The tour started from Olympia, WA and Redding, CA as the Olympia contingent, John, Steve, Dick and Tom drove to the Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls where Bill met us who drove in from Redding, CA.  After checking in, we met two friends of Dick’s a the local Brew Pub for dinner then back to the Running Y finish getting ready for the tour and bed.

 Day 1 - Friday, Sept 8 - Got up early, packed the bikes and started off.  Stopped at the entrance of the Running Y for a group photo.  Then we were off.  However, less than 3 miles from the beginning, Tom got a flat.  Some how he picked up a staple that punctured the sidewall and his tube.  After fixing the flat, it was on to breakfast and leaving town on the bicycle path.  We rode the bicycle path to Hwy 39, turned south to Merrell and the California Border.  Shortly after we entered California, we were in the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  Stopped at the Refuge Headquarters for lunch.  After lunch we continued south along the refuge until we entered Lava Beds National Monument.  The wind picked up in the afternoon along with the cloud cover.  Rain continued to look ominous.  Once inside the monument, the road shifted from flat to rolling, all the time gaining in elevation.  Vegetation was sagebrush, junipers and of course lots of lava.  Several significant climbs took place along with lots of stops to read interpretive signs until we reached the Monument’s Interpretive Center and campground.  The wind continued to blow the remainder of the afternoon and most of the evening.  However, it did blow the clouds through, so just prior to sunset, we were treated to blue sky.  After dinner, we visited Mushpot Cave, which is lighted and contains interpretive signage.  Very interesting.  Everyone was in their tents by 7:30 pm as the night came upon us quite quickly and most of us were tired after our day of bicycling.

55 Miles  - Klamath Falls to Lava Bed National Monument Campground.

Woke to the sound of raindrops pelting our tents and wind.  Temperature hovering just above freezing.  By 6:30 am the rain stopped as the wind blew the clouds away to the east.  Breakfast was in camp, then packed up wet tents and headed out of the park on a beautiful desert road with an extremely strong smell of wet sagebrush.  For 20 miles we had the road all to our selves.  At the intersection with Hwy 139, we turned south towards Canby on a road best described as ungliating with several climbs and a wonderful downhill just before Canby.  By the time we got to Canby, everyone was hungry, so we looked for a café, but all we could find was the Canby Hotel.  This was an old funky hotel, bar, and restaurant.  Food was not bad as it revived the group for the last 18 miles into Alturas.  We found Sully’s RV Park on the south end of town and set up camp on a small grassy patch along a barbwire fence.  After showers, we met Emily and Ron, two more of Dick’s friends, for dinner at an Italian dinner, then back to camp where we greeted by a heard of numerous cows.  In Bed by 8:15 pm.

Woke again to ice and frost on the tents (27 degrees) along with steam rising from a myriad of hot springs in the area.  After a rapid breakfast in camp the sun broke the horizon to assist in warming us up as we packed up and broke camp by 8 am.  We encountered a slight up hill out of Lakeview, but not the climb we were expecting.  Then we had a great long decent along a small stream brought us to a great vast valley that was exceptionally dry with no trees.  Stopped at the Valley Falls Mercantile located at the junction of Hwy 395 and 31 for a quick snack and drink, then cycled on to Paisley for lunch.  Arriving in Paisley, the bar/café was closed on Monday/Tuesday, so we got some supplies in the store next door.  The owner said she passed us just out of Valley Falls and if we had been a mile further down the road, we would have had the opportunity of a large cougar bounding across the road in front of us.  After talking to her for a while we went across the street to the park to eat lunch.  The distance to our stop for the day, Summer Lake Hot Springs, was only 6 more miles.  After a short climb it was down hill to the hot springs into a slight head wind.  When we arrived at the hot spring, Tom laughed out loud “What a desperate, desolate, funky, beautiful spot this was”.  There was 1 RV plus the 5 of us.  We made camp next to the “Barn” that contained the pool for the hot springs.  All of us enjoyed the 102-degree sulfur infused water.  After showers and a dinner in camp we were treated to a fantastic sunset that seemed to last for 20+ minutes.  In bed by 7:45 pm.

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