| Crater Lake Bike Tour |
We 
crossed the Cascade Mountains from west to east via McKenzie Pass.
We rode on another scenic route called the McKenzie-Santiam Pass
scenic byway. Vehicles over 35 feet are prohibited because of the
narrow switchbacks near the summit of McKenzie Pass, which meant that
we didn't have to contend with many RVs or big trucks. The Bicycle
Adventures van and trailer barely qualified to be on the route. Pete
met us several times to offer us a boost to the top, but we wanted to
go under our own power. The van contained ample stocks of energy
bars, dried fruit, fresh fruit, candy, and drinks. Thanks to Bill, we
started to refer to the van, otherwise known as the sag wagon, as the snack wagon.
Even
though it was Labor Day weekend and a beautiful sunny day, traffic was
surprising light. We climbed steadily and finally reached Deadhorse
Grade, the area of the switchbacks. This part no doubt was named for
the poor animals that had to haul wagons up the hill in the old days.
About this time Beth and Marco whizzed by. After the tough part of
the climb at about 5000 feet, the road leveled out around mile 20 and
widened enough so that the van was able to pull out at a lunch spot at
about mile 30. We had panoramic views of the surrounding mountains in
the distance and close ups of the sparsely-vegetated lava beds. We
shared our pasta salad with a hungry cross-country cyclist who was
heading in the opposite direction.
After lunch we visited the Dee Wright Observatory, which perches on
the jumbled dark brown lava flow near the high point of the pass (5324
feet) and appears to be built out of blocks of lava itself. 
The
observatory offers a 360 degree panorama of the mountain peaks
including the Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson, and even Mt. Hood.
Afterwards once again we reaped the reward of the morning climb and
enjoyed a 15 mile downhill into the small tourist town of Sisters.
The eastern side of the Cascades is drier and the vegetation is mostly
scrubby pines. We could see why the threat of wildfires was so great;
everything was bone dry. We were parched too.
Pete and Beth had warned us that the last stretch of the day's ride
would be along the main road Highway 20, so we stopped in Sisters to
get a cold drink before making the final push to Black Butte Ranch.
Sisters was jumping with holiday weekend visitors. Traffic in town
was heavy, but the vehicles almost always yielded to pedestrians,
something we hardly ever experience in northern Virginia.
The 6 miles
to Black Butte Ranch was indeed a nasty stretch with heavy Labor Day
traffic - everything from RVs to hay wagons roared by us, plus we
faced a headwind - but the road had a good shoulder. 
This was the
only part of the tour when we encountered heavy traffic. 
We caught up with
Beth, Deb, and Bill and arrived at the Ranch together. We joined the
rest of the group sitting in the grass, drinking beer, near the condos
where we would spend the next 2 nights. We shuttled to dinner at the
Kokanee Cafe in Camp Sherman. I think the meal was the best of the week.