Craters of the Moon National Monument...

( Writing this from Moab, Utah on Oct. 17 )

Our next campground was Craters of the Moon on Hwy.93 only 60 miles south of Mackay.  We arrived there on Sept. 14, set up camp, ate dinner  and then went to the amphitheater for the evening nature program.      The National Parks have so many great programs at their facilities, we had ranger lead walks or talks every afternoon and evening to go to if we choose. We thought we would stay a couple days and move on but we ended up staying a week. 
This is what you first see when coming upon the park entrance...

Mounds of lava all along the road side and for as far as you could see.  We certainly didn't know what to expect inside the campground.  When we got inside, all the campsites were built right into the mounds of lava but it was really beautiful, different but beautiful.

Trees growing up out of the lava.

This little guy snatched a chip that blew off of David's plate at lunch and I just happened to have the camera near.
Below is a picture of the amphitheater with the camp in the background.  It was taken from the nearby hill, in which the ranger took us on a nature talk about all the colors to see in the seemingly black landscape around us.

This was especially interesting, no where else in the world can you find blue lava.

Many colors of lichen are the first things to grow on lava.

All that is there in the black lava flow.   They timed the hike so it would end at sun set on top of the hill.