Part 7: Cycling Crater Lake Oregon – Day 6

It's a layover day, but it ain't no rest day! Around the Crater rim we go – well, at least on the roads around the rim. And it's either up or down – no flat spots :)

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!

Part 6: Cycling Crater Lake Oregon – Day 5

Today is a big day – we are riding to, and up, Crater Lake!

Whilst the route map has us being deposited at Dutchman Flat SnoPark once again, driving the long uphill section some of us have twice come down, a bunch of us decide that we will get up it under our own steam this time. So, for some it is an early start, and it will be a nice ride before lunch: around 30km to the SnoPark (pretty much all uphill), and then another 46 (mostly downhill) to the lunch location.

The tandem terrors Amy and Steve have been up and gone before Murray, Elliot, Greg, Wilder, Robb and myself set off: what they gain on the downhills, physics claws back from them in the climbs.

The day is perfect: absolute clear skies, cool but not cold, and likely to warm into a something approaching hot (but that is later). For now, we amble off and start to warm up. It doesn't take long before the road commences to crank upwards – it never gets more than about a 6% incline, but it's a long climb best taken at a steady pace. I was able to get speeds of around 65km/h coming down it, so it's a nice little rise.

We need to get to the SnoPark soon after the van which is ferrying the others does, but it won't be an issue. I'm hoping to beat it there, but I don't quite make it: it passes me on the final short hill just before the turn-off! Bleh! Still, it was a great ride – a good warm-up for the climb up to the Crater Lake Lodge which awaits later in the afternoon.

Below is a pic of the van and riders at the SnoPark, with Mt Batchelor in the background:



From here it was basically downhill to the lunch site, and what a lovely downhill it was! Fast, smooth and wide roads. Almost perfect!. I say almost, because I've discovered the drawback to the compact crank I had installed. Going up the morning incline, it was great: gave me gears in reserve, and a much closer set of ratios out back with the front 34 set selected, so keeping up the cadence is fine. Downhill, the 3 less teeth on the 50 set makes an amazing difference in terminal pedaling speed – reaching 50km/h at 50/12 sees my legs going at what seems like hamster-wheel speeds, and a hamster on speed at that! The inclines aren't enough that I can just tuck and keep gaining speed, so the most I ever see is a 72km/h. Still, who's complaining? - I know I won't be when I do some of the climbs on the Volcanoes of Washington Tour.

There may have been a rise or two, but I don't really recall: the scenery (all woods and mountains) whizzed colourfully by. What I do know is that the lunch spot rolled around pretty quickly! At one point in the ride we passed a climb up to our left, and I was pretty sure I'd seen it before. I had – it was the hill I'd gone down when I rode the not-the-option option ride coming into Sunriver 2 days ago! Hmmm, so that's where I'd got to.

Arriving at Crane Prairie Campground (so named for its complete absence of cranes – either bird or machine – and prairies), I sniffed out the lunch table and charmingly harassed Stevie about food whilst she attempted to do her job, which is getting food. The guides are pretty much used to this stuff, and they circumvent these attempts at begging for food by putting out the "stuff which tastes good, but is bad for you", namely chips, M&Ms, anything which is 90% fat etc. So typically, gluttons like me fill up on the bad stuff and then suffer: there is method in their actions!

The day has warmed up nicely, and there is even talk of taking a dip in the lake, but having stuck my hand in, I think not: it's not THAT warm!

After lunch, we take 'the Boys' group and 'Sisters' group photos: the drag-queen group is ignored. Here are the sisters doing their thing:



Lunch having been and gone, we must hop into the van for a drive to our starting point for the afternoon's task: a climb up to Crater Lake Lodge.

According to the notes, it's a 13.7 km climb from the Northern edge of the Crater Lake Park boundary to the Crater rim, with a total elevation gain of 381 metres – a pitiful 2.8% rise. From the start point we travel on relatively flat ground for a while – in fact for what seems like quite a while! We pass an area of completely barren terrain which is the 'Pumice Desert': it consists entirely of pumice, the very light aerated rock, thrown up by the explosion of Mt Matazama (which was the mountain that blew its top to create Crater Lake) some 8000 years previous, and it looks dry, hot and eery.

The ground remains relatively flat for most of the route and only ramps up in the last 6kms or so, where it gets a little steeper than 2.8%! I still had a couple of gears in reserve on the rear cassette with the 34 up front, but I wasn't traveling at warp speed!

It is a wonderful ride, the views from the climb across the surrounding country are spectacular, and the views from the (close and unguarded) edge of the road down some fairly steep drops are also interesting! One would definitely not want to take a trip off the edge.

I was really starting to get into the climb, and when I crested a bend in the road, saw a slight downhill, and the familiar silver van parked in a lay-out, I decided to just keep going as there was some more climbing ahead. Not, as it turned out, a whole lot more. Another crest and bend and a second layout appeared. This one I decided to investigate, and was glad I did.

The entire brilliant vista of Crater Lake lay before me, and it was wonderfully spectacular. This layout was on the rim almost directly above Wizard Island, the new crater rim which is slowly growing out of the lake, and it all just looked so fantastic. Below are a couple of pics which don't do it justice, but shows something of what I gazed on:





Snapping photos, the time ticked past and I figured after a while I should get going. Walking back to my bike, a squirrel decided to check me out. I'm always fascinated with these things and tried to get a pic for quite a while, but the critter wouldn't pose for me. At one point he ran up a fence post and sat about 2 feet away, but scuttled down as soon as I raised the camera. Finally got a pic (below) of him peering at me from below my bike.



As I started to walk the bike the not inconsiderable distance back to the road, my roomy Robb trundled by, closely followed by the van. I caught up to Robb and we spun the last few minutes into the Crater Lake Lodge parking lot just behind the van, and scored ourselves a well earned beer.

The Lodge was a pretty typical style, with high entrance and wings running off to the rooms and the dining facilities. Quite grand and nice to look at, it is our home for two nights. Perched on top of the rim as it is, it has amazing views of the lake, and after having been to our charming room and showered, Robb and I caught up with some of the others on the 'esplanade' at the front of the place and watched the shadows play over the lake and the crater rim: very beautiful.

We soon were granted admittance into the dining room which was large, open and warm: like really warm! Had a great meal of venison served by a very charming Romanian waitress. Hmmm – hadn't I seen several of her fellow nationality in Sunriver just scant days ago? And amazingly enough, her name was exactly the same as one of the ladies at the Italian restaurant: Stefania! This was all a bit nefarious! Of course the far more boring and real-life explanation was that a bunch of them come over on exchange and work at resorts during the summer months – a likely cover story!

After the meal, and having acquired a considerable hike in body temperature from the general warmth of the dining area, Robb and I took a quick walk around outside before heading back to our room. With over 100kms travelled, and a fair amount uphill, I was looking forward to a long snooze in preparation for the ride around the rim tomorrow.

Anyone chasing some more info on Crater Lake can go here for starters: Wikipedia Crater Lake entry.

And so it begins...2008. Part 1: Cycling Crater Lake Oregon - Prelude

OK – the time had come to fly, fly, fly away little starling...(points if you guess the movie!)

For those who don't wish to read my perfunctory account of my travels, below is a link to the collection of photos I took whilst on the Tour: please gaze at your leisure.

Oregon Crater Lake Tour 2008 Photos.

For details of the trip itself, please visit:

Bicycle Adventures.

Before one gets to ones cycling adventures in the North West US, one must fly from Australia, in a bloody big jet, packed to the cans with stinky, sweaty, smelly other persons...I really hate flying!

Short tale: hop on a plane in Perth, Western Australia and travel to Portland, Oregon, USA via Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan: a journey that takes some 24 hours and 20 minutes (including a 5 hr 20 min stopover in Narita), and robs me of my sanity, respect for the sanctity of human life, and tastebuds!

Long story: it's too long and soul-crushing to relate, but potentially could have involved a psychosis, a rampage, and some chopped liver...

Thanks to the squiggly little Dateline running down the Pacific, I leave Perth on August 3rd , a Sunday night at 11pm, and get into Portland on Monday, August 4th at 8:20 am – Cool, 24 hrs apparently packed into 9! Unfortunately, that meant I had to stay up another 12 hours at least in order to adjust my internal clock!

Well, the info-torial on the plane said “to avoid jet lag, drink lots and get out in the sun”. My thoughts immediately strayed to finding a bar that was outside and getting baked, in both senses.

But, first, the little matter of finding my way to Universal Cycles, the dudes who I had arranged to have my newly minted Dean titanium-framed S&S coupler bike shipped to and built!

Being totally anal, I had all the info at hand! Shuffling from my hotel into the sunny Portland day (mid 30's Celcius and sunny), I followed my Google Maps printout directions and struck out for the joint. A surprisingly short 15 minutes later (well not that surprising – I rang the shop just before I left the hotel and received GPS-accurate directions), I had found the place, and immediately assailed the owner Mike re: my machina. Mike took me to meet Mark, the resident Dr. Frankenstein, and - “It's ALIVE!!!”.

OMFG – it was a thing of sheer beauty! I salivated a lot, mumbled some shit, and generally stared goggle-eyed for about 20 minutes. Coming to (the residents in the workshop had hit me on the head with a torque wrench in order to “reset your circuits dude”), I gradually gained my senses and began to resemble a typical human being.

Spent the next couple of hours getting things squared away fit-wise etc, and was just about to take the thing with me when I discovered a little wrinkle: here in Oz, bikes have their front brake lever on the right side, and their rear brake lever on the left. Well, I wasn't in Oz – I was in freakin' Portland, and things are different here buddy! Mindful that, in a panic situation on-road, my initial instinct would be to grab a handful of rear brake, which would mean front brake under the current set-up, I decided to leave it in Mark's hands to render a swap. I was to be without bike for another day - bleh!

Trudged back to the Hotel, showered, changed into something that wasn't crusted onto my body (yes, I was STILL in my airplane clothes!) and with thoughts turning to the “plenty of drinks and sun” advice, I stiff-legged like some zombie down NW 23rd and into paradise: a paradise known as the Casa Del Matador. A “Tex-Mex” cuisine and Tequila Bar, it kicked my arse more than once during my stay in Portland. This day, I partook of a spicy tomato soup, tortillas, and then, some hours later, a huge plate of nachos! Plus vast amounts of local microbrews. If you're in Portland – go there: it's that simple! (Altho there are absolutely NO matadors!)

Fantastic – I also managed to wake in the correct hotel the next morning! As I wasn't scheduled to get back to Universals to pick up the bike 'till the afternoon, and given that I'd seemed to get 9 hours good (alcohol induced) sleep and appeared to be semi-functional, I decided to walk around Portland to see what I could see. A couple of pics below of some of what I saw:





Five hours later, after seeing what I could see and walking many kms (the river boardwalks are great for this!), I arrived back at the hotel in the early afternoon, showered and put on the cycling gear to go get the new treadly and shake it down!

It was still gorgeous and panting to go! After profuse thank you's to all and sundry, and a pic with Mark the builder (see below), it was off for a leisurely spin around Portland!



Portland is a magic city for bikes – bike lanes everywhere, masses of riders, and car drivers mindful and courteous of bikers. I've said it before and I'll say it again – the car drivers in Perth are egomaniacal morons with god complexes in tin boxes!

Shake down done, I cruised back into the hotel for another shower, sauntered off to the Matador for more gorging, and then back into bed early in preparation for a train trip the next day to Olympia, Washington to...meet a mystery woman!

Well, she will remain a mystery to you, dear reader, but I had chatted some already, and was keen to catch up with this intelligent and witty lady! Plus, Olympia is the capital of Washington, of historical importance, and my inquisitive mind was on a quest to...oh, please!

Biked to the Portland train station the next day, boarded the 'Coast Starlight' and spent a pleasant 2 and something hours chatting to a nice guy from who-knows-where-in-the-US about many things.

Deposited at Lacey, Olympia, I saddled up and headed in the direction of the capital, directions I had again google-mapped in my hot little paws. I arrived at my destination, the Phoenix Inn in Olympia some 40 minutes later with no idea how I got there! I blundered into an urban area, looked for a tallish, square building in a place with very few tall buildings, and found it!

Had a little time to kill before I and ML (mystery lady) met up for a ride, so I decided to catch up with what was happening in the Olympics on tele. As in every other subsequent attempt to garner the least amount of information at all about the world's largest sporting event, I got to watch a shitload of ads, and a bunch of volleyball: this time, beach volleyball. I swear to deity, EVERY time I watched anything on the tour re: the Olympics, all I saw was friggin' Volleyball, beach or indoor variants!

OK – into my cycling gear, onto the new bike (which I was IN LOVE with) and a pedal around the hotel carpark waiting for ML to show up. Minutes later, a sparkling bell-like voice with the cutest accent called out my name, and ML was there. In person, and in cute (seriously cute) cycling gear!

Over the next hour or so, ML dragged my sorry arse around some of the loveliest cycling spots of Olympia, proving herself a fine cyclist and host. I panted and wheezed and generally kept up, and had a great old time!

Afterwards we had a lovely meal and hours chatting over some wine and coffee (well I think so, but I could've been hallucinating) – ML is gorgeous in all senses of the word. Hi you! :)

Next day, I pottered around Olympia on the bike, taking up time before I rode back to the train station for the journey back to Portland, seeing the sites etc. ML and I caught up for lunch – sigh – and then I headed off.

Proving I did actually attempt to see parts of Olympia, here's some piccies:





After a quick pedal back to the train station, I had some time to kill, so sat and checked the bike over. One of the spokes was somewhat loose, so I tightened it. Spin wheel. Hmm – giant freekin' buckle!!! Spent the remaining time before the arrival of the train sorting out this giant buckle and turning it into a very small one, with the further intent of getting it seen to by a professional (which I never did – some more riding seemed to totally straighten the thing!)

After a rather more boring train ride back to Portland (which was punctuated by incessant stops for freight trains) I alighted and biked back to the hotel, got my stuff, and transferred to the hotel from whence my Crater Lake tour was to depart the next day.

That, and more, coming up...