Crater Lake (out there somewhere behind the smoke)

Our little group woke up this morning and prepared to ride to Crater Lake.



We took off with a cloudless sky, but with a bit of smoke from distant forest fires that floated in on the breeze.

The ride starts off with a nearly 3000 ft climb in the first 16 miles. That surely weeds out the fit from the not so fit. Unfortunately, the plan to regroup often fell on deaf ears and as I was riding in back with those who perhaps needed more encouragement I watched as the leaders rode off, not to be seen again until the ride was over.

Those of us on the back of our group did our best to enjoy the ride.

As the morning progressed, the smoke got thicker and thicker. It was disappointing for those of us who have been here before, more like a disaster for those in our group who had never been to Crater Lake before.

If you look carefully, you can see Wizard Island through the smoke.

We did manage to see a few things that showed up even through the smoke.

I was riding with a group of three ladies who alternated on being the lanterne rouge. Before we even reached our lunch stop at the Crater Lake Lodge it became obvious that a SAG run was going to be in order. They probably could have been in before dark, but we had a potluck dinner planned and hoped to have everyone back to camp by 5PM.  I turned around and rode back to get my pickup.

The downhill ride was fun, made good use of my 56x11 gearing.  An incoming phone call interrupted the fun just as I arrived at the Pumice Desert



(for the most fun click the little box on the lower right to go to a full screen playback)

After the call I continued my fast run back to Diamond Lake then drove back up to Crater Lake and followed the route backward.  I came across the leaders as they nearly completed the Rim loop. The tail end of our group was almost 8 miles behind them.

I searched for my three women, but failed to find them as I drove a complete circuit of Crater Lake and had walked all round the Crater Lake Lodge looking for them.  I finally decided they must have turned around at the lodge following lunch and taken the shorter route back to camp. If they had done that there was a good chance that they would have gone back down the hill as I was driving around the lake.

Cell service is pretty much rarity in this area, but I did get a call from some of our group as I finished my first loop around the lake.  I was informed that two of my "women of concern" had gotten a lift back to camp.  I found the third as she pedaled up the last big climb before the big descent back to camp.  She insisted she wanted to pedal.........she said she had come to ride. (gotta admire that spirit!)

I followed her back down the hill with my flashers on to make sure cars gave her adequate clearance.
She descended cautiously, about 25-30 on a hill that most of us rode at 35-40.

She made it back to camp about 5:30PM with a well deserved big smile on her face.

Just a note that on Sunday a few folks rode around Diamond Lake, a few of us returned to Crater Lake to see the Pinnacles and see if we could get a better view of the lake.  We did get a better view of Crater Lake early before the smoke rolled back in.

To see all 200+ photos from this trip go HERE


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