Junior Rangers

Craters of the Moon was a very interesting place. We went to a visitor center that offered another “junior ranger” badge. To earn one you must complete various activities in a book. We already have six of them and one patch, so technically seven. One of the things we had to do to get our badge was go to a ranger talk. Conveniently there was one starting right as we got there. The ranger showed us what the Native Americans did with buffalo parts (we did some of the activities while the talk was going). They used every part of the buffalo, it was cool! There was also an interesting video about the astronauts assigned to the  Apollo 14 mission. They came to Craters of the Moon before their mission (more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_14).

One of the other things we  had to do to get our badges was go on a hike. We almost gave up on finding it because everyone gave us false directions, but eventually we found it. The hike lead to a mound of ash and volcanic rock and there was an AMAZING view. The hike was supposed to be a loop but we couldn’t find the path, so we went back the way we’d came. When when we got there we got our badges and said the oath swearing us in.

Then it was almost time for the visitor center to close and the ranger from the talk offered us a chance to lower the American flag. We went outside and lowered and folded the flag. The rangers husband photographed us and said we might be on their social media sites. That was the end of our trip to Craters of the Moon and we kept driving to the hotel.

More info on Craters of the Moon @ https://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm