Friday 17th February – The Barringer Meteorite Crater

After a lie-in to recover from yesterday’s early morning we found that the weather had not been too cruel.  There was a scattering of snow but none settled, leaving it grey and cold, but manageable.  We caught up with our friends, Jo and Stu, who are on the verge of booking to come and join us between Seattle and Calgary.  Fingers crossed they do…

We rolled out of the RV park just after check-out time at 12 having found a Walmart less than 10 minutes away.  We did a top-up shop and topped up the gas tank before hitting Interstate 40 East to another Meteor Crater.  Yes, I am aware we had visited one before and been underwhelmed! To rectify the situation, we were now heading to the largest preserved meteor crater in the World.

On the way in we passed meteor crater RV park to enquire about their availability and cost.  The helpful owner tipped us off that we would receive a 20% off voucher for the RV site at the crater museum.  We drove on 6 miles to the crater itself which was $18 per person for entry.  This was before we mentioned KUGO radio station and got $5 off – we were on fire for money saving today! On entering the attraction there was an area dedicated to the Apollo astronauts who had their geology training here before going to the moon.  This was because of the similarity between the landscapes, making the crater an ideal training ground.  There was a 10-minute introductory video to provide an overview about the crater.  Believed to be 50,000 years old, the crater was formed when a meteorite estimated to be only 45 metres in diameter crashed at a speed of roughly 11 miles per second into the Arizona plains.  The resulting explosion threw millions of tons of rock over the surrounding area and left a crater three quarters of a mile in diameter and 210 meters deep.  Hurricane force winds caused by the shock wave would have spread out in every direction, causing miles of destruction. 

Now THAT'S a proper meteor crater!

Exposed viewing platform

The winds today weren’t anywhere close to being hurricane-force but it was extremely blowy on the exposed edges of the crater!  It was helpful to have heard the dimensions of the crater as it was difficult to perceive the huge scale of the crater.  The museum had tried to assist further by placing some telescopes on the viewing platforms trained in on specific points of interest in the crater.  For example, a rock the size of a house (below).  Also, right in the centre was a fence with a 6’ cut-out of an astronaut with an American Flag the same size as that placed on the moon, 5’ X 3’.  Hopefully these photos will also assist you in assessing the grand scale of this landmark.
 

Close-up of house-sized rock seen just to the right of the telescope in the above photo

Spot the 6' astronaut and American flag... and try to find it in my top photo of the crater!

We braved the wind and the cold for as long as we could stand before seeking shelter in the museum.  Displayed at the entrance is the Holsinger meteorite.  This is the largest fragment found of the 45-metre parent meteor that caused the crater (below).

This must have broken off the parent meteor in the atmosphere before impact and fallen as a separate piece and lain undiscovered until the beginning of the 20^th Century.  The rest of the museum was really well done with hands-on exhibits to make the experience interactive.  We were kept occupied past closing time, leaving at 515pm in the end.  

A short six-mile drive to the RV park and a 20% discount later, we parted with $27 and found our plot for the night.  As we were only steps away from the laundry facilities it seemed a perfect time to refresh our ‘outdoor clothing’ which had enjoyed good use over the last few days!  Then we settled in for the night.  We’re getting addicted to cheesy American gameshows like ‘Family Feud’ and ‘Celebrity name game’. This can’t be good!