Part 8: Cycling Crater Lake Oregon – Day 7

Day 7 – final day of our adventure!

On my previous tours last year, I'd got a little blue on the final days: stuff about leaving a group of people you'd come to regard, the finale of the occasion etc. Although it's still a little sting, this time I felt good, focusing on the positives rather than what I'd really miss. One thing on this trip I'd learned is that occasionally, amazing things happen, and you get to see people you admire and appreciate again: the appearance of Steve and Amy, my friends from the 2007 Glacier Tour testified to that. If you read this Amy and Steve, my eternal gratefulness for your presence on tour: it was such a bonus to have you there.

OK, that morning I'd decided to cement my immortality (or some such foolish notion), and follow thru' with an earlier idea that Steve and I had had re: swapping jerseys. I'd spied a jersey that Steve had worn several times thru' the tour – a great looking iradescent white, green/yellow one I'd admired from afar. We decided we'd swap and I'd give him one of my Perth specific ones.

So that morning at breakfast, I took my 3 Perth-specific ones down to breakfast and let Steve choose which one of mine he wanted. Murray, another cool guy on tour, decided to get in on the act, and wanted to exchange one of his unique ones for mine! Cool!

So, Steve ended up getting my 2007 Perth Great Bike Ride jersey, a 53km cycle around the Swan River foreshore from Perth to Fremantle and back – check out the website below:

Perth Great Bike Ride Website.

The cool thing about this jersey is that it has a map of the route on the back – so not only will Steve have a jersey which no-one he's ever likely to ride with in future has ever seen, but he can market Perth to the world! In return, I got his gem of a jersey which commemorates the 2007 charity ride from Tiberias to Jerusalem in Israel for the Children of Alyn Hospital – a wonderful prize.

Murray scored my 2008 Perth Freeway Bike Hike jersey, another great ride in Perth along the freeway system – website is below:

Perth Freeway Bike Hike.

Murray reciprocated by giving me an extremely unique jersey for the Harrisburg Bicycle Club - awesome! Turns out this one has done a fair bit of travelling with him, so I promised that whenever it travelled again, I'd take pics to show its journeys are continuing!

Finally, because of all the help he'd been to me on Tour with chasing down some equipment (plus being such a nice all-round fun guy), I gave guide Wilder my 2007 Freeway Bike Hike jersey. He'd already payed me – his continuous outrageous flirting with female wait-persons had shown me techniques with the ladies I'd never dreamed of! (Unfortunately, I doubt they'd work without the user also possessing Wilder's boyish charm and personality!)

I've resolved from now on to try and make this exchange a tradition – hopefully it will continue!

So, exchanges and brekky over, we saddled up for the last day's ride, which nicely, was almost all downhill! (Lucky for me, as I was starting my next tour, The Volcanoes of Washington, the very next day!).

I took a last look around the Crater from the first pull-in near the Lodge and then set off downhill after the others. The following 24kms rolled very quickly under our wheels – after an initial few little climbs around the Rim road I think I might have pedaled casually once or twice, but only to remind myself that my legs were still attached to the cranks.

Most of us stopped at the sign indicating the North entrance to the park – below is a pic of Steve, myself and Murray in our exchanged jerseys (obviously I'm only wearing one of mine – Steve's – as it was a little hot to put on two!). Also below is a pic of me holding my bike over my head – a tradition with me. Exhibiting rare intelligence, I'd removed my water bottle from my bike prior to this feat – the last time I'd taken such a picture ( 2007 Glacier Tour at the Canadian Border), the bottle had detached and bounced of my head!





Turning right off the main road, we transferred to the bike path running around a beautiful body of water named Diamond Lake. The pace slowed right down and we pleasantly ambled our way around the lake, stopping at various points like a boat ramp, and a little stream:





It was all lovely forest/meadow style growth – an excellent way to wind down the tour.

At one point , we came across three men in camouflage gear with huge bows: fortunately they weren't hunting cyclists. They told us to 'watch out for the bear' – Umm, OK? Later we learned from Karen that she had had a baby bear cross the bikepath right in front of her – of course, she wondered where 'Mummy' was!

After trundling around the bike path to Diamond Lake Lodge, we exited the path and hopped onto the last 16 kms of roads we'd travel on this Tour, our destination the lunch spot and finishing point of Clearwater Falls. Those last 16 kms were pretty much another downhill fang, so the Falls came up pretty quick. Here's a pic of me at the falls in my newly acquired jersey from Steve:



One final lunch (as per usual delicious), a quick trek around, and then the 'Graduation Ceremony'! In a lovely surprise, Head Guide Mark handed out a commemorative 1859 Crater Lake quarter, minted in 2005 and encased in plastic. Wow! Here's the guides at the Falls – (l to r, Wilder, Stevie and Mark):



So, just like that, it was over! We still had a van ride back to Eugene and then Portland, where we'd drop off various guests and say our goodbyes, and I was in fact staying in the van all the way to Olympia, Washington for an overnight stay in preparation for my pickup the next day for the start of my 'Volcanoes of Washington' Tour. (I'll cover those details in a following post). But, that was it!

Doing this blog is such a great way of recalling all the great experiences I had on tour – during the hectic days on tours, things tend to blend and blur into each other, and the chronology and details of the various tours get swapped around and generally inter-raveled. Viewing my and others pics (thanks to all those who put up their pics online) clarifies the events, and brings many memories into life that are otherwise missed. Of course, I'm not saying I can accurately recall EVERY detail of the tour, and a certain license is employed occassionally, but I think what I've outlined is a pretty accurate description of the great times had and wonderful people met.

To ALL those on the tour, thank you so much for the camaraderie and good times: the group experience is what makes the tour so fantastic. Special acknowledgments to my roomy Robb – you are the man! - and to Amy and Steve for their friendship and presence: it meant so much to have you there!

Also major thanks to the wonderful guides Wilder, Stevie and Mark: the tour was the success it was because of your tireless work, cheerful dispositions and unique personalities.

Finally, thanks to all at Bicycle Adventures: 4 down and a lot more to come!

If you want to find out more about the Crater Lake Tour, any of the tours Bicycle Adventures does, or the company itself, head to their website! I sincerely believe you won't forget a moment you spend on one of their tours!

Bicycle Adventures Site.

Coming up – my hazy recollections of the "Volcanoes of Washington" tour!

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.