Snow, Desert, All Part of Our Bike Tour Revisited Adventure

CRATER LAKE, Ore. - The snow along the mountains at Crater Lake was a stark contrast to the desert awaiting us on the other side. That was just as impacting yesterday as it was 40 years ago when Carl and I biked through Oregon on our ride across America. If you have never visited Crater Lake National Park, put it on your bucket list. It is absolutely stunning. The park was founded in 1902 and remains one of my favorites. Its signature feature is the lake, which as one park naturalist said, is bluer than blue. The lake was formed when a volcano 7,700 years ago blew the top off Mt. Mazama, leaving a depression that filled with water. At 1,943 feet, it is the nation's deepest lake. The extreme blue hues are unmatched in color and clarity. The climb to the 8,000 feet summit in the comfort of a vehicle was unlike what Carl and I experienced pedaling up with all our gear. Here is a diary entry from our climb on June 11, 1976:

"It started to rain just outside of Shady Cove so we pulled over and packed everything to make it waterproof. To top things off, Carl had a flat tire and it was pouring down rain so much we just decided to pump it up as we went along since it was a slow leak. The weather changed drastically and the rain turned to sleet. The wind was against us, and we were riding completely uphill. Both of us were tired and hungry and it was so blasted cold I thought I'd never make it....Soon we began seeing patches of snow which was really exciting so we took a few pictures. Too bad we didn't save our film, As we hit 5,000, 6,000, and 7,000 feet plus in elevation, the roads were even snow covered with drifts 9 and 10-feet high piled along the highways where snow plows had cleared it" All those memories came back to mind this week as Carl and I reflected on the price we had to pay to experience Crater Lake. I say experience because we had the fortune back then to meet Dan Woods, one of the park rangers, at the park entrance. It was dusk and we looked miserable all sleet-covered and wind and freeze burned. The weather was not what we had expected when planning our cross country bike trip for summer from the comfort of our dining room table.

Dan told Carl and me the campground was closed, the lodge and cabins were full, and the roads impassable until they could be plowed the next day. He invited us to put our bikes in his truck and he would carry us to the staff dorms to spend the night. We slept comfortably in our bags on the floor and enjoyed a blazing fire and games of fooz ball and ping pong, along with a hot breakfast the next day at the lodge. When Carl and I pedaled out of there to continue north, we had to wait for the snow plows to clear the roads. My trip journal noted the temperature at 27 degrees. The sun was out, however, and we managed to stop at some of the overlooks to enjoy spectacular views of the cobalt blue lake against the snowy slopes. I tried tracking Dan Woods down to revisit him for this trip. I would have loved to hear his perspective of two Alabama boys biking through all that snow wearing just cotton sweat pants, tennis shoes and a lined windbreaker. The park historian and ranger went out of their way to help me find Dan but were unsuccessful.

Revisiting Crater Lake with our families was a treat because we were able to actually enjoy it rather than just survive it. It's every bit as beautiful and almost surreal looking across it and down on the mysterious Wizard Island. My younger son, Trevor, made the comment that it is as striking as something one would find on a google image. Back in our bike trip days, it would have been described as a "Kodak moment." It's a generational thing, but Crater Lake today remains as timeless as it was 7,000 years ago.

The drive leaving Crater Lake yesterday followed our bike route hundreds of miles to Bend, Burns and further west into Idaho. The landscape turned quickly to desert with stretches sometimes 50 miles between any hint of a house, even only a ramshackle house trailer. We breezed through Millican, which I described in my trip journal as a spot on a map with just an outpost for a store. The lone outpost remains today but it was boarded up. The town limits sign on the highway still lists its population as 4.

More on that stretch in the next post as we make our way through Idaho.