Easy Chair Crater

Tonopah Field Office BLM

(map link)

One of the larger cinder cones in the volcano field around Lunar Crater is Easy Chair Crater. There is a thin, but smooth enough, road off the scenic backcountry byway past Lunar Crater at the first (from the north) cow water, then keep left at the Y. There is a small dirt lot and a sign for Observation Point Trail. It's a short route from the parking area to the low point of the crater.

Lunar Lake and the nearby buttes of the Pancake Range from the edge of the parking area.

The trail to the edge of Easy Chair Crater.

My plan was simple: head up to the observation point and then around the edge of the crater. The high point is marked on Peakbagger as "Easy Chair Butte", so I figured I'd tag that when nearby. The crater is particularly asymmetric and the high point is off the edge of it. There is an Earthcache that suggests it is possible this crater grew out of the side of an older one to make it so lopsided, but there's a tendency among the nearby craters to a similar lean.

Observation point in view.

The trail climbs in eroded switchbacks. It doesn't have far to go. The observation point appears to be a large cairn that was cemented together. Maybe it was a little higher platform? Cairn seems like the better description of what is left, but it is moving toward platform.

From the observation point at the edge of the Easy Chair cone.

Lunar Crater was not quite so easy to find in the distance as Easy Chair Crater had been from it.

Lunar Crater from afar? The road is going there.

I wanted to go clockwise because it looked like that would be a slightly less steep climb. Hopping off the observation platform/cairn, I headed that way. At first the way is quite easy, but it gets very steep. I hoped the lava bombs mixed in would help give steady places to stand, but they aren't frequent enough. The cinders aren't as shifty as some places, but some slopes just had to be avoided.

Quickly gaining views.

There is an Earthcache for this crater as well. The description contains a lot of information about the minerals found as crystals here. Normally, they are just a mm or so, but here they can be quite large and easy to see. The black lava to the north also tends to have quite large crystals.

That's a chunky crystal. Olivine?

A little piece of the pancake range beside Lunar Lake shows its volcanic cinder cone origins.

Lava bombs along the slope.

It's a bit of a climb.

The work is basically done once arrived at the high point around the rim of the crater. There's still a little up, but the rest is gentle slopes, at least until the return downhill.

The black lava flow just visible.

High point of the rim of Easy Chair Crater.

The desert expanse below, southwest at left to north at right. (bigger?)

The little bit to go to the high point.

I walked that rolling top to the high point and it was as easy as expected. I was only a little slowed by the fact it's a bit rocky.

A better look at Lunar Lake.

Lunar Crater and Lunar Lake in the desert expanse from east on the left to west on the right. (bigger?)

Cinder horseshoes far below.

And so I stood at the top!

Nothing to hide the black lava flow spilling from the bumps across US-6 now.

The previously obscured view to the north, from west on the left to east on the right. (bigger?)

I like the differing texture of the ranges northwest from here.

More changing texture and character to the northeast.

There seems to be an observatory on the nearest range. (To the right.)

Of course, then I had to go down. Back at the crater rim, the way was indeed steep. It looks like more people go that way, but still not many.

The steep way down.

Lost a bit of elevation.

Paying attention to the flowers.

Not very flowery today.

Taking in the cliffs below the far rim.

A look back.

I got back to the observation point and emptied my pockets of crystalline things I'd picked up along the way.

My collection. Clinopyroxene in the upper left, more olivine below it, hornblende in upper right (except maybe not the most upper right), plagioclase in the lower right?

I left my little prizes for the next person to puzzle over and wound back down to the parking area.

*photo album*




©2023,2024 Valerie Norton
Written 29 Jan 2024