| Crater Lake Bike Tour |
Tuesday was a "rest day" at Black Butte, but of course we didn't get
much rest. The morning began with a hike up Black Butte itself. 
We
shuttled to the trail head and then hiked to the summit (about 6000
feet) for more panoramic views. 
Judith led the charge up the hill and
reached the summit long before the rest of us. She kept warm by
jogging back and forth. Alas, the top was socked in so we caught only
glimpses of the mountain peaks in the distance and Black Butte below
us through the swirling clouds. We didn't linger very long in the
freezing wind. I began to wish that I had brought my gloves.
After
the hike, Pete and Beth shuttled a few of us (Bruce, Kerie, Tim,
Marco) into the town of Sisters. We looked at some of the galleries and grabbed
lunch. When we got back to Black Butte Ranch, Bruce and I rode the
placid bike trails through the Black Butte property, which seemed to
be a glorified retirement community, to find the area burned by the
recent Cache Mountain wildfire. The whole resort (some 3000 people)
had been evacuated several weeks before when the fire lapped at the
northwest corner of the sprawling complex. We found the burned area,
but saw no signs of the two houses that were destroyed. We thought
the tops of the trees might still be alive.
We had a good view of
Black Butte summit, where we had climbed that morning. 
By then the
clouds had burned off and the summit was clear. We ate dinner that
night at Black Butte Lodge, which turned into a bit of an ordeal
because the service was slow and some of our orders were mixed up.
Dinner stretched on so long that we couldn't face waiting any longer
and went without dessert. Poor pitiful us. Lynn and Dan were the
smart ones who really rested that day by getting massaged and hanging
out at the resort.
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