L6 SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019 LATIMES.COM/TRAVEL
BEND, Ore. — At the crest of
central Oregon’s 5,325-foot McKen-
zie Pass, a black-and-gold swallow-
tail butterfly landed on the handle-
bars of my bicycle before flitting to
my open hand.
Perhaps, I thought, it wanted to
congratulate me on the 16-mile,
2,143-foot ascent from the town of
Sisters through pine forests and
thousand-year-old lava flows to the
rugged summit.
The butterfly didn’t know I was
using an electric-assist bike, which
had made the ascent a pleasant ex-
perience rather than a sweaty
grind. Everyone else in my Trek
Travel group, except one woman
from Texas, was on a regular road
bike and had labored up the climb
while she and I cruised, pushed up-
hill by an electric motor that felt at
times like a magic hand on my
back.
We weren’t total slackers, how-
ever. We had to pedal to engage the
bike’s electric motor, which I kept
— most of the time — at the lowest
“eco” level. Still, I couldn’t help but
feel a bit guilty, even if no one else
noticed or cared.
In any case, I had a good excuse:
A pulled groin muscle had limited
my training and still hurt. For the
most part, I let myself enjoy the
trip, which had started five days
earlier at the Oxford Hotel in Bend,
where we met our guides, Ashley
Hardy and Chelsea Murray, before
shuttling two hours south to Crater
Lake National Park.
I also promised myself I’d return
to central Oregon one day to do the
electric-assist sections of the bike
tour under my own power. (I did
pedal in the less hilly part of the ride
with a regular Trek road bike.)
Smoke from 2018’s many re-
gional forest fires hung in the air as
we approached the park but dis-
persed as we ate lunch and were fit-
ted to our bikes at the century-old
Crater Lake Lodge.
We pedaled off for a 33-mile spin
around the nearly 2,000 foot-deep
caldera. The ride was more than a
little challenging, thanks to the
lofty 6,450-foot elevation and the
4,000-foot vertical gain on some-
times steep grades.
But there were plenty of scenic
overlooks along the road, including
one named for Skell, a spirit god of
the Klamath and Modoc people,
where we could rest and refuel with
snacks from the outfitter’s support
wagon.Better yet, all those pullouts of-
fered stunning views of the crags
around the giant lake, which de-
spite its name was not created by a
meteor smashing into the Cas-
cades.
Rather, it was formed nearly
8,000 years ago when 12,000-foot
Mt. Mazama collapsed after a huge
volcanic eruption that scientists
say was many times more powerful
than the one that blew the top off
Mt. St. Helens.
The lake, now filled with rain
and snow melt, was the color of
deep blue lapis lazuli. By the time
we rolled into the lodge to clean up
and gather for a glass of wine on the
lakeside deck, the smoke was back,
turning the sky gray and all but ob-
scuring the caldera.
The next morning, we shuttlednorth about 90 minutes for a 50-
mile ride along the Cascade Lakes
Scenic Byway. On the way, we spied
Broken Top, the Three Sisters, Mt.
Bachelor and other volcanic peaks
on the eastern side of the mountain
range. From Bachelor, it was a
3,000-foot, 22-mile descent to Bend
and its numerous microbreweries.
That afternoon, we decamped
and showered at our digs in the Ox-
ford, wandered through Drake
Park beside the Deschutes River
and dined on Cajun eats at ZydecoTHE SKYand water are a gorgeous deep blue at Oregon’s Crater Lake. The 33-mile spin around the caldera is tough but worth it. Stop and be amazed by the scenery.
deimagine / Getty ImagesIf you go
Tre k Tra v e l, (866) 464-8735,
trektravel.com. The five-night,
six-day Crater Lake tour costs
$3,499 and includes the use of a
high-end Trek bicycle (including
an e-bike, if needed), lodging,
guide service and nearly all
meals.
Backroads, (800) 462-2848,
backroads.com,andBicycle
Adventures,(800) 443-6060,
bicycleadventures.com,also offer
Crater Lake bike tours.ON EACH TURN, WONDERS
E-bike makes a tour of Crater Lake and Oregon Cascades a sweat-free gem of a trip
By Brian E. Clark
A CYCLISTapproaches the top of 5,325-foot McKenzie Pass, a
rugged summit in the central Cascade Range near Sisters, Ore.Brian E. ClarkSources: Nextzen, OpenStreetMap
Los Angeles TimesPacific
OceanCALIFORNIA NEVADAWASHINGTONOREGON97975584
84100 MILESPortland
SalemBendSistersCRATER LAKE
NATIONAL PARKKitchen & Cocktails. I’m pretty
sure we all slept well that night.
I abandoned my e-bike the next
day and pedaled the relatively easy
22 miles (up and back) to a point
near a waterfall on Tumalo Creek.
The elevation gain was a manage-
able 1,350 feet, which one hardy cou-
ple from Orange County did twice.
On the fourth day, I again chose
a regular road bike to pedal 35 miles
from Bend to Smith Rock State
Park, a destination for climbers.
The elevation gain was only 1,020
feet, but the 95-degree heat and
headwinds flattened me. I still had
enough energy, though, to hike the
Crooked River Trail below Smith
Rock with Lynn and Greg LaS-
trapes from Corpus Christi, Texas.
As we walked, Lynn told me that
riding an electric-assist bike al-
lowed her to keep up and even pass
her husband, who occasionally
races, on the three Trek Travel
trips they have done.
“Once I tried an e-bike, it made a
huge difference in my enjoyment,”
said Lynn. “In fact, it was a com-
plete game-changer and made
both of us happier.”
Our last two nights were spent
at the posh FivePine Lodge in Sis-
ters, about 23 miles northwest of
Bend. It was from this base we rode
up to the lookout at the McKenzie
summit, then flew down the consid-
erably greener, western side of the
Cascades to Belknap Springs for a
much-appreciated lunch.
My pulled muscle has healed
and I’m already planning my train-
ing schedule.
I’m not sure when I’ll make it
around Crater Lake or up and over
McKenzie Pass on a regular road
bike, but you can bet it’s in my
plans.7+(*2/'(167$7('(/,9(5('
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