The Lava Taffy

The lava flows at Craters of the Moon take all shapes. I came across this section, which I couldn’t help but stop and stare at as I imagined a mass of red-hot lava being pulled on a candy-pulling machine. The fluidity of the lava, captured forever as it hardened into a permanent display, takes on a pulled taffy consistency pocked with sinewy strips of what must have been runny, thinner lava skittering over the surface. Parts of the rock are bulbous and fluid, others appear to have a grain like wood. It’s hard not to imagine the folding, flowing, running lava constantly running into areas that have already begun to harden, creating new and unique shapes, the process repeating itself over and over, resulting in a mixed texture display of the volcanic forces that once dominated the landscape.