Last week my wife and I hiked up the "R" Mountain or the North Menan Butte. The Menan Buttes are two of the worlds largest tuff cones that was formed by when hot magma boils up through ground water. These are also the only two tuff cones in the United States that occurred in fresh water.
Now thousands of years later, the North Menan Butte has been declared a National Natural Landmark.
The edge of the cone is decorated with junipers acsenting the skyline surrounded by multi-colored licken covered rocks.
A host of beautiful flowers decorate not only top of the cone but also the large crater in the middle.
Here are just a few of the flowers we encountered on our hike:
Blue Penstemon
Evening primrose
Plains Prickly Pear
Meadow Salsify
Nuttal's sego lily
And the Menan Buttes tower over the Henrys Fork of the Snake River as it meanders past them on its way to join the Snake River, then on to the Columbia River and eventually on to the Pacific Ocean.
1 comment:
That looks like an interesting landmark. I'll have to look for it next time we're up that way. Great view of Henry's Fork, too.
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