It was a stick shift which I didn't know how to drive when I got it used from coworker cheap. My friend gave 2 lessons and off I went. Of course I kept killing the motor at signals for awhile but got better. Car went almost 200000 miles. Fond memories.
We were at the monument a few weeks ago. We only spent one night camping. While hiking on the trails, we saw many signs of human erosion along the trails and into the lava flows. So much to see here, so we will return in early October to explore more of the lava fields. Thanks for sharing your insights!
I like going to the Craters in the dead of winter when there is fog. The hoar frost covering everything really makes one think you are in a different world. The haze or smoke you're seeing is from the large California fire that is burning near Lake Tahoe. Smoke density depends a lot on the wind currents. Some days it's clear, and other days, there would be no way you'd see any mountain range.
There's nothing like standing next to an active spatter cone, vent, or fissure. Exploring the old ones is fun too. Some you can crawl into over here in Hawaii. Because they're very young they're also very colorful. Good work avoiding people. Not always easy in crowded parks.
This time of year the wind blows out of the N.E., and shifts to S.W around 11:00 AM. So.clear in the morning and smoke from the fires in the afternoon.
Wonderful lecture and analysis. Blew me away. We drive through these areas from time to time and wonder about just what we are looking at. It's the journey that gets you where you want to be, not always the destination.
Nick, I have always been fascinated with the area called the "Mt Adams volcano field" south and west of Mt Adams. Also amazing to me is the fact that Mt Adams sits way east of the Cascade divide and Mt St Helens sits way west of the divide. And they are almost exactly east and west from each other. Hope you can shed some light.
In 2013 my wife and I visited Idaho and The Craters of The Moon. It was amazing to see all those volcanic features of that park. Then in 2019 we went to La Palma and there also we saw the effect of the lava flows and volcanic ashes. We stayed in a little village called Todogue which is as we speak being totally destructed bij the outburst of the Cumbre Vieja.
Looks just like last year's Icelandic Volcano activity area, interesting. It made deep liquid flows of basalt but also threw pumice and cinders from the same vents. That area kept moving where the cones were and flowed vigorously for many months. Haven't been to this park so thanks for the tour.
Outside of Glacier and Yellowstone, Craters was the last existence of grizzlies in the contiguous states....down near the south end of the Craters conservation area. Had grizzlies later than 1918. Just another interesting fact about Craters.
@@ResortDog LOL...gossip isn't science. Before Craters was named as a Monument, there was a known population of grizzlies on the Idaho desert. It caused such place names as Bear Trap Cave, and Bear Den Butte. Both near the southern end of what is now the Craters Conservation area. Those bears caused the sheepmen of that era a lot of problems until they were eliminated. The weather had to be much wetter back in those days. No way grizzlies could survive there now....sadly. An occasional black bear is seen on the desert, but they don't stay long.
We were here at CotM just before you on 8/27. We were fortunate as there was no smoke to be seen on that day. However, after heading south of the Coumbia River just past Mt. Hood, we started to have smoke and it persisted for almost 700 miles; starting around Newberry crater, through Lasen, Shasta, Lake Tahoe, and all the way south until Death Valley before it finally cleared. Really thought about your teachings while around some incredible multi-colored formations on Cali SR-190 (halfway betwn Father Crowley overlook and Panamint Sprngs Resort). The rocks in this one area were deep purple next to areas of striped and splotched pinks, yellows, greens, reds, and more. While mostly sedimentary and not much igneous, I wish I could have heard your commentary on this incredible geologic structure.
Thanks for letting us visit COTM with you! We love that place! We've visited twice by following all the back roads and staying off the interstates. . What a GREAT EXPERIENCE! Laughed as you tried to avoid people.
Lassen Volcanic National Park has cinder cones and lava fields in addition to the main volcano. The last eruption from the volcano was early 1900s and there are photographs of it.
Thanks for tour. I love to get out and see new terrain, but was not able due to knees and unknownst to me heart blockages that left me gasping for air. Now, after triple bypass last spring I hope to be able to resume rambling and rockhounding. Again, thanks for sharing with us hoi polloi and keeping us out of your hair on the trails.
Flagstaff Arizona, Sunset crater is about 900 years old, spatter cone, and cinder cones surround the area from many older eruptions. Over 600 formations in the surrounding area. Lots of native American history in the area from before the eruption of Sunset crater and after. Great drive called Sunset crater Wupatki loop road with incredible views of the Painted desert, worth the drive.
Amazing to put into perspective the idea of a solid 2 hour drive through 'featureless terrain ", geologically speaking of course. I much adore how well these videos make me feel as though I'm there, and learning something.
Growing up in West Virginia, cinders were the residue of burned coal. They were used to spread the streets when covered with snow or ice. We visited COM last August in the midst of the COVID Dem Panic, there were few license plates from Idaho, just CA, OR, WA where everything had been shut down. Your wanderings at COM added a positive dimension to our experience there. We are four year transplants form Ca to ID, and love to explore our new neighborhood in ID, MT,WA.
Sunset Crater Volcano in Arizona is much like this but the lavas and the cinder cone is less than 1000 years old. I've also been to Capulin Volcano in New Mexico, which is part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field and has a road to the crater rim. A fascinating place for volcanoes in the Western U.S. which deserves mention is the Mono-Inyo Volcanic Field in east central California. There, a chain of volcanic cones ranging from spatter cones to lava domes stretches from Mono Lake to Mammoth Mountain and is on the western edge of the Long Valley Caldera. The field was active as recently as 150 years ago.
While I was out in Utah near Cedar City and Brian Head I came across the volcanic field in the Markagunt Plateau. That was a total surprise to see the lava flows in the middle of a forested region. Other worldly.
I spend a lot of time out there, side by side county, very hot in August, the spring wildflowers are amazing, don't count on a compass, way too much magnetic disturbance, in the area, spring and fall the best times to explore, a geological feast. 60 miles of of rough road south to north but worth it. Thanks Nick good video.
morning air is usually cooler and dryer and holds less particles so it should be smokier as it heats logically (or I’m full of prunes! ).thanks for taking us along nick!
What stunning views of vegetation on the sharp edges of the ledges and promontories! Thank you for sharing your views and commentary. All the shading of the muted colors is gorgeous. I'll never forget walking on the growing lava fields in Hawaii. As we got closer to the sea where the lava poured into the sea it continually hotter, and we occasionally saw flowing lava in fissures and breaks. We gradually became hampered by the heaviness of sulfur in the air and the heat burning through the soles of our hiking boots so we turned back. I was not unhappy to be leaving an area with such live and present danger, but it was good to experience the beauty and the presence of danger without being incinerated! I enjoy your shows. Thanks again
The sound effects were spectacular! I LOL'd so hard my office partner started in with the "What? What?" and because I'm wearing my headset (and because I can) I totally ignored her. (It's not like you are missing a potential new Zentnerd - she would never.) And then you're talking about Labor Day and the older folks you met years ago, and then come out with COTFM, you gotta love it, and I've got tears in my eyes from laughing and she's giving me The Eye because I'm still not sharing my good times. Thanks tons, Nick!
This area looks like Sunset Crater in Arizona. Sunset Crater emerged about 900 years ago. The San Francisco Colcanic Dield looks a lot like what you’re sharing here! Even the crunching sounds the same! So you don’t like other people on a trail, eh? That’s my husband and me!
In Australia, the afternoon vistas of out eucalyptus covered mountains and hills in the distance have a distinct blue haze. Most common explanation is that the essential oils evaporating from the leaves makes it so.
I visited Kilauea in 1992, unfortunately during one of the few times it was NOT fountaining back then (darn it!). But I WAS able to hike a long way on pretty fresh lava, and saw amazing formations that looked like chocolate cake icing, frozen in air, while pouring over a 6-foot high cliff. Sometimes the dripping lava thinned into hair-like tips that blew in the wind! It had rained a bit during the hike, and the silvery-grey lava shone with rainbow colors, like oil on water. Walking on it crunched like broken glass (because the delicate air-filled flow WAS disintegrating under my feet!). Other places, at the edge of a flow, had maybe a foot of cooled black surface, but underneath (visible through cracks) it was still glowing orange! Very beautiful and memorable! If you've never seen FRESH lava up close, Nick, you NEED to!
Wow, great showing of Craters of the Moon National Monument. I have always wanted to visit, I used to travel between Colorado & Oregon, several times a year. Family in both states. Get in 1980 Honda Civic Wagon packed heavy, yet still got 45 mpg.
