Cooking in Ashland

Hello from southern Oregon! We are taking a day off and have all the key ingredients for blogging: Power, internet, and time. It has been really hot down here the last two days (100+ degrees). But we are in a room with AC, so all is good.
So lets get caught up.

7-21-2013 Bend to Lava Lake

Back on the road again! Today we climbed up to the Lakes region above Bend along the Cascade Lakes Highway. This area has lots of people who climb from Bend to the Mt. Bachelor ski resort on bicycles. Esther was happy to bug people by climbing her fully loaded touring bike as fast as them. Just give her a rabbit…. 

Mt. Bachelor from Rt. 372

Most all of the day trip crowd was gone after the ski resort, and we ended up at Lava Lake about 45 miles from Bend. Lava Lake has a forest service camp ground right next to a resort with a store, showers, and small marina. It is good for us because we can camp with full services at Forest Service prices. It gets very cold up here at night (40’s), so it is good sleeping weather.

The South Sister from Lava Lake

7-22-2013 Lava Lakes to Crescent Lake, OR

We went from Lava Lake to Crescent Lake today. The traffic today was very light, maybe a couple cars an hour. Nice relaxed cycling with only a little climbing. It did get hot today (90’s?), and we were tired at the end of the day. 

Upper Deschutes River below little Lava Lake

Cascade Lakes Highway near Davis Lake

Crescent Lake is another resort coupled with a Forest Service campground. We were too lazy to go two miles to the showers, so we sponged off in camp. We had a water front camp site and it was nice. The water is very clear in the lake. It is quiet up here at night, and the stars are bright.

Crescent Lake from our camp

7-23-2013 Crescent Lake to Lemolo Lake

Today we took a back-road route to Lemolo Lake today, Forest Service road #60 over Windigo Pass. The 60 road is mostly not paved, and is in poor condition. 

Leaving Crescent Lake that Morning

FS road 60 at the end of the pavement

The hot dry weather has made the road very sandy, like a beach. We had some thoughts about turning back after walking some stretches. We did persist, and we got better at beach cycling. The road is very rough at the top, and is pure four-wheel country. 

60 Road near Windigo Pass

The surface was harder, so we could ride over it easier. 

We made it!

The decent down was bad due to steep grade and a soft surface. We were very happy to get down to a paved road. 

The 60 road going down

We got to Lemolo Lake and ended up in a lodge room for the night. We were both beat up and tired after the ride on the 60 road. As a side note, we tried another back-country route to Lemolo Lake in 2007 using the 700 road. It was a disaster and we didn’t get to the resort till about ten at night. But that is another blog.

Mt. Thielsen over Lemolo Lake at Sunset

7-24-2013 Lemolo Lake to Union Creek

This was a hard day with some of the best scenery yet. It also had something else we have seen very little of, cloudy skies and even some drizzle! This worked in our favor since we climbed up and over Crater Lake. We have cycled up to the Rim village before, but this was the first time with fully loaded bikes. The cooler weather was nice, and we had no problems. 

Piece of cake!

Wizard Island in Crater Lake

Colors of Crater Lake

Crater Lake Rim Road

We stopped and took many pictures, and got concerned about the time. Our plan was to cycle down to Prospect, but we could not find lodging. We instead went to Union Creek, and again found a resort next to a Forest Service campground. Along with the beauty of Crater Lake, the decent to Union Creek along Rt 62 and the Rouge River was wonderful. Quiet road, large old growth trees, and the noisy Rouge River nearby. The river drops steeply and through a gorge near Union Creek. Very beautiful. 

Rouge River Chasm

Route 62 also drops at just the right grade to average about 28 miles per hour almost all the way. The 24 miles from Rim Village to Union Creek took about 70 minutes. Got to camp with time to eat dinner at Beckie’s restaurant, and have some world famous pie. The Forest Service camp sites are huge, and this campground was really nice in old growth fur and next to the Union Creek. We have had a full moon the last couple of nights, and that really is nice in the woods at night.