Day 3: To Diamond Lake and Crater Lake

June 22, 2006

Early in the morning it was 40F but the mosquitoes were still very aggressive. Cold enough that it's hard to get the fingers to work properly. We were in the sun once we got on the road, climbing a steep grade. I kept my jacket on as a defense against the mosquitoes, not to keep warm. It was an easy 1100 foot climb to Diamond Lake (5100 ft. elevation) where we stopped for an early lunch at the Diamond Lake resort. While there I ran into my friend Chuck who works at the boat house. I see him often at Umpqua hot spring.

8363 foot Mt. Bailey looms over Diamond Lake resort.

After a long lunch (very slow service) we rode to the south end of the lake to set up camp at the hiker/biker campground. I filled my water sack and set it in the sun in order to have a warm shower later.

At 1 PM we departed the campground on unloaded bikes for an excursion to Crater Lake. We originally planned to camp at Crater Lake but all the campgrounds there were still closed because of snow. A day trip is all we can do under the circumstances. It's a 1900 foot climb from Diamond Lake to the rim drive but it went fairly quickly on unloaded bikes.

I suspect Kelly and Jacinto rehearsed this pose. 9182 foot Mt. Thielsen.

Entering the snow zone while climbing up to Crater Lake.

The wind was calm when we got to the north junction of the rim drive.

Distant Mt. McLoughlin through a wind-swept tree on the rim of Crater Lake.

At the north junction of the Crater Lake rim drive.

Kelly turned around after we got to the north junction of the rim drive, our first view of Crater lake. I convinced Jacinto to ride another 4 miles with me along the rim drive to get a better view of Wizard island. We had fun taking pictures in areas with tall excavated walls of snow alongside the road.

I had been to Crater Lake several times before but always late in the summer when there is little or no snow. It looks very different in early summer with so much snow. We savored our time in the snow zone because there were no mosquitoes! Jacinto was amazed how warm it was (70F) with snow all around.

Squinting for the camera. 8934 foot Mt. Scott in the distance.

Crater Lake gets 40-50 FEET of snow each winter.

Jacinto on the Crater Lake rim drive. It just opened 5 days earlier.

Our turnaround point was the highest elevation of this trip, 7400 feet. It was all downhill back to Diamond Lake except for one 90 foot climb. Jacinto and I arrived at the campground at 6:10PM. Our excursion to Crater Lake took 5 hours and 10 minutes.

Kelly and I took warm showers using my water sack. We had to shower inside the toilet building because of the mosquitoes.

My stove still wasn't working but I chipped in a zucchini and a bag of rice for tonight's meal cooked by Kelly. It was good. Kelly is a more ambitious camp cook than me.

After dinner I met my friend Chuck on the lake shore. He's an avid mountain biker and told me about hikes to the summits of Mt. Bailey and Mt. Thielsen. During summer he works at the boathouse. During winter he drives a Snow Cat grooming snowmobile trails. A few minutes after the sun set on the lake we saw an incredible red glow on Mt. Thielsen. He said the mosquitoes are usually only bad for one month at the beginning of the summer. The length of the mosquito season is dependent on the previous winter's snowpack.

Sunset view of Mt. Thielsen from Diamond Lake.

Today was sunny all day with a high of about 75F. We couldn't ask for better weather. The last 3 days were mostly uphill but I'm feeling stronger every day.

Distance: 45.6 mi. (73 km)

Climbing: 3950 ft. (1197 m)

Average Speed: 7.2 mph (11.5 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 44 mph (70.4 km/h)

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 133 miles (214 km)

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