Day 41: To Diamond Lake

August 19, 2009

It didn't get extremely cold overnight considering the elevation. I got on the road at 8:25, starting the final 1100 foot climb to the rim of Crater Lake. At Rim Village (7100 feet elevation) the road and parking lot are now behind the gift shop/restaurant. The new road is winding and confusing, but now the rim area is a quiet pedestrian zone. Just beyond the lodge I parked the bike on the Garfield Peak trail and put on Keen sandals and a sun hat. The hike is a 4 mile round trip with 1000 feet of climbing. The hike took a little more than 2 hours with a 30 minute stop at the summit. The trail was mostly in the sun and I got sweaty when climbing steep grades. Garfield Peak is set back a bit from the rim, but it still has an excellent view of the lake.

Looking south from the Garfield Peak trail. Mt. McLoughlin on the right. Park headquarters below.

At the summit of 8054-foot Garfield Peak. 1900 feet above Crater Lake. I haven't used enough sunscreen lately.

View from Garfield Peak. See the tour boat in front of Wizard Island.

Garfield Peak trail. Mt. Thielsen in the upper right.

Mt. Scott and the Phantom Ship with a poor sun angle.

Awesome view from the Garfield Peak trail.

At Rim Village I had lunch at the busy cafe, then walked the pedestrian path along the edge of the rim. This is where all the tourists go. The parking lot was full of cars, motor homes, and tour buses and I overheard many languages.

Back on the bike I continued north on the rim drive for 7 miles. The road mostly stays very close to the rim. It climbs up to 7600 feet elevation on the back side of Watchman Peak. The Wizard Island overlook is 7500 feet elevation. Then the rim drive drops to 7025 feet elevation at the North Junction. The lake surface is 6176 feet elevation.

Crater Lake was formed 7700 years ago when Mt. Mazama erupted. Before the eruption Mt. Mazama was the biggest mountain in the Cascade range, 6000 feet taller than the existing rim. So much material erupted out of the mountain that it collapsed internally, forming a nearly round crater 6 miles in diameter and 3000 feet deep. The lake is 1900 feet deep, deepest in the U.S. It has no inlet or outlet streams and is mostly fed by snow, about 40 feet of snow per year.

8166-foot Hillman Peak, the highest point on the rim.

Just before the North Junction the hours-old chipseal started again. I seem to be following the paving crew! I kept my speed below 25 mph on the steep descent from the rim because the road felt so wet and squirmy. Below the rim is an area where the pumice is so thick that hardly anything grows, even 8000 years after the eruption of Mt. Mazama.

My destination for the night is the free 5-site hiker/biker campground on the south shore of Diamond Lake, at 5200 feet elevation. I've camped there 5 times before and never saw anybody else there. But this time 2 sites were already occupied. One site by a PCT hiker who was resting for a couple days. The other site by two bike tourists who both towed large (40 pound) dogs in Burley trailers. They were pedaling from Seattle to San Francisco. I bet they're even slower than I am!

In the evening I walked 1/4 mile west along the bike trail to the boat dock at the South Shore Picnic Area. It has a great view of Mt. Thielsen above the lake.

Mt. Thielsen (9182 feet elevation) and Diamond Lake (5183 feet elevation).

I had a swim in the lake, so I didn't bother to make a shower. The weather was very warm. Maybe 88F. The temperature stayed surprisingly warm even after the sun set behind Mt. Bailey. For dinner I got a pizza from the South Shore Pizza Parlor, a 6 minute walk from the campground.

It was another great day! I'm back in my home county, and after two more days I'll be home...

Distance: 28.9 mi (46 km)

Climbing: 1991 ft (603 m)

Average speed: 9.1 mph (14.5 km/h)

Max speed: 38.5 mph (62 km/h)

Hiking: 5 mi (8 km)

Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 1,777 miles (2,860 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0