Snow on Coffee Lava

November 20, 2011

After seeing it alone while motorcycling, I knew the rest of the family would be excited to explore the peculiar landscape of Jordan Craters, made stranger by a skiff of snow.

Road into Coffepot Crater

I thought the family would enjoy exploring the strange landscape at Jordan Craters so we piled in the car and made a day of it.

Parked at the cinder cone

Across to the far rim of Coffeepot Crater

Lava monkey

She’s always up for adventure.

Exposure bracketing

Can we go down there?

They wanted to go inside the crater.

Dirty rim

Safety supervisor

Jess stayed outside with Brenna while I went into the crater with Cassidy and Hunter.

Brick oven

Why can't I go? — Why can’t I go?

She was distressed that she couldn’t enter the crater too.

Frozen lava pool

Hell frozen over

No eruptions today

Shocked rocks

Spilled milk

Coffepot Crater spilled lava everywhere. What a mess.

More of the same

Finding treasures

Chocolate-vanilla swirl

Don't leave me! — Don’t leave me!

Peanut butter cookies

Mole hill

Stone soup

Sled hill

Help me down

Playing school

Stoneware

Elephant ears

Guessing a course to caves

Bubble that was

Ceiling texture

Through a tube

Big adventure

See where it goes

Troll under the bridge

Cold toes

Waterslide

Hunter and Jessica walked to a smaller crater while I went with Brenna and Cassidy to get their sandwiches.

Another deep crater

Jessica reported it was much bigger than it looked from a distance; sounds like something to check out next time.

by Jason Abbott