Chapter Forty-Six
Back to the Snow
June 1, 2009—Collier Memorial State Park to Sister's House: The overnight rain stopped by morning and we stuffed things into the car for the last time (yay!) while I watched a chipmunk clean up the rain-soaked tortilla crumbs. Then it was back to the snow again, at Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S.
Like the ride in Zion, a ride around Crater lake (a 33-mile loop) should be near the top of every cyclist’s bucket list. I did it on a different trip and found there’s a lot more up and down riding than you might expect, but the views are worth it.
Snow removal on Rim Drive is a big deal. The average snowfall is 44 feet per year. They start removal around the end of May, and can only clear a quarter of a mile per day. They usually don’t finish until July. In 2013, due to the sequester budget cuts (the snow removal monsters eat $125 worth of gas per hour), they pretty much let the snow melt on its own, and the roads weren’t clear until July 22.
The lake boasts a Xanterra-managed lodge, very chichi.
We descended from the crater and arrived at my sister's house in the woods near Medford, Oregon, where we slept in one of those "real-bed" contraptions again.
Stay tuned for the final day of driving, and a summary of the trip with a map, total costs, and total weight gained. But first, here’s the final “sidebar” (whatever that is) chapter about an adventure that Lena and I had over thirty years ago.