August 16, 2005
Day 13: Back to Diamond Lake
Overnight the temperature got down to about 40F (4C). The morning was very cool but mosquitoes were surprisingly aggressive. That was really annoying and I got a lot of bites before getting on the road at 8:50AM.
Pulling out of the campground I had a 4 mile, 800 foot climb to get back to the rim drive. I stopped at the Phantom Ship overlook at Kerr Notch, then continued to the Sun Notch parking area. West of the Kerr notch overlook the road on the south rim has no views of Crater Lake. It does have some good views of the mountains and valleys to the south of Crater Lake. I stopped at the Sun Notch parking area and hiked the 1/2 mile loop trail to get a lake view. It has a fantastic view of the lake with the Phantom Ship down below. I took a lot of pictures and took a long snack break. Today is a bit hazier than yesterday. Visibility is good today but it was excellent yesterday.
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Back on the bike I continued west on the rim drive to the visitor center junction with a short stop at Vidae Falls which drops 200 feet on the side of the road.
At the junction I turned towards Mazama Village to buy groceries. I didn't really want to go there but it was the only place I knew of to buy groceries today. 4 miles and a 400 foot descent to get there. I bought groceries and had an awful hot dog for lunch because there is no restaurant (Mazama Village will soon have a restaurant-one is under construction). While packing my groceries I somehow managed to drop and forget my pillow on the ground there. Then I pedaled back up to the visitor center junction and up the steep grade to Rim Village. Rim Village had a lot of construction. The cafeteria was closed and the road and parking areas were a mess, but the views are still great.
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I spent a lot of time at Rim Village because I wanted the sun to be farther in the west before riding the west rim road. I left Rim Village at 2:30PM, stopped at several overlooks on the west rim, and hiked the 1.5 mile trail to Watchman Peak. The view from Watchman Peak is spectacular. Highest elevation of this tour which ranges from sea level to 8013 feet (2428m) elevation.
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I continued north on the rim drive and stopped one more time at the North Junction overlook. My last chance to see Crater Lake on this tour. I bid a fond farewell to Crater Lake at 5:30PM and continued north towards Diamond Lake. Downhill all the way except for one 90-foot climb.
Back at Diamond Lake I set up my tent in the deserted hiker/biker campground and headed up the west shore of the lake to get a good view of Mt. Thielsen. I was hoping to get a good view after only 1 or 2 miles but there was a lot of private property. I ended up going 4.5 miles to the Thielsen View campground. At the boat ramp I took a photo looking across Diamond Lake to Mt. Thielsen, elevation 9182 feet. Mt. Thielsen is the highest point in Douglas County (my county), the "lightning rod of the Cascades". After the photo stop I rushed back to the campground to get there before dark.
At the campground I made a homebrew shower and ate dinner in the darkness, same as last time I was here. Today was a very good day. Not as difficult as the previous two days, so I was able to relax and enjoy the views without needing to hurry to get to my destination before dark. It was sunny all day with a high temperature of 80F and very little wind. Pretty darn good weather for bike touring. I enjoyed spending most of 2 days on the 33-mile rim drive. That allowed me to stop more often, hike more, and go down the spur roads.
The remainder of this tour will be much easier than the previous 3 days. Home is 4700 feet lower elevation than tonight's campground.
Distance: 53.8 mi. (86.1 km)
Climbing: 3570 ft. (1082 m)
Average speed: 8.8 mph (14.1 km/h)
Maximum speed: 40.2 mph (64.3 km/h)
Hiking: 2.5 mi. (4 km)
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 637 miles (1,025 km)
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