Southern Oregon Tour
Crater Lake Challenge

By June Stephens

June and Stephen were on vacation AGAIN… this time our destination was Southern Oregon with stops in Northern California.

We left on August 4th and spent a couple of days near Chester and Lake Almanor (Shasta County.) We had always wanted to ride through Lassen Volcanic National Park, as according to "Bodfish," California Dream Cycling, by Chuck “Bodfish” Elliot, this ride is “the best road ride in California.” We might agree, as the park road (which climbs to 8,512’) offers incomparable views of Mount Lassen, the surrounding terrain and the valleys below. The vistas were much enhanced by the late season snow still covering much of the landscape. If you visit Lassen, take time to hike along the Bumpass Hell trail to view the park’s main geothermal area, revealing bubbling mudpots, fumaroles and steaming hot springs. Other hikes showcase the park's numerous lakes, creeks, and waterfalls.

We left Shasta County and drove to Roseburg, Oregon, then east along highway 138 following the North Umpqua river to a forest service campground near the town of Glide. After selecting a site over-looking the river, we unpacked our over-sized tent, queen size deluxe air mattress, reclining camp chairs, wine selection and prepared to “rough-it” for the next four nights.

We took a break from the bikes and enjoyed a two day guided raft trip on the river. We explored a different section of the river each day, returning to our beautiful campsite afterward. The rapids were mostly class 2-4, C-O-L-D, but fun!

On Wednesday we drove to Diamond Lake and followed the Diamond Lake – Crater Lake Challenge route (Falcon Publishing, Road Biking Oregon Guide Book) that we downloaded via Trails.com. We began at the South Shore Picnic Area at Diamond Lake and started climbing immediately. Our climb was interrupted briefly as Stephen waited in line to pay the $5.00 entrance fee into Crater Lake National Park. We finally reached the rim of the lake and were rewarded by the incredible vista of Crater Lake, with Wizard Island erupting from the vivid blue water. The very hilly 33-mile Rim Drive circles the lake and offers many fabulous viewpoints where we stopped to marvel at the beauty and impressive geology of the area. We rode the loop in a clockwise direction and as we approached the south eastern side of the lake the road led away from the rim and past Scott Mountain with views of Upper Klammath Lake to the south. We stopped for lunch at the historic, elegant Crater Lake Lodge and sat out on the veranda enjoying the fine cuisine and yet another awesome view of the lake. After lunch and a short climb we completed the loop and headed down, down, down out of the park and back toward Diamond Lake.

We left the Umpqua River area and continued our vacation with a stay in Ashland that included a visit to the Oregon Shakespeare festival and an outdoor concert featuring the Best of Opera. The Siskiyou Velo bike club of Ashland has an excellent Web site with a great ride library and we found a fun ride out of Jacksonville to Applegate Lake and back. The beauty and relaxed, uncrowded lifestyle of Southern Oregon is evidenced by the many retirees from California that we met!

Finally, on our way home we stopped for a night and camped on the side of Lewiston Lake, which is just south of Trinity Lake. We found a quaint little campground with only 6 sites, right on the lake shore. We got up the next morning and finished our vacation with a quick spin past a fish hatchery, through the town of Lewiston and up to the dam at Trinity Lake.

All in all, we had a great time and really enjoyed the balance of riding, hiking, rafting, exploring, and just hanging out.