Bergjord Boarding

July 29 – August 7 2016

By: Luke

Sam and I started the day before the sun by packing up a dew coved tent half asleep with no caffeine in sight. Day 2 was going to be a long day with many miles to cover. Our next camping spot was in Glacier park but we decided in the planning of this trip it would be cool to see the Shoshone Ice Caves and this was our shot to check them out.

Driving through this part of the country is a lot more interesting than the great plains. Even a 9 hour drive didn’t seem too bad with mountains always somewhere on the horizon. I remember this drive going quickly because before we knew it, we saw signs for the “Craters of the Moon” park. It grabbed our attention and didn’t let go. With some quick googling and an impulse decision we found ourselves in a parking lot.

We entered the visitor center and grabbed a map. You can drive around this preserve and see the unique landscape that was created by volcano activity a long time ago. There is also a large map of the U.S. and another of the entire world. Visitors are encouraged to place a push pin in the map marking where they came from. The park gets an average of 220,000 visitors in a year and these maps were full. There were already pins in Aberdeen, but Samie got to be the first from Watertown to place a pin.

We didn’t have a lot of time to spare but we took in the scenery and even made a quick assent of the ” Inferno Cone”. There is a great 360 degree view of the park at the top and it was the last thing we did before hitting the road again

We continued driving to our original destination. The ice caves were also formed by lava and with our craters appetizer we were ready for our entre.
The ice caves had tours throughout the day you can sign up for and we didn’t have to wait long in the gift shop before we were on our way down.

The ancient lava flow somehow makes these perfectly arched tunnels that stay the same temperature all year long. It was very interesting going underground and seeing the work of mother nature from a new perspective. It was definitively worth the trip to see this side of Idaho and not to mention the unplanned stop at Craters.

We then had to hit the road again because our campsite for the night was more than 8 hours away. It was another big chunk of road but Idaho surprised us with its beauty and made the drive go quickly.

This was our first view of the mountains we were going to camp in that night. They gave us a pretty sunset to drive into. We had a lot of night driving and of course had to set up our tent by flashlight. This was a blessing in disguise because it made our morning views that much more of a surprise. Day 3 of our trip is one of my favorites and one I will not soon forget.