Sorry about the delayed post and the "fake out" notifications probably sent to those who are subscribed. Posterous seemed to go through a day of weird behavior where it was eating pictures and not allowing rich text posts.
We had a heck of a trip yesterday riding from Prospect to Chemult via Crater Lake -- 77 miles with 6300 feet of climbing. We had a late start and then the climb went much slower than we'd anticipated -- with our legs worn from our previous day's efforts we were only able to manage about 2/3rds of our normal climbing rate. Other than short rest stops and photo stops we were in the saddle for eleven hours -- but we managed to scrape in to Chemult just as the sun set.
It was a tough day but gosh was it ever worth it. We were overwhelmed when we made it up to the first overlook. Whatever we had imagined was was completely dwarfed by the reality of the actual lake and the cliffs around it. When you stare down at it and across the caldera you know that you are seeing something very very special. As we rode around the rim we couldn't help but to stop at each viewpoint even though we were pressed for time. This is one area where the bicycle really excels -- we can (and do) stop almost anywhere there is something interesting to see whether it be a strange piece of bark that looks like a big fat lizard (yes, today) or one of the world's deepest lakes. :)
Pronouncing today a "recovery day" (we're good at such pronouncements) we rode just 36 miles up Highway 97 towards Bend -- easy riding over flat terrain. A bit boring too but that just brought back some of our old games like "bungee cord call out" where the goal is to be the first to see them and count them. I noticed early on in California that the primary forms of litter on the (very clean) roads there were 1) whole and broken bungee cords; 2) bits of tire; 3) broken and whole bolts. Here in Oregon so far we've found much more outright trash on the roads than in California but still the bungee cords continue. Quite seriously, you can't bike a mile without finding at least one bungee cord. The moral for me is don't use bungee cords to fasten loads for transport !!
From here we're pacing ourselves for an arrival at Cascade Locks (~240 miles) this Sunday so that we can fetch Tina's cycling shoes and her old Candy pedals from the post office on Monday morning. The new larger flat pedals we bought have reduced Tina's foot numbness issue but it's still there. We're hoping this return to her old setup will eliminate that. From there we cross the river and enter Washington!
/David