July and August 2025
Today’s ride, the second of the tour would be a hard one, climbing to the top of the McKenzie Pass and its summit at 5,200 feet, with1,800 of that to come in just ten miles. It was another warm day, but an early start helped to mitigate some of it as I recounted in my Strava post:
“Sisters to Belknap Springs. A long warm climb rewarded with a killer descent”
The twenty-mile descent was indeed delightful, a two-lane road with excellent pavement, and curves you could go through at a controlled speed, just about as good as it gets. We returned to Sisters and the Ponderosa Inn. Dinner that night was at Sisters Saloon & Ranch Grill where the food was plentiful and decently cooked, but not exactly memorable, salmon for Joanna and a filet for me.
The next day looked to be easier with just 1,700 feet of climbing and 32 miles in distance but looks can be and often are deceiving. As I describe it in Strava:
“The scenic drive out of Bend. A perfect first half and brutal second with the bulk of our climbing in almost 100-degree heat”
After lunch in Tumalo at a food truck court the temperatures skyrocketed, and the high temperatures made for a very hard day as the bulk of our climbing came at the end. We finished in downtown Bend for a memorable night at McMenamins Old St. Francis School. We’ve consumed lots of food and drink at McMenamins establishments, but this would be the first time we’d stayed in one of their lodging options.
McMenamins was founded by brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin, who were raised in northeast Portland and opened their first operation in 1974, the Produce Row Café. They are known for rehabilitating historic properties and several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These would include, for example, the Crystall Ballroom and Hotel in Portland and the Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale. Our room was pricey (thanks Discovery for placing us here on your tab) but worth it and dinner that night would be on us.
We unpacked for our one-night stay and then met back at the van for a short ride to the west bank of the Deschutes River for what would be one of the highlights of the trip, a tubing journey down the river. You pick up the large rental inner tube and are shuttled to a drop point and then get launched to float downstream. It’s a pretty mild and leisurely journey until about halfway when you reach a section of rapids that managed to dislodge half of our group, including Joanna. This is why I don’t have any pictures as you are warned not to bring any valuables with you.
We returned to St. Francis and as dinner was on us that night we ate in the pub on property and starting with beers, or course, Joanna had the special of the day the Pulled Pork Plate while I had, not for the first time in one of their properties, the Ale-Battered Fish & Chips wild Alaskan cod, fries, tartar sauce, and buttermilk coleslaw. As usual it was a meal you could count on.
The next morning, we convened back in the pub for breakfast on Discovery and as I find it hard to ride with a very full stomach, had to pass on the more delicious looking entrees and so just ordered the French Toast, while Joanna enjoyed her Eggs Benedict. We then set out on what would be possibly the hardest day of the tour as I described on Strava:
“Bend to Mount Bachelor and down to Lava Lakes. Over 3,000 feet of climbing in 14 miles is a lot for this old Man”
It’s a nice ride out of Bend on a dedicated bike path and about ten miles in you get on the highway, but the big wide shoulder provides a sense of safety, and you just start climbing. It had cooled down so the heat wasn’t much of an issue, but the constant grind of heading uphill finally got to Joanna, and she sagged in the last couple of miles. I persevered though, very slowly, and eventually made the summit, a day I was glad to be done with.
We regrouped at the Van, loaded up and then made the two hour or so drive to Crater Lake for our last two nights. We’d be staying at the Lodge there, built in 1915 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. In the spring of 1989, just before the lodge was to open for its summer season, structural engineers advised the National Park Service that the Great Hall was unsafe. It was so unstable they feared it might collapse from its own weight, bringing down the rest of the lodge with it. Subsequently, renovation began and as most of the original building had deteriorated to the point it could not be saved or reused., the Great Hall was carefully dismantled. The rest of the building was gutted, and a steel support structure, modern utilities and fire suppression system were installed, and guest rooms were upgraded to modern hotel standards. The renovation was completed in the fall of 1994 and on May 20, 1995, Crater Lake Lodge reopened to the public.
After a reception in the lobby we had a nice dinner, Aramark (the concessionaire) does a good job in the parks, and we finished the day well fed and happy. Breakfast the next day had uneven service, with one of our tables finishing at least thirty minutes ahead of the other. With 3,500 feet of climbing in front of us, Joanna and I decided to opt for riding the spare e-bikes. Here is my Strava description:
“After the last few days of climbing Joanna and I celebrated my birthday by using some spate e-bikes. Made the 3,500 feet of climbing easier but my legs are still sore.”
Actually, we probably could have used our own bikes as this wasn’t sustained climbing, but multiple series of ups and downs. Regardless, we were glad we rode the e-bikes. Dinner that night was good, a pork chop for me and a lamb shank for Joanna. Breakfast the next morning would be French Toast for Joanna and a veggie Omelet for me, as we bulked up for the two-hour drive back to Bend to fetch our car and hit the road south towards Oakland.
We bade farewell to our tour group friends, stopped at a local market for some provisions and then took off for what would be an eleven-hour drive. As it was early afternoon, we opted to drive just three hours or so and stay in Dunsmuir, a small town we’ve only driven past.
Not much in the way of lodging is available in town and so we settled for the two-star rated Cedar Lodge Motel, an old-school one-story place straight out of childhood memories. Not a bargain at close to $150, it filled a need and was clean and moderately comfortable, but with the strangest combination of multiple layers of carpets that made one wonder what they were trying to cover up.
For dinner we drove to the nearby Dunsmuir Brewery Works where a round or two of cold beers and excellent food, a Corned Beef Reuben for me and Clam Chowder for Joanna hit the spot. We listened to and enjoyed a guitarist with a wide-ranging repertoire and an hour or so melted away, returning us to the Cedar Lodge.
The next morning we stopped in the small downtown area of Dunsmuir at the Cornerstone Café where we picked up a couple of baked goods to set us up for our eight-hour drive to Oakland. Our only regret is that we didn’t have the time to spend the tie to eat what looked to be some pretty delicious food. Perhaps some other time. And that wraps up our summer Oregon trip. It would lead to yet another busy fall and we’ll cover that in our next set of posts.
Links
Sisters Saloon & Ranch Grill: https://sisterssaloon.net/
McMenamins Old St. Francis School: https://www.mcmenamins.com/old-st-francis-school?utm_source=Google%20Maps&utm_medium=Website%20Button&utm_campaign=OSF
Floating the River: https://www.bendparksandrec.org/float/
Crater Lake Lodge: https://www.nps.gov/crla/planyourvisit/craterlakelodge.htm
Dunsmuir Brewery Works: https://www.dunsmuirbreweryworks.com/
Cornerstone Café: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cornerstone-cafe-dunsmuir-3?dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
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