After slabbing it from Adel to Crater Lake to try to make up some time, we decided we should detour and spend a night at Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet deep, and the seventh deepest lake in the world. The body of water is a caldera (volcanic basin), has no inlets or outlets, and is filled by 500 plus inches of snow a year. We paid our entrance fees to the National Park Service, then climbed the switchback road to Crater Lake Lodge, which is perched on the rim at about 7800 feet. We parked our bikes in the circle, next to a 10 foot snow bank. Woolfree, the nice bellman from the Dominican Republic (the “DR”) told us this was only the lodge’s second night of the season. We would find they were still working out all the kinks. The front desk could not pull up Darth’s reservation, even though he had a confirmation number from a call earlier in the day. They were able to get us a split level loft room, with plenty of space to stretch out. Then while getting our gear to the room, the power in the whole building went out. Good time to take a nap before our 8:00 PM dinner reservation. The lodge is operated by a company called XanTerra, which has a big fat contract to run this and other grand old national parks lodges. The building itself is grandiose, with a spacious great room with a stone fireplace (with a lame gas burner instead of logs), but comfortable chairs and couches you can just melt into, especially after sitting upright on an enduro bike all day. Due to the power outage, they offered an improvised menu which turned out to be ok, all things considered. The power went back on while we were finishing up coffee and dessert, just in time to turn in for the night. We stayed up for awhile looking at all the photos and video trapped on our respective digital devices, reviewing the good times, small victories, and reminders of the little challenges we have had along the road and trail. Good way to end the night.
Crater Lake, from the deck of the Crater Lake Lodge just before dinner.