Tueday, August 2, 2022
This morning we tried out breakfast at Pickle's Place (famous for their Atomic Burgers!) We opted not to try the burger, concerned about radioactive waste (not really) but had a good breakfast with the locals. Pickles is one of only 5 restaurants in the city! There is no drugstore, one grocery store and several gas stations.
We then headed 18 miles to the EBR-1 National Landmark. We had to decipher the sign with arrows pointing opposite ways one for EBR and the other for RAWC. We found out EBR is Experimental Breeder Reactor, and RAWC is Radio Active Waste Control! We avoided RAWC and headed to the EBR-1 building..the first Atomic Power Plant. It was designed to generate electricity and to prove the concept of breeding fuel. All of this happened in 1951--pretty amazing! It operated for 12 years and in 1963 LBJ dedicated it as a registered historic landmark. The work continued with EBR II which operated from 1964-1994.
It was a self guided tour, with lots of explanations that I didn't understand.
It's a small buidling, but we visited the control room, the turbine generator, vault for the fuel rods, and the "hot cells, with 34 layers of lead glass for radiation protection, so that the rods could be visually inspected. It's unbelievable to think that this development happened 70 years ago! I had all kinds of cool pictures of the control room and the log book from the day they lit up lightbulbs, but I don't have the right cord for my camera, so had to revert to using only phone pics.
We then headed to the Craters of the Moon National Monument, 20 miles in the opposite direction. I thought a national monument was a statue or large building or marker, but discovered the difference between a National Monument and a National Park is the way they are established. National monuments are established by the President to protect the land, and National Parks are established by an act of congress.There are 128 US National Monuments (Devils Tower was the first one) and 63 US National Parks. I've learned something!
Craters of the Moon is a floor of lava covering 750,000 acres, established as a national monument by Calvin Coolige in 1924. It is different than anything we've ever seen --strange looking and almost creepy. 
The land is dark and rocky with clumps of lava here and there. We hiked up the Inferno Cone a huge black mound of cinder.
It was very steep and we wondered if kids ever just rolled down to get back, (although it might cause a lot of skinned knees.) At the top you could see across the lava plain.
We went up a few other trails and were able to see Spatter Cones and Big Craters. Spatter Cones develop when lava spews out, and pieces fall around the vent and develop cones around the vent. They were deep holes with piles of rock around them. This one had snow in it, along with 4 hats that have blown away from tourists trying to get a good look.
The Cave Area was created by lava tubes. Lava tubes are tunnels created by hot lava flowing underneath the surface. The Dewdrop cave was the smaller one, and you could immediately feel the cool area as you got closer to the underground. We could hear bats but didn't see them. It was dark, and we needed a headlamp or flashlight to go further.
The land is dark and rocky with clumps of lava here and there. We hiked up the Inferno Cone a huge black mound of cinder.
We went up a few other trails and were able to see Spatter Cones and Big Craters. Spatter Cones develop when lava spews out, and pieces fall around the vent and develop cones around the vent. They were deep holes with piles of rock around them. This one had snow in it, along with 4 hats that have blown away from tourists trying to get a good look.
The Cave Area was created by lava tubes. Lava tubes are tunnels created by hot lava flowing underneath the surface. The Dewdrop cave was the smaller one, and you could immediately feel the cool area as you got closer to the underground. We could hear bats but didn't see them. It was dark, and we needed a headlamp or flashlight to go further.
The Indian Tunnel was much larger...probably 50 ft high and 30 ft wide. You could go in and travel a good distance, and come out a hole in the lava tube. It was fascinating, but a little yucky...there was an occasional drip of water, and a very uneven surface to walk on. There was enough light provided by holes in the surface that we didn't need a light source.
I sure wish my Science teacher sister would have been with us to describe some of the things we were seeing. The lichen on the rock interacts with the air and causes the rocks to turn into cinder over time.
They say the astronauts trained for lunar landings in the craters and caves. Here's a video of Jim walking over the lava field.
It was a strangely eerie place, but one that creates a new appreciation for nature and its ability to adapt. These volcanos erupted over 2000 years ago, and certainly left an impression on us.
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