Doug64

We try to ride around it as part of our annual 4th of July ski trips. Sometimes snow stops us from making the entire loop, but it is still a great ride. We have also skied around it several times in late winter or early spring when the days are a little longer. It is even more beautiful in the winter. I was a volunteer back-counrty ski patroller there for over 20 years. My most favorite place in the world!

My whole point of this post, before I got on a ramble, was to complement you on the amount of climbing you did during that section of your tour. While I have done bits and pieces at different times; I have never done what you folks did in one ride. I can appreciate the effort.

BobG

Yep, my bad suggestion. Here's a review from a Crazy Guy on a Bike.............

Bicycle Touring: Forum: Regional: North America: #5921: "Sierra Cascades - Windigo Pass", posted by Douglas Hintz on Tue 23 Aug 2011 10:36 (US/Pacific)

enigmaT120

I ran the marathon there one year, most of the way around the rim. I tell people it was really hard. They ask if it was the altitude (8,000 feet or so at one high lookout). No, it was hard because of the hills! I think it would be easer on my bike.

If you go there I think it's worth hiking down to the water and going on a boat ride. Or at least numbing your legs in the water. I don't remember if there are any good places to leave a bike, though.

I thought the water would look normal when I got down near it. Nope, it kept doing that weird blue glowing thing.

Doug64

+1

The boat ride is well worth the cost. I believe there is a ticket office by the parking lot. There might be a place to lock your bike up there, where someone might keep an eye on it.

About 36 years ago--It can sleet and spit snow even in September. One old shirt

adventurepdx

And by "Mt. bike", would you mean "fat bike with four-inch wide tires?" That's what I would use if I ever attempted Windigo Pass again. Pushing a bike on a sandy road ain't my idea of fun.

adventurepdx

As for another option to throw in the ring, when I bike from Crater Lake to Eugene last July, I rode 138 and then picked up "Diamond Drive", a 70 mile route of Forest Service roads that got me to Oakridge, and from there 58 into Eugene (mostly.) Diamond Drive is remote and scenic, but also features 20 miles or so of gravel, some of it a bit rough, but I found it mostly manageable with my LHT with 35 mm wide tires. It won't be everyone's cup o' tea, though.

B. Carfree

If using a bus is in play, he can take one of the morning buses from Eugene to McKenzie Bridge on Hwy 126 and then ride the aufderheide to hwy 58. While that's going to be similar mileage to just riding up to Oakridge, it will cut back on the net climbing. The LTD buses all have bike racks on the front.

indyfabz

What splendid ride the Aufderheide is.

adventurepdx

There is also a bus that runs from Eugene to Oakridge on OR 58. Runs on weekdays. Takes three bikes.
https://www.ltd.org/diamondex/schedule.html

choteau

Eugene to Oakridge via river front bike path, Dorris Ranch to Clearwater bike path, Jasper - Lowell road, Pengra road, Hiway 58 is 45.5 miles with 600' gain. Mckenzie Bridge to Oakridge via the Aufderhiede is 62.5 miles and 2250' gain. The Aufderhiede is low traffic and scenic and you'll see old growth including the Constitution Grove (alive when the US constitution was signed).
Hiway 58 is a major truck route with A LOT of traffic.

adventurepdx

I rode 58 from Oakridge to Eugene last year. If I had the choice I would have taken the Aufderhide, but I didn't have time. 58 definitely has its share of traffic, including trucks. I used the Pengra-Jasper routing choteau referrs to, and I found Jasper to be the worst part: narrow, no shoulder, loads of fast traffic (I had the misfortune of hitting it right at rush hour.)

Of course, from what I remember riding 126 from Eugene to McKenzie Bridge, it's also got quite a bit of traffic and the shoulder is lacking in spots.

badger_biker 

+1 I used that approach a couple of years ago after riding down the coast. It also allows you to jettison your gear which makes the hilly circle much more enjoyable.

I don't know what time of year you are planning the trip derail3 but we got there about a week after the rim road opened for the year in late July. I live in Wisconsin and know mosquitoes first hand and I can tell you I've never seen them as thick and hungry as at Crater Lake so beware of that!

Doug64

+1!

My wife and I spend a lot of time at Crater Lake,skiing cycling and photography. We literally have thousands of pictures taken in the park. We often joke about why we are actually taking more pictures. Could be that gigabytes are a lot cheaper that a roll of Fuji Valvia.

One evening in early July we had the cameras set up on tripods, and were waiting for the sun to start setting. Cars would stop when they saw us and come over to take a look at the lake. They would get out of their cars, saunter over to the overlook, last for about 15 seconds in their shorts and t-shirts, and then run back to their cars. They did not realize that we had bug nets over our heads and neck, long sleeved shirts and pants, all with a liberal dose of DEET. We'd even wear gloves so we did not have to spray repellent on our hands. Deet will remove the paint of of most things, and melt plastic watch crystals; we did not want to handle our camera gear with repellent on our hands.

We usually camp in Mazama Campground, near the South Entrance to the Park. Those little blood suckers are just as bad down there.

adventurepdx

Funny, I visited Crater Lake last July and don't remember anything about mosquitoes. Maybe I just got lucky? (I rode the loop one day and camped at Diamond Lake for two nights.)

mtnbud

Was it windy? I think you got lucky!

I find the mosquitoes at Diamond Lake can be even worse than the mosquitoes at Crater Lake. Diamond Lake is notorious for mosquitoes. The forest service even mentions it on their website I'm getting itchy even thinking about it!

djb

yowzer, thats a day. Thats pretty near 2000m. The only times I have done that much climbing was some days in the Pyrenees, maybe 2200m but we did perhaps 50 or 60km, or about half of your day. I believe the "prematurely aging" bit.

was going through this thread and thinking how darn neat it would be to ride there----but then I saw the part about the mosquitoes....I too have grown up with bugs hiking and canoeing, but for some reason I find my tolerance for them when biking is not the same. Getting old and wussy I guess (but probably cuz nearly all my bike tours havent had bad bugs so, but then again, I really do like to be able to take breaks and sit around a campsite without being a Red Cross blood donor).

adventurepdx

Nope, no wind. Maybe the mosquitoes know not to mess with me? ;-)

badger_biker 

That is where we camped - amongst the clouds of mosquitoes! Funny thing is it looked as dry as could be on the ground in that area. The hatch must have occured earlier when it was wet with the snow melt.

Much worse there than riding around the rim road. At lease on the ride we had a few seconds to stop and enjoy the view before they found us.

mtnbud

It could be you have some strange superpower against mosquitoes, but my bet is you got lucky.

Doug64

Or he makes coffee like I do.

enigmaT120

What's that stuff you put on the backs of cats' and dogs' necks to repel fleas and ticks? I wonder if it repels mosquitoes, too.

Before anybody suggests the obvious experiment, there are rarely mosquitoes where I live. It will have to be somebody else. Or check the research on the product. Hopefully it was tested on humans before it was approved to be applied to my precious pets.

djb

do some research, this stuff works in the bloodstream of the animal to get to the bugs and does stuff via the blood, cant recall the details but thats basically how my wife has explained it to me. It is to stop proliferation and or egg laying abilities, again, look up details.
I wouldnt put in on yourself. but hey, as you wish. Just be informed beforehand.

Long Tom

Yes it is! I did it starting from the 126 end. Other than the cold rain it was awesome.

Neat thread. I'll be riding in the Crater Lake >> Lakeview area this summer, a bit.

Machka 

It looks like we'll be in the Eugene area in September. And if all goes well, we'll do a bit of cycling around there ... maybe around Crater Lake too, but we'll see.

B. Carfree

You might enjoy the car-free Saturdays at Crater Lake on Sept 20 and Sept 27 Vehicle Free Days on East Rim Drive - Crater Lake National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Also, we will be having the Duncan Ride sometime around then in Eugene. It's a free 190 km ride with full support and very minimal traffic (as in you shouldn't have to deal with a car passing you for the first 130 km or so. I'll PM you when we set our date. (We usually do it on the Saturday closest to equinox, but we don't want to conflict with the car-free Crater Lake if we can avoid it.)