Moving to Alaska: Day Thirteen

Back to the grind. After a couple days off, it was time to hit the road again. The cat did not seem happy with this development since he was crying for the first time in two weeks once we started driving. I guess that 48 hours he spent in the hotel room made him think we were "there". Alas, poor Endymion, you have about 10 more days of this.

Today I drove through the town of Arco, Idaho. As with me, I am sure none of you know anything about it but the entire area there is fascinating to me. Arco was the first nuclear powered city in the world. This also means it is home of the first nuclear reactor, EBR-1, which produced about 100 kW starting in late 1951. And while not advertised, it is also where the world's first and only US fatal nuclear reactor accident occurred. In fact, more than 50 nuclear reactors, more than anywhere else in the world, have been built on the plains of Idaho. While it was not something I knew even existed, this area is home to the Idaho National Laboratory which is very heavy into nuclear research.

The reason I went through Arco is that it is on the way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is another of those places that I just thought sounded very cool so wanted to visit and was not disappointed; I spent a lot more time here than anticipated which made for a very long rest of the day. Essentially, COTM is a huge lava field covering about 53 miles with more than 25 volcanic cones and 60 distinct lava flows that range from 15,000 to just 2,000 years ago. They also have a few "caves" you can explore which are really old lava tubes. All in all, a place I am very glad I took the time to stop at.

Most of the rest of the was driving to Twin Falls, Idaho which has a couple of highlights as well. It is where Evel Knievel unsuccessfully attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon and it is home to Perrine Bridge, which is 1500 feet long and almost 500 feet above the Snake River. It is also the only man made structure in the US that BASE jumpers can use any time of the year without a permit. In fact, while I was walking across the bridge trying to get sunset photos over the canyon (and was too late) a guy jumped off well after dark. I watched but could not see much. In talking to another jumper (who was just watching that night) he said you have about 3 seconds to open your chute and will hit the water in 5 seconds. Me? No thanks, I will just watch.

Start: West Yellowstone, Montana

Stop: Twin Falls, Idaho

~285 Miles Driven

~10.7  Miles Walked
7 Letterboxes Found

4 Letterboxes Not Found

0 Letterboxes Planted

Pictures will be posted on Facebook in this album (and the link will be included in all future posts for this trip):

Moving to Alaska Photos