Up at the reasonable time of 7:30 for the morning invasion of the lodge restaurant for breakfast followed by the preparation for riding. No packing today as we are at the Lodge tonite, so yay!
It's another beautiful day – the weather has been nothing short of superb on this trip – and everyone is doing the Rim Ride. We are a hardy lot!
We are heading in a clock-wise direction around the rim to the North and back around. Whilst the road is up and down all day, the slightly longer and steeper climbs are on the last part of the ride – who dreamed that route up?: that's right, Guides!
It is a guides biological imperative to seek out unsuspecting victims and attempt to break them. So far our guides had been unsuccessful, but they seemed particularly chirpy today?
Ok, out of the Lodge and retrace the route we came in on, and immediately there are climbs, but that's OK: we aren't stuffed yet! I stop off at the top of the first climb and take yet another picture of the stunning vista of the Lake and Wizard Island:
Next, Robb and I pull into the first major lay-in (where I had the squirrel encounter of the previous day) and Robb takes a photo of me sitting imperiously on the sharp end of a log, unconcerned about the massive vertical drop quite a safe distance away. I had hoped the angle would have foreshortened the apparent closeness of the cliff to something akin to 'dangerous proximity', but Robb has managed to acquire the pic in such a way that I merely look like a bit of a knob sitting on a lump of wood! (as can be plainly seen below:)
As can also be observed, this day I wore my 'Maple Leaf' Canada jersey that I had purchased during the Glacier, Banff, Jasper tour I did in 2007. I purchased this on the day that myself and young roomy Jacob were subjected to the weirdness of the township of Lake Louise, specifically our discovery that seemingly everybody native to the township spoke 'surfer dude-ese' (see this blog entry for the complete story: Glacier, Banff, Jasper Day 5).
Unstrangely enough (given that I now had a giant maple leaf and the words 'Canada' emblazoned on a jersey so searingly red that firefighters automatically felt compelled to dowse me) I had several encounters with other people during the ride around the Rim inquiring as to which part of Canada I was from, including one rather awkward one where a bunch of people at our lunch stop halted their car and cheeringly enquired as to my hometown in Canada, rattled of theirs before I replied, and then looked strangely wounded when I got out, in an Australian accent, that I wasn't actually Canadian. I got the sense that they felt that one shouldn't be wearing such a Jersey unless one actually WAS from the place. Their confused and hurt looks almost made me want to rip it off there and then.
Anyway, I'm not up to lunch yet: it was still early morning, and the elevational ping pong had just begun.
Immediately, it was obvious that Crater Lake had a rather abundant supply of butterflies: there were in fact, shit-loads of them! Largish, Monarch-looking ones (well, they were orange!). These creatures were everywhere, and in such proportions that on downhills where any speed was gathered, they actually posed a slight hazard to the more exposed parts of the face. After one such downhill, a person following me mentioned that I was riding a little erratically: in one of my more genius moments, I'd figured that I could predict the intersection paths of many hundreds of butterflies and myself simultaneously, and thus strategically avoid them! I will still claim that I hit less this way!
The road swooped and dove nicely, and after around 17 kms, Robb and I pulled into a car park above 'Cleetwood Cove', which is the launch point for the boats that do hourly cruises around the lake. (In the picture of me above sitting on the fence, you can just make out on the lake surface a tiny form which was one of these boats. They look like 2-3 person boats: they actually hold around twenty people, each in their own seat. The Lake is a long way down from the rim!).
Whilst we weren't going to do a cruise, we did want to wander down and check the joint out. The guides had cunningly deposited the hiking boots of the persons wanting to see the Cove with the Park Guide at the carpark, so we equipped ourselves and, after a warning from the guide that you needed to take water as it was dry and dusty on the way down, off Robb and I went just behind Greg and Elliott. Crossing the road to the start of the trail down to the Cove, more posted signs warning of dire consequences regarding the failure to take water with you had me wondering what was in store. The next sign explained nicely: the climb down to and up from the Cove was apparently equivalent to climbing a 20,000 storey building via its stair well (perhaps not 20,000 storeys, but certainly a lot more stairs than I'd ever climbed in my life). It also cheerily informed us (underneath several pictograms consisting of a skull and crossbones, the skeletons of dead humans, and a number of stick figures hand-etched into the sign which I presume was the daily mortality count) that it was a mile down, and a mile up. Pffftttt – easy!
Obviously this mile was not a vertical distance – I don't have a clue what that actual distance was, but the trail was naturally enough a switchback style one, hence the mile measure.
The walk down was pleasant enough – indeed slightly dusty and a little warm in the exposed places, but I saw no carcasses of unsuccessful hikers, so proceeded on. At one point near the top of the climb, a guy ran past us down the trail (deliberately I might assure) and then some time later before we had reached the bottom, ran past us again UP the trail. He looked fit. I assume he wasn't going to be a statistic of this appallingly difficult challenge, particularly as he wasn't even bothering to raise a sweat whilst motoring past at some inhuman pace.
Reaching the bottom, we found a lovely little Cove nestled below a higher rock boardwalk which we paraded along. The water was amazingly clear, a stunning aquamarine a little way out to shore, and slowly deepening into dark blue. Robb, Elliott, Greg and I ventured further along and came to a cliff overhanging the Lake. Being supreme daredevils, we calmly strode towards the cliff's edge and took turns taking each other's group photo as we stood like conquerors atop Everest. Our confidence was buoyed by the fact that the cliff was a mere 15 foot or so above the water.
Looking over the edge, the water was piercingly blue, and visibility seemed to go on forever. It looked especially inviting and we pondered going for a dip, but weren't sure. We ended up not doing so, but several people from a later group did go in, and I regret not doing so, especially as the walk up was hot and dusty!
At one point whilst we were photo-posing, a member of one of the tour boat crew wandered up to our neck of the woods(where a number of people were idling/sitting etc) from the dock 500 metres or so away and inquired as to whether there was anyone booked on the 12:30pm tour. After a few repetitions of this, a man, his wife and two kids who were sitting eating lunch replied in the affirmative. The guide then indicated that the boat was actually waiting for them: it was 12:35pm. This seemed to piss the father off, as he walked by mumbling something about finishing lunch to no-one in particular – meanwhile 20-odd other people were cooking on a stationary boat at Lake's edge? Huh?
We decided to head back up the climb and cycle our way to lunch. Suffice to say that I don't recall spending anywhere near as much time hiking down as I did going up! It was dry, dusty and hot plus – I ran out of water! I was going to end up another stick figure scratched into the sign, a testament to the life-threatening ability of the male of the species to ignore sound advice!
Of course, I did make it, and without drama, and dragged my tired legs back to the car park Ranger's shack where I'd left my cycling shoes, making sure to give no clues to the Ranger as to my deep desire to throw down litres of water.
Naturally, the biking to lunch was pretty much uphill all the way, but with very nice scenery (including some great spots to view the rim walls as per the pic below) so it progressed fairly smoothly.
The few downhills were liberally sprinkled with the ever-present butterflies/kamikazes. Also naturally, the lunch spot 'Cloud Cap Overlook' was one of those locations where you climb up to a flat, think you've made it, only to have a final little extra grind to the actual place. This occurs with regularity: a reminder of the perversity of the route planners.
Mind you, some people on the tour seemed to love this, Sandra and Tedi in particular. I think Sandra enjoyed it, but it was hard to tell: Sandra smiled at everything. If Sandra was Joan of Arc at the moment of her death she would have been smiling! I attempted at one point to get Sandra to look serious for a photo, but my camera's shutter speed just wasn't quick enough to catch it!
Tedi is one half of the Tedi and Ed show: an older couple who were having a perpetual love-in. The way these two enjoyed each others company was a pleasure to see. Tedi seemed to reserve her biggest smiles for the steepest climbs. At first I thought it was the thrill of the accomplishment, but later I suspect it was because when she got to the top, she got a bunch of hugs and kisses from Ed – the harder the climb, the more she got! They were a delightful couple and their easy-going, joyful nature always 'elevated' the group.
Lunch atop one of the highest spots on the rim was spectacular (both lunch and views) but so was the warmth. The sun seemed to be intensely close up here, and so I wandered off a way down into the vegetation off the parking area, and picked a nice cool shady spot under a little grove of trees and had a catnap! It was really lovely.
Post-lunch saw an optional ride of an out-and-back 20km down to a place called 'The Pinnacles': a 1500 feet elevation drop to be regained. Robb and I decided to do the downhill and wing it from there re: how we felt about the reverse climb. Greg and Elliot also came down.
The Pinnacles is an interesting formation of thin columns or spires which rise from the side of a valley (see pic below). They are the result of gas/water/steam columns rising from the ground in times past and mineralising the soil along which they traveled. This harder soil column remained when the softer surrounding soil was eroded away by water activity in the valley/gorge.
Robb, Greg and I decided to do the ride back up from the Pinnacles, a drag of around 5% for the 10 or so kms. We were aware that the remaining 20 or so kms back to the Lodge was also basically uphill but thought 'what the hell'. The ride was pretty nice – fairly covered and in green forest, with a road that was fairly bumpy (moreso than when coming down it at speed) but we progressed well, Greg and I having a nice chat about various things.
After a while, I decided to turn around and see how Robb was doing, so Greg went on his way and I circled back. He was doing it a little hard, but we carried on and he showed his character and toughness. He really is a great guy – he had done some big days of climbing throughout the tour, but he simply knuckled down and kept it going. He is very much like me in that regard – if you are going to do it, just do it the best you can.
Back on the Rim road we were joined by guide Stevie. It was a riding day for her and she promptly showed both of us how to do it by grinding up the rest of the way to the Lodge with nothing less than a 39/23 combo. Meanwhile I am wimping it out on a 34/23! She is one admirable lady, and looks like a natural on the bike: a minimum of fuss and a maximum of outcome.
There was a fun downhill of about 4 km on the final run, and some nice speeds were got: a good little rest before the final climb to the Lodge.
Robb was grinding it out nicely, and my thoughts turned to the Tandem Terrors: where were they? Given their infinite superiority on the downhills I had to take every opportunity on the uphills to remind them of their mere mortality! Stevie saw a bike ahead on an uphill corner, and with her graciously volunteering to keep an eye on Robb, I decided to pick it up and investigate. It was Karen, and she informed me that the Terrors were a little up the road! OK, time to take a serious dig. Knocking back a cog, I put it in, and managed to tag on to them on the last rise. Victory! Cruising past, I carried on along the road only to find them not behind me. Emerging from the little loop the road had taken, I spied them up ahead having gone along the path that cut-thru the car park I'd just triumphantly dawdled along! Haha – foiled! Still, I begrudge them not their ascent – riding a bike that sometimes steers like the Titanic across that shortcut was a feat worthy of a medal.
Flipped around and quickly came across Robb trundling up the last rise – he is a machine! We pedaled the last km into the lodge together and enjoyed a well deserved coldie from the cooler!
Some 78kms and 5300ft of climbing (plus a 2 mile hike down and up the rim) from the start of the day had gone beneath our wheels, and it had been wonderfully spectacular and well worth it. Thanks Crater Lake!
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