Though we may have wished otherwise, we had to start driving back east sooner or later.  But that wasn’t all bad: on our way out of Idaho, we just so happened — by which I mean planned — to make a stop at the bizarre and awe-inspiring Craters of the Moon National Park in eastern Idaho.  That may seem like an odd name for a decidedly terrestrial park, but it’s quite apt: long ago, generous amounts of lava covered the landscape, leaving it looking a little like some of Hawaii’s jagged lava-covered areas, but without the Hawaii.  It’s impossible to miss the park’s boundaries, as there’s an abrupt change from the typical Idaho landscape to the park’s hard black lava crust.

After a brief stop at the visitor’s center, we moved on to our first destination: the frighteningly-named Inferno Cone Overlook.

The Overlook isn’t nearly as scary as it sounds; rather, it’s simply a large hill that provides a fine overview of the park.  The climb is a little strenuous, but it’s worth the effort.  But, of course, before I undertook the climb, I took a few pictures of the Overlook and its surroundings.

Though the Overlook appears barren, the park’s landscape isn’t entirely devoid of vegetation.  But generally, where there aren’t small trees or various scrubs, there’s lava.

With the initial photos out of the way, we started up the hill.

When we reached the top of the slope, we were assaulted by a brutal, unrelenting wind.  This wasn’t your standard tousle-your-hair-wind; this was a wind strong enough to knock me over if I didn’t concentrate on just standing up.  However, a few of our fellow tourists took advantage of the wind.

When we recovered from the initial blast of wind, we noticed the top of the hill looked as barren as the slope…

…But further exploration revealed some hardy vegetation that stubbornly defied the harsh conditions.

And remarkably, though the tree grave pictured above looks ominous, one tree managed to stand tall on the hilltop.  Its exposed roots make it appear to be hanging on by its fingernails, but despite the wind’s best efforts, it wasn’t going anywhere.

But on the whole, those patches of green were definite exceptions.