Day 5 - Craters of the Moon
The morning was calm when i awoke, and the campsite was still and quite, it was shortly after sunrise so i was the first up and climbed out of the tent, a quick survey found Kayla had made it through unscathed as where Mike hadn't, his tent a sad mess lay flat on the ground soaking in water and upon a quick hunt i found I'm sleeping heavily in the driver seat of the car in full rain attire. I took a brisk walk around the grounds trying to familiarize myself with the alien terrain wee found ourselves in before returning to the campsite and waking everyone up. Since only our tents had been set up we were collapsed and off to explore the park within minutes. The park was a result of multiple volcanoes going off at once and essentially melting each other and creating a black solidified magma dessert. The rocks were sharp and jagged and because other flowing nature when solidified created many caverns and tunnels throughout.
The park was small but intricate, we found ourselves wandering through this black landscape photographing while we went, we came to a trail head and after a quick conversation with a more the helpful park ranger we were pointed in the direction of some massive caverns and told to self guide ourselves throughout them, as we are ones for the trail less traveled we hustled down the path. A mile or so in we found our selves at a vast hole in the ground, below our feet would be the tunnels we would soon be exploring, helping each other climb down we made our way onto the first chamber, it was about eight feet in diameter and high enough to bend down and walk around in, the next chamber was wider but shorter and required a golem esq walk. Finally towards the back wall of this chamber a small whole the size of one of us led down to another opening this one took a little more time and grace to avoid the sharp rocks pointing at your face and back but once in felt as though you discovered something secretive and special. The air inside was cool and calm, light rays peaked in through cracks around the walls, we sat and took it for a few moments laughing and discussing the journey in. Climbing back out proved to be more difficult then in shortly with all of us sustaining some sort of cut or scrape, but nevertheless we made it out and walked a cliff edge to a very large chamber about thirteen or so feet high and here is where we photographed Kayla once again before being flushed out by new explores of the cave.
The Road looped around the park as to make sure you see everything before leaving and the last spot on the road before exiting was a remaining volcano peak, the parking lot it its base left you feeling quite small gazing toward the sky. The entire mountain and trail up was covered in black sand like rocks and climbed steeply, the sweat poured down our faces as we peaked. Atop you could see a full panoramic view of the park we had just explored, while disappointingly there was no gapping whole into a fiery pit of lava there was a pleasant twisted tree on the peak providing much needed shade and a place to sit and rest before heading back down.
Cave master Mike
Kayla in the cave
It was about mid day at this point and we still had a few hours before reaching the southwestern gates of Yellowstone so we thought it best to jump in the jeep and get onto the highway. The hours went by quickly and before we knew it we were talking to the ranger at the gate about what to see in the time we had left before the sun set. During this exchange we also were informed that all the campsites throughout the entire park had been booked and we would have to leave the park and find a hotel for the night at dusk. Not wanting to venture to far in knowing every mile we drive we would have to drive back shortly we pulled off at a wide river and took in some scenes of the mountains and setting sun while we could. We found a lodge ten minutes from the gates that had one open room for the night so we bunked up and after showering and editing we all set in for a good nights sleep and awaiting the next day of exploring americas first national park.
Salvation Mountain - " We found an oasis "
After a hasty getaway from the Salton Sea we drove a few more miles and reached the eastern end of the vast lake and the final town we would drive through before reaching Salvation Mountain. As we pulled through the town we saw it was surrounded by massive power plants and power lines strewn around like cobwebs in an old attic, businesses and houses were just as deserted as the other small towns we ran through earlier in the day. The further we got the less building we were seeing, as they tapered off completely the roads became surrounded by piles of broken glass shimmering in the mid day sun, abandoned concrete structures coated in vibrant graffiti and cryptic messages were now the only thing resembling structures and life we saw. Miles into the distant desert as far as the eye could see were old camper vans on blocks with slapped together tent huts around them, “do people really live out here” we both murmured. Surely one couldn't survive out here for long, as we came up on one of the martian huts we saw a weather torn man sitting in a lawn chair in worse shape then him, he gave a slight nod as we drove past as if to answer or previous question. Cresting a small hill on the dirt road we traveled one could see a large mound in the distance, not like the sand covered ones we had been seeing for miles, this one was special for ever a few miles out the radiant colors it had been painted with glowed in the distance like a mirage from the movies. We sped up to make our way to it as if it was going to disappear before we could reach it, the parking lot was small and the van kicked up a dust storm as we pulled in and parked off to the side, the once small colored mound had grown quickly as we approached now towering over our van as we left the vehicle. “ Welcome to Salvation Mountain ” a friendly voice chimed from a few yards away, we glanced to where the voice had came and saw an older women sitting pleasantly in a shaded hut next to an old car hand painted with life lessons. She told us how this place was special to her for more then just obvious reasons,. That back home, which surprisingly was very close to our home, she could no longer walk due to issues involving her back but once she got out here to Salton Sea that she hasn't had a day of pain since! This was further proven by her climbing and painting the side of the mountain all day.After continuing finishing up our conversation with the pleasant lady we began exploring the most odd of places, starting with a “cave” on the far right entirely made by hand using only what was available which from the looks of it was adobe, branches, and old car parts, once inside you felt as though you just jumped into a child Dr. Suess book. Strange colors lined the walls in sporadic patterns, makeshift portholes formed with circular shards of glass molded into the wall sides, these let in beams of multi color light that danced around the open room. The air inside and out was clean and dry, we passed through a dimly lit corridor and ended up in a room filled with belongings of fellow visiter's, everything from photos to drivers licenses lined the walls, a penance for the extraordinary place they just experienced. On top of the mountain you could see the desert stretch miles until meeting mountains, we made our way down said our goodbyes to the kind women, took one last look back at the brightly colored peak and hopped into the van and off to our next adventure.
The Salton Sea - " Why is there a pile of dead birds? "
The Salton sea, this place has been scene to many post apocalyptic movies and documentaries due to its odd life. the sea is well below sea leve which has caused extremely high salt content in its water. In a past life the sea served the wealthy and elite of new old hollywood, but suddenly was rejeected due to the sea no longer supporting most aquatic life within it, this caused most of the surrounding areas of this resort desitnation to become barren and abandoned. Upon arriving you could see nothing but desert and sea for miles, as the van hummed past dead foliage and abandoned shacks we grew curious as to what was ahead for us. We continued on what seemed to be a never ending highway of deja vu, noticing quickly we were running out of gas we opted to stop at the nearesttown sign. The town resembled footage of a nuclear fall out, everything stuck and rotting in the glorious past, the shine of new paint was now coated in salt depsits and rust, roads cracking from unrepair and sun damage, then we got hit with the stench, something of rotting fish and other forms of decay. Since already in a town with no gas station in sight we figured we would let curiosity get the best of us and started exploring round the forgotten town. Like something out of a movie as soon as we left the van an old man peddled by on a bicycle and mumbled something toward us neitheer could make out. We continued on cameras in hand for anyting worth our time or film in this alien terrain. Rounding a corner near the van we stumbled into an unsettling amount of headless birds piled up and thought it best to be on our way.