Rain, rain go away...

Last night, I checked the weather forecast before going to bed.  It said there was a 90% chance of showers, especially in the afternoon.  Knowing this, I probably should have changed my plans and sought alternative sightseeing options.  But, I decided to chance things...bad idea!  When I left Caldwell, ID this morning, it was overcast but not raining.  This continued as I traveled east, and I was beginning to think I would be okay.  But, as I got closer to my destination of the day... Craters Of The Moon National Monument...the wind and rain suddenly made its presence known.

After grabbing a park brochure from the visitor's center, I headed off on the Craters of the Moon loop road. I tried to time my activities in between the flurries of drizzle...sometimes things worked out, but for the most part, it didn't.  My first stop was a brief look at Paisley Cone.  Those white splotches on the cinders are wildflowers, but I don't know what kind they are.

At the next point of interest...Inferno Cone...it was drizzling hard, so I decided eat my lunch in the car to wait it out.  Right about when I finished my meal, the rain stopped.  I quickly bundled up...it was pretty chilly...and started hiking up the cinder cone.  The 0.40 mile walk to the top was short, but steep.  It was worth it, though, as the payoff was a nice view of the surrounding area, including a few nearby spatter cones.

 

 

After coming down from the cone, I drove the short distance to get a closer look at the spatter cones.  While I was there, I noticed a TV news crew filming shots of the terrain.  I was a bit puzzled at what they were doing, but I had bigger issues to worry about.  At that moment, my camera started acting up.  The lens wasn't operating properly, and I was pretty sure it was because my camera had been getting wet.  I switched to my older, backup camera and let my primary camera dry out in the warm car.  

Due to the weather, my plan to hike a couple of the trails went out the window.  Instead, I opted to drive the length of the loop road and look for photo opportunities.  I took the spur road to the Tree Molds trail parking lot...I had been planning to hike that one...and was surprised to find the lot almost completely full.  There were a lot of National Park Service vehicles and a couple of TV news cars, including the one from the station I saw earlier.  A ranger told me that the trail was closed because there was a search and rescue operation going on.  Apparently, two older ladies went on a day hike and were long overdue.  Search crews had been looking for them since yesterday, and with the inclement weather, they were hoping the women were taking cover in caves within the park.  As I was driving away, I saw a search dog team returning to the parking lot.  Sadly, tonight one of those news stations reported they found the body of one woman, and would continue the search for the other tomorrow. 

There were a couple of shorter trails that I could have done, but the weather was getting increasing worse.  Still, I managed to get a few more photos before I headed out of the park.

 

 

As I drove south, I left the gloomy weather behind.  I could see blue skies, white clouds and sunshine in the distance, and instantly felt better.  The forecast for tomorrow looks promising...crossing my fingers the predicted afternoon rain holds off long enough for me to get my hikes in.