September 30: Chemult to Mazama Village, Oregon
Today I turned off of busy Highway 97 and enjoyed a day riding through a national park that is like no other national park: Crater Lake.
As luck would have it, September 30 is National Public Lands Day so we didn’t have to pay a park entrance fee. We learned that most everything in Crater Lake National Park is closing for the season on Monday, October 2. So, when we checked in to the Mazama Village Motor Inn, we went to the convenience store to pick up some supplies and discovered that they were out of nearly everything. For example, the coolers where you would normally find beverages and refrigerated foods of all kinds, there was empty row upon empty, refrigerated row. Lack of supplies, no internet access, and only a single restaurant to choose from made us decide not to spend a second night here. It’s such a nice area and we’d like to be able to take the full tour all the way around Crater Lake, but without the services and supplies we need, we’re going to have to move on.
But that’s tomorrow. Today, we enjoyed the scenic vistas that the Rim Drive (the road around Crater Lake) has to offer. At 1943 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and the seventh deepest in the world. The most amazing thing to me was seeing this lake from Crater Lake Lodge where the surface of the lake is 1000 feet below you. It was difficult to comprehend that the deepest point of the lake was nearly twice as far below the surface as I was above the surface. Amazing!
| Total distance: | 46.58 miles |
|---|---|
| Time: | 4:07:19 |
| Average speed: | 11.3 mph |
| Maximum speed: | 36.9 mph |
| Total calories: | 3396 |
| Average heart rate: | 118 bpm |
| Maximum heart rate: | 164 bpm |
| Total ascent: | 3555 feet |
| Total descent: | 2258 feet |
| Ride profile: |  (click on image to view a larger version) |
| Ride comments: It was good to be off of busy Highway 97. We took SR-138 which led to highway 232 which is the road that goes through Crater Lake National Park. I started the day at 4600 feet. The road through Crater Lake National Park was mostly up and got as high as 7640 feet. Weather conditions were pretty good. It was a bit hazy, so you couldn’t see the surrounding mountains (volcanoes, actually) very well, but the views of Crater Lake were spectacular! Winds were from the west, but pretty calm until I got up near the rim. |
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