Honeymoon, Day 4 - Craters of the Moon
We decided to go to Craters of the Moon National Park and would go to the doctor to remove the moth from Andy's ear in Hailey that afternoon. It was pretty crazy. Lots of black rock that sparkled when you looked at it closely and it was very light to pick up.
We hiked up fun-sounding places like "Inferno Cone" (a big hill of tiny black rocks to a beautiful viewpoint) "spatter cones," and "snow cone" and ended the visit with a trip through "Indian Tunnel." The tunnel was the coolest - we explored a dark drippy cave that then opened up into a lava tube with sections of the ceiling collapsed. This created this airy, colorful half-cave that went on for about 800 feet and ended in an archway that climbs out from a hole in the ceiling. We then followed metal poles back to the main trail. Lots of fun. We had to skip a visit to the ice cave, however, because the day was getting along and we had to get to Hailey to visit the doctor, and his ear was starting to ache.
I charged my dead phone up while a group of nurses and a doctor flocked to this curious medical issue. We even overheard a nurse calling him "The moth guy" since I didn't give his name when we called to ask about it. They all agreed it should be flushed out and thankfully the olive oil didn't cause any issues. First they tried a water pic kinda thing but that didn't get very far. Then they tried this eye-dropper + suction device combo that eventually dissolved the bug into enough pieces they got it out. The whole thing took like an hour, and Andy's ear was pretty beat up by the end of it.
We learned that the doctor, however, loves camping and told us about these amazing campsites along Baker Creek just outside of town. We found a site that was not only free but stunning and had a fire ring. Evidently it's a local favorite that the tourists don't know about because even though it was the weekend there were plenty of free sites. On the dirt road there was a lot of bike, trailer, horse, and ATV traffic on the way to the Norton and Baker Lakes trailhead but it wasn't too disturbing. I was making some top-notch stir-fry hastened by very threatening clouds that started to drop rain on us after just enough time to dive into the car and eat while a small rainstorm passed over us. End the evening snuggled up in the tent early, listening to our podcast, and I was asleep by 10pm with the creek babbling pleasantly in the background.
We hiked up fun-sounding places like "Inferno Cone" (a big hill of tiny black rocks to a beautiful viewpoint) "spatter cones," and "snow cone" and ended the visit with a trip through "Indian Tunnel." The tunnel was the coolest - we explored a dark drippy cave that then opened up into a lava tube with sections of the ceiling collapsed. This created this airy, colorful half-cave that went on for about 800 feet and ended in an archway that climbs out from a hole in the ceiling. We then followed metal poles back to the main trail. Lots of fun. We had to skip a visit to the ice cave, however, because the day was getting along and we had to get to Hailey to visit the doctor, and his ear was starting to ache.
I charged my dead phone up while a group of nurses and a doctor flocked to this curious medical issue. We even overheard a nurse calling him "The moth guy" since I didn't give his name when we called to ask about it. They all agreed it should be flushed out and thankfully the olive oil didn't cause any issues. First they tried a water pic kinda thing but that didn't get very far. Then they tried this eye-dropper + suction device combo that eventually dissolved the bug into enough pieces they got it out. The whole thing took like an hour, and Andy's ear was pretty beat up by the end of it.
We learned that the doctor, however, loves camping and told us about these amazing campsites along Baker Creek just outside of town. We found a site that was not only free but stunning and had a fire ring. Evidently it's a local favorite that the tourists don't know about because even though it was the weekend there were plenty of free sites. On the dirt road there was a lot of bike, trailer, horse, and ATV traffic on the way to the Norton and Baker Lakes trailhead but it wasn't too disturbing. I was making some top-notch stir-fry hastened by very threatening clouds that started to drop rain on us after just enough time to dive into the car and eat while a small rainstorm passed over us. End the evening snuggled up in the tent early, listening to our podcast, and I was asleep by 10pm with the creek babbling pleasantly in the background.