We visited Craters of the Moon on our first trip west 25 years ago, and I was anxious to return to have my chance to walk to the top of an extinct volcano as Roger had done back then. It is a surreal place, nearly as barren as a desert but covered with volcanic rock and ash instead of sand. This is how is was interpreted by the Native Americans:

There is about a six mile loop that takes you through all the sites on the map. Our destination was the Inferno Cone at 4 where you can walk to the top on a gentle but then increasingly steep path.

I love these wide open and somewhat barren landscapes, like Death Valley and the Badlands. Unlike the pressures we experience in our usual lives, the pressures here are quite simple: get enough water and find or create shade wherever you can. It is not a kind environment, but it is breathtaking.