Friday, September 13, 2024
Day 11 — Craters of the Moon and EBR-1 Date: Friday 9/13/2024 Destination: Craters of the Moon National Monument Travel Time: 4h 20m Miles: 124 Notes: I wasn’t sure what my destination would be today but my plan was to do a little nuclear tourism, see Craters of the Moon, and then go somewhere from there. My schedule and day-plan was thrown off by missing Grand Teton National Park and spending a night in Pocatello, which was not on the itinerary at all. Stopped in Atomic City. Not sure why; I was under the impression that Atomic City was the first city lit by nuclear engergy, but it was practically a ghost town. There are a few houses there, but as far as I could tell all of the business were shuttered. Except, maybe, for the race track; that looked like it might still get used. Arco, it turns out, is the city celebrated as the first in the world to be lit by nuclear energy. Nothing special about the town, but they do a nice job of making City Hall photo-worthy. Between Atomic City and Arco is EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor I) which was the world’s first breeder reactor. The EBR-1 exhibit was closed for the season, but in the lot next to it were some really interesting experimental nuclear heat-transfer jet engines that never made it out of the experimental phase (probably a good thing). Craters of the Moon is pretty small. If you don’t do any of the walks, it’s literally just a 30 minute road loop. Still, it was an unexpected surprise and delight. I had no idea what to expect but I was positively chuffed at the experience. I noticed that the campground had open sites so I inquired at the entry booth. As luck would have it, the whole campground is first come / first serve. I decided to set up for the night. It’s good to be done early and have some time to read and not stress about making distance.