Day 39: To Klamath Falls, Oregon

August 17, 2009

The temperature got down to 48F overnight. I got up at 7 and walked to the lava caves at 8. It felt good to have sunshine early in the morning. The main attraction at Lava Beds National Monument is underground-more than 700 known lava tubes. The first lava tube I visited is called Indian Wells, just outside the campground. I went about 100 feet inside.

Closer to the visitor center is the Mushpot lava tube. It has lights and a concrete walkway. You walk about 500 feet into the chilly cave, then turn around and go back out. It has interpretive signs with pushbuttons that illuminate features described in the signs. I was surprised to see a busload of Japanese tourists there at 8:20AM, far from the nearest motel.

Mushpot Lava tube has lights and a 500 foot long concrete walkway.

Then I got on the bike and climbed the steep hill on the 5-mile Cave Loop road. This 1-way paved loop provides access to about 20 lava tubes. I didn't go into any of those tubes, but I could see the entrance to many of them.

Few flowers still bloom in the desert in late summer.

The loop road has a nice view of Tule Lake and irrigated farms in the Klamath river valley down below.

Looking down on the Klamath river valley from the Lava Beds Cave Loop road.

Back on Hill Road I pedaled north 1.5 miles then turned east onto Skull Cave road. 2 miles up the gravel road I parked at the Symbol Bridge/Big Painted Cave trailhead. From there it was a 1 mile hike to Painted Cave and Symbol Bridge. I couldn't find the pictographs at Painted Cave, even though I climbed down until the cave was filled with water. But they were easy to find at Symbol Bridge. The paintings are in a lava tube that collapsed on both ends, leaving a lava bridge. Interpretive signs didn't mention the age of the paintings.

Back on Hill Road, I continued north. First the road climbs a big hill on the flank of Schonchin Butte. I considered taking the spur road to the lookout on top of the butte. I decided not to because the view of the Medicine Lake Highlands would be looking into the sun. And it was already 12:30PM and I have a long way to go to get to Klamath Falls today.

Past Schonchin Butte the road climbs another hill to get onto a huge lava flow. Then the road follows the lava flow down to the Klamath Basin. Fascinating.

In the flat basin I depart Lava Beds National Monument and enter Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. But the first few miles are just irrigated fields. This area was once part of Tule Lake. But much of the lake was drained and diked for irrigated agriculture.

Eventually the road goes along the shore of Tule Lake, with a volcanic ridge to the left. Hill road is now totally flat, with a bit of headwind, and still no traffic.

A few miles past the lake Hill Road connects to Oregon highway 39. There is no sign when the county road crosses the state line. I had a late lunch in Merrill, then continued north to Klamath Falls. Highway 39 has far more traffic than Hill Road, but at least it has a paved shoulder. It was totally flat, but with the headwind I could only go 10-11 mph. Past miles and miles of irrigated pastures.

It seemed to take forever, but I finally got into Klamath Falls (4340 feet elevation) and rode past 6 miles of sprawl and didn't notice any campgrounds. I was extremely tired and didn't want to go to the next known campground 10 miles north of town. So I got a $60 room at the Maverick Inn in downtown Klamath Falls, arriving at 6:30. My 7th and final motel of the tour.

Today I spent the morning as a tourist at Lava Beds National Monument. The first half of today's ride was also very interesting. But after Tule Lake it was just flat irrigated fields all the way to Klamath Falls. The weather was perfect again today. Sunny with a high of 83F. Oregon welcomed me with a north wind. Not much climbing today, but the hiking and headwind combined to make it a long strenuous day.

Distance: 54.7 mi (88 km), 4 mi (6.4 km) on gravel

Climbing: 1276 ft (387 m)

Average speed: 10.4 mph (16.6 km/h)

Max speed: 37.5 mph (60 km/h)

Hiking: 5 mi (8 km)

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,691 miles (2,721 km)

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