Backpacking has always been a tool for exploration, both internal and external. Our perhaps not too distant ancestors, who carried things into the wilderness out of necessity rather than bourgeois whimsy, used their backs only when nothing else would do. Preferring elk dogs, as the Blackfeet called the horses of Lewis and Clark, or the like whenever possible. This being the case, it only follows that the quality of external exploration will be internally etched via the introspection it in turn engenders. Mr. Eliot has us pegged, and while backpacking may most of the time speak of something less grave than existential torpor, that the suffocating comfort of the contemporary global north has directly popularized something as absurd as walking in big circles carrying weight for fun cannot be well questioned.
Every backpacker has a piece of that violent, bold soul, and thus every backpacker should at least think about visiting Craters of the Moon National Monument, in central Idaho. It is one of the most extraordinary places to go walking for fun of which I am currently aware. Since my first visit and hike out on the lava flows I’ve wanted to know more, and to that end have gone back several times in the intervening years, slowly learning more with each subsequent visit. The rest of this essay will focus on logistical minutia to facilitate and enhance the first trips of backpackers new to the area.
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Companion forum thread to:
Backpacking on the Moon: A Trip Guide to Craters of the Moon National Monument
Dave,
Really enjoyed this article. Thanks.
It is a pleasure to read such a well written article. Thank you.
A good read…Thanks!
Really beautiful writing. Thanks.
Definitely a wonderfully written piece, with appropriate photography as well.
As always, I appreciate the care and attention you put into crafting an essay. I especially appreciate the way that you use the pictures to comment upon, critique, and create space for your ideas. Like any good trip–it is so much more than words.
Giant steps are what I take
walking on the moon
It's okay, your legs can't break
walking on the moon…
David, thanks for the report.
My family use to stop at the rest stop on I-15 (we called it "the Craters on the Moon rest stop) about 3 times a year when I was a kid (in the 60's). Doesn't look like much has changed. We use to go exploring out 1/4 mile from the rest stop, rock hopping in the unforgiving terrain. Its nice to see the other faces of the area.
Definitely a different place-
BTW, interesting that you found horse shoes; my father in law and his brothers (now passed away) drove horses through that area in the 20's. They would round the wild horses up around where Sun Valley is now and drive them to Star Valley, Wyoming.
Those could have been from some of their Saddle horses.
A worthwhile piece, Dave. Another fine addition to your growing collection of great material here at BPL.
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