Hytreks

Oh, For Fun

Category: National Monument

  • Washington D.C.

    Washington D.C.

    Dates we visited: May 27th & 28th, 2021
    Where we stayed: Washington DC / Capitol KOA

    After visiting Shenandoah, we took the opportunity to spend a few days in our nations Capital. While it’s not technically a “National Park”, the Washington, D.C. area is packed with monuments and history, much of it administered by the National Park Service. We were also thrilled to catch up with a few friends in the area.

    The National Mall

    Over the course of a few days we wandered all over the National Mall. We took the opportunity to check out the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Sculpture Garden, the Capital building, the White House and several other landmarks. It’s truly awe-inspiring to visit these locations and think about all of the history and sacrifice that has brought our country to the present day.

    Unexpectedly, we were in DC to experience the Brood X 17 year cicada emergence. This sounds like it could be a concert or festival, but the once every 17-years awakening of underground bugs, was in in fact much weirder. Once we got over the weirdness we were excited that we got to experience this rare event!

    Our visit here was just few short months after the January 6th 2021 capitol insurrection. The barricades and visibly increased security around the town were very obvious. It was a good reminder that America is a constant work in progress, and there is plenty of work still left to do.

    Washington D.C. Gallery

    Not technically a “National Park”, but our trip through D.C. and the National Mall had no shortage of National Monuments and other historical sites. It also had bugs…

  • Craters Of The Moon National Monument – Idaho

    Craters Of The Moon National Monument – Idaho

    After visiting West Yellowstone, we headed into Idaho to camp with some family. Arco Idaho looked like a good halfway point, and the KOA there made for a convenient stop. I’m not sure if Kristy was planning to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument all along, or if it was a happy accident, but a few days before our arrival we decided we would visit this location before heading to our campground, and I’m glad we did.

    Before I get to Craters, let me first tell you that this was very rural Idaho. There were not a lot of towns of any size along our chosen route, though we did pass the Idaho National Laboratory, which had very prominent signs informing us to stay on the road and away from their nuclear testing site.

    When we finally rolled into Arco, we were quickly made aware of the fact that this town was the first in the world to be lit entirely by nuclear energy, back in 1955, which I found to be pretty cool.

    The Craters Monument is about 20 miles southwest of town. It was quite obvious when we arrived, as the landscape changes dramatically to fields of craggy lava rock as far as the eye can see. It truly did feel like we had left earth, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s wild to look upon this vast field of volcanic rock, which is largely devoid of plants and trees, and realize it’s probably been like this for nearly 15,000 years.

    We stopped at the visitor center, where a Park Ranger issued a Junior Ranger challenge for Owen to share some facts about the monument. With only a little help, Owen passed by telling the Ranger about how astronauts train for their missions on the rocks in the monument. This scored him another Junior Ranger badge.

    Craters of The Moon Gallery

    This National Monument is found in rural Idaho. The small gateway town of Arco happened to be a perfect stopping point on our travels. We are so glad we stopped here! Craters of the Moon is an incredible, other-worldly landscape. Fittingly, the monument has a partnership with NASA to prepare astronauts to travel to the moon and Mars.

    After consulting the maps at the visitor center parking lot, we took the truck and trailer on the roughly 10 mile loop road through the park, stopping at several scenic overlooks. We even squeezed in a short hike while we were there. While Kristy and I were fascinated by the landscape, I think Owen’s favorite part was climbing on the concrete picnic tables. It’s the simple pleasures in life.

    This National Monument is pretty far off the beaten path, but if you ever have the opportunity to check it out, whether it’s for an afternoon or a weekend, we definitely encourage you to do so. Just try not to let this nugget from the NPS dissuade you: “The time between eruptive periods in the Craters of the Moon Lava Field averages 2,000 years and it has been more than 2,000 years since the last eruption.”