Day 34: To Union Creek via Crater Lake

September 18, 2011

Map of today's route. Terrain view is instructive.

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34F overnight, coldest night of the trip at the highest campsite of the trip. The sky was clear, but it took a long time for the sun to rise above Mount Thielsen. And then the sun was weak under the forest canopy.

Morning view of Diamond Lake and 8363 foot Mount Bailey.

I finally got on the road at 10:40 when it wasn't so cold. Crater Lake is best in the afternoon, anyway.

Looking back at Diamond lake during the climb to Crater Lake.

The route to Crater Lake is almost continuous uphill. The only notable descent was 110 feet down to the pumice desert.

Near Crater Lake the forest has no understory plants because the ground is buried by snow most of the year.

The grade is mostly 5-6%, but it does go up to 8% for a while near the top. The first view of Crater Lake is at the north junction of the rim drive, 7025 feet elevation. 1800 feet higher than my starting point of Diamond Lake, and 850 feet above Crater Lake.

Crater Lake looking east from the north junction.

Mike had been there for a while by the time I got there. I planned to take a long stop, but soon after I arrived the area was evacuated as a possible helicopter landing zone. Presumably for firefighters, and not just as a practice evacuation for the paramedics having a drill nearby.

Crater Lake looking south from the north junction. Distant Mount McLoughlin on the right.

Mike and I pedaled 8 glorious miles along the rim drive, on the west side of Crater lake. Sun angle and visibility were good.

What is now Crater Lake was once Mount Mazama, a 12,000 foot volcano. 7700 years ago an epic eruption hollowed out the mountain. Mount Mazama soon collapsed upon itself, creating a deep crater that eventually filled with water. The rim is now 6800-8500 feet elevation and the lake level averages 6173 feet elevation. I imagine the eruption was much more violent than Mount St. Helens in 1980.

This is my 5th time to pedal the Crater Lake rim. But it's only after visiting the Mount St. Helens devastation zone that I recognized the devastation zones northwest of Crater Lake. The pumice fields are hundreds of feet deep, still infertile 7700 years after the eruption.

Looking north at Mount Bailey and Mount Thielsen. Several barren pumice zones are visible.

The rim drive climbs up to 7677 feet elevation just north of the Watchman overlook. That's the highest elevation of the trip by a huge margin. The second highest place was Washington Pass at only 5477 feet.

The Watchman overlook has a great view, and you can walk a mile up to Watchman peak for an even better view.

I was talking when Mike took a picture of me at the Watchman overlook.

Crater lake is 1949 feet deep, the deepest lake in the U.S. and the 9th deepest in the world. The intense blue color is a result of the deep water absorbing light.

The lake is 5 miles diameter and the rim is 7 miles diameter. Imagine Mount Mazama rising another mile above the rim!

The Watchman overlook has the best view of Wizard Island.

The Watchman overlook also has a great view looking north at the rim.

The rim drive had frequent views of forest fires below to the west. Fortunately the smoke was blowing to the north, so the fires didn't affect visibility at Crater Lake.

Visibility at Crater Lake was not affected by the wildfires to the west.

I got to Rim Village at 3:30 PM and stopped for an hour to have a sandwich at the snack bar and sit on the patio talking to several Pacific Crest Trail hikers passing through. 30 miles of the PCT is closed because of the fires, forcing the hikers to go along the Crater lake rim instead. One guy had hiked various mountain trails starting in Brookings (SW corner of Oregon) and had a week to go to get home to Sisters.

Rim Village is 7100 feet elevation. From there it's almost continuous downhill to the Rogue river.

On the way down I stopped to buy groceries at Mazama Village which is the park's main visitor facility with a huge campground, store, motel, restaurant, laundry, showers. It's 6000 feet elevation, so the campground has a short season. The campground usually opens 2 weeks after the Crater Lake north entrance opens.

Mazama Village was the ONLY place I saw evidence of separatist sentiment in Cascadia. Ironic that it would be in a National Park!

I continued downhill through the forest to a more comfortable elevation for camping. My destination is the Farewell Bend USFS campground at 3400 feet elevation. I arrived at 5:50 PM and my first view of the Rogue river (during this tour) was at my campsite. $16, nice flush toilets, but no showers. Huge trees, big river, it's a great place to camp. The campground is a mile north of Union Creek which has a store, restaurant, and cabins.

My first view of the Rogue river was at my campsite at Farewell Bend campground.

In the evening I took a walk and found a place 500 feet upstream from my campsite where the Rogue river is severely constricted for about 200 feet as it passes through a lava field. The river is incredibly fast and turbulent in the narrow section. By the time the water gets to my campsite it's crystal clear and smooth, though still fast moving.

Just upstream from my campsite the Rogue river squeezes through a lava field.

It took me 5 days to climb from sea level to Crater Lake.

Descending from Rim Village to the Rogue river I lost more than half the elevation in 80 minutes, including a grocery stop.

Distance: 45.6 mi. (73 km)
Climbing: 2933 ft. (889 m)
Average Speed: 10.0 mph (16 km/h)
Hiking: 1 mi. (1.6 km)

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 1,694 miles (2,726 km)

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