Day 44: 79.96 miles, 5:24 hours, Rocky Point (near Klamath Falls), OREGON
[ MAP ]

The ride out of Lava Beds this morning was wonderful. I rode into Oregon and past Tule Lake; hundreds of beautiful waterbirds but about five miles of riding through millions of tiny insects. As I was approaching Klamath, a young guy on a bicycle, Chris, began to ride with me. Chris was home with his folks for the holidays but was a bassoon player at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco. We talked a lot and he ended up taking me all the way into town to the best grocery store. While I was shopping he rushed home and brought back some cycling maps for me and gave me some directions for getting up to Crater Lake.

When I got to Rocky Point I stopped in at a gas station to fill up on water and get directions to the nearest campground. As I was walking out, an old guy buying a carton of beer asked me where I was heading. I told him I was about to camp for the night and he suggested that I could camp in his back yard and he had water available. I hesitantly agreed, but refused his offer of putting my bike on the back of his pickup. I instead asked for directions, thinking that at the worst I could just check out the place from the road and then ride off if it looked bad. A five minute ride later and I was in a wonderful wooded area with beautiful houses. Audie came out to greet me, and introduced me to his wife Helen and their dog Meathead. "I'll show you where you can camp" he said, as he led me to their 24 foot luxury 5th wheeler!

Audie and Helen let me do a load of washing while outside it rained heavily for several hours. Audie cooked us burgers and a lovely salad, homemade ice-cream for dessert, gave me a tour of his neighbourhood and showed me home videos of the large snowfalls they get during the winter (they have to clear the roof of the house occasionally so that it doesn't collapse). I felt like instant family, it was wonderful.

Day 45: 84.29 miles, 6:33 hours, Crater Lake National Park (Mazama Campground)
[ MAP ] [ NATIONAL PARK MAP ]

This morning I was woken to a breakfast fit for royalty. Fruit salad with sweet watermelon, then scrambled eggs with bell peppers and biscuits similar to warm scones with homemade pineapple jam, orange juice and of course a lovely, freshly plunged coffee. It was hard to leave.

Struggled up to Crater Lake National Park with a stomach going haywire but it was well worth it. After setting up my tent beside several slabs of melting snow I took my unloaded bike for the ride around the lake. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the USA and once set a record for clarity. The ride around the lake also goes down in my "Top Ten Bike Rides List". I could only ride three quarters of the way around the lake, the eastern side was still closed due to snow.