5/6/2019 Klamath Falls to Dog Lake (Mile 0 to 78)
It is a bright and sunny day when my friend Jeff and I start rolling out of town at 7:00 AM for an early spring bike trip to the Surprise Valley. Jeff carries a light load of about 20 pounds of gear and food in a duffle bag on the rear rack of his bike. I pull a single wheel trailer with (almost) all the comforts of home, even a small camp chair… Riding past a few Dairy Farms that are still owned by the descendants of the original Dutch settlers, we reach the small ranching community of Bonanza, Oregon. We refill our water bottles and ride on into the Langell Valley. Here the paved roads turn into a gravel road that leads to the Willow Valley Reservoir. Water is scarce this summer and the water level in the reservoir is low. After lunch consisting of power bars and beef jerky we head for Dog Lake. The gravel road is getting worse. My 1.25” tires are too narrow for the deep gravel and it is hard to pull the trailer. I wish I had used wider tires that wouldn’t sink into the loose surface. After several hours of riding the road finally improves, but our water bottles are nearly empty. We cross a good looking creek and decide to refill our water. Even though the water looks nice and clear we decide to use my water filter. There are too many cows in the vicinity during this time of year.
We finally make it to Dog Lake dust covered and exhausted. The Forest Service Campground is still closed for the season but we find a nice site to pitch our tents. Unfortunately the water is not turned on yet, but help is on the way. Doug, a friend of Jeff’s, lives only 12 miles away. As we had previously arranged, he comes up in his Jeep and brings us 2 gallons of drinking water and a 6-pack of Corona (Mexican beer), which he helps us to empty. Dinner is freeze dried food, cheese sticks and the last Corona. We go to sleep early in our tents but the cacophony of animal sounds keeps us awake for a while. Lots of Geese, Pelicans, Sandhill cranes, Ducks and later at night some howling coyotes. They also wake us up early the next morning.
5/7/2019 Dog Lake to Adel (Mile 78 to 136)
A dry Bagel with Habanero cheese sticks and salami slices for Breakfast. All washed down with my special mix of Starbucks instant coffee and Hot Chocolate powder. Caffeine and sugar, just what the body needs for a long ride ☺. We enjoy the paved road towards Lakeview and after about 12 miles we pass Doug’s house. He is working in his yard and we stop shortly to thank him for last night’s water and beer. After 25 miles we reach Lakeview, a sleepy ranching town of 2300 people far from anywhere. We eat lunch at the local “Subway”. Then we head northwest out of town and get ready for the climb up and over the North Warner Mountains. Shortly before the top of the climb we pass by the Warner Ski Area. It has only one lift and is operated by a small group of Volunteers. I have never skied here but I make a mental note to try it next winter. After reaching the top of the pass it is mostly downhill through the Warner Canyon alongside Deep Creek.
The creek is raging with springtime snow melt and the waterfall is impressive.
At the little settlement of Adel (200 inhabitants) the Canyon opens into a wide plain. There is a Road Maintenance Station and the “Adel Store”, an old wooden building that serves as a combination of Bar, Restaurant, Antique shop and gas station. The local post office is in a modular home in the back parking lot. The building is owned by a young family with two children and Grandpa. We eat big Hamburgers at the Bar and ask the Owner if we could put up our tents somewhere nearby. He is very friendly and tells us that his son is just mowing the back pasture. So we find a shady spot behind the house and wait for the mowing to be finished. We set up our tents, take a short nap and go back into the Bar for a couple of well- earned beers. Later, as we crawl into our tents, we see the Lake County Sherriff drive by on the way to his house which is just down the road. We feel protected and sleep well.
5/7/2019 Adel to Cedarville (Mile 136 to 200)
We get up early, pack our gear and park our bikes in front of the Store/ Bar / Restaurant. The wife of the owner is just sweeping the floor and opens early to make us breakfast consisting of Bacon, Eggs and Home fried potatoes. As we are enjoying our food someone storms in and yells: “Boys, you better move your bikes, a cattle drive is coming thru”! We hurry outside and roll the bikes behind the store. We watch as four Cowboys herd about 200 cattle down the road, just in the direction of our travel.
e finish our breakfast, say goodbye tour friendly hosts and pedal south. For the first 2 miles we have to zig-zag around many slippery, green cow patties. After 5 miles the pavement ends and the rough gravel road points uphill. As we climb though the hilly desert country the temperatures increase and the sweat starts running. We ride across a little bridge across a creek where I worked about 30 years ago as a surveyor for the Oregon Department of transportation. Lots of memories. We cross the border to California at mile 158.
After a few hard and dusty miles we crest a hill and get our first view of the sprawling surprise valley with the snow-capped South Warner Mountains in the background.
Then its downhill to the little village of Fort Bidwell, named after an old military fort established in 1865 as protection of the white settlers from the Native Americans. Nowadays it is a small community in the heart of the Indian reservation of the Northern Paiute Kidütökadö band. We stop at the historic Fort Bidwell Hotel, now a restaurant and Bed & Breakfast Inn.
After some refreshment of Apple pie and Iced Tea it is on to the town of Cedarville in the middle of the Surprise Valley. We make our camp at the Modoc County Fairgrounds on the grass next to the bathrooms. There we find running hot water but no showers as promised by the Fairground manager. Dinner is at the old “Country Hearth” Restaurant, Bakery and Gift shop. The business is run by a friendly old lady in her eighties. We feast on “Chicken fried Steak” and wash it down with some Nevada Pale Ale. We sleep well tonight.
5/7/2019 Cedarville to Tionesta (Mile 200 to 272)
We get an early start after a light breakfast. Right outside Cedarville the long and arduous climb up cedar pass begins. The effort to haul my bike and loaded trailer up the climb is tremendous. Jeff has a lighter load and he reaches the top of the pass before I do. Then we have a long and fast descend down the western slopes of the Warner Mountains on smooth and lightly travelled roads. Highway 39 gets us to Alturas, an old Town in the middle of sprawling agricultural lands. We have a huge brunch at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant. Here we meet a young family with 3 kids from Australia which we had previously met in the Fort Bidwell Hotel. They greet us like old friends and the kids are fascinated by our loaded bikes. We give them some tips for their travels in Southern Oregon and then we spend the rest of the day riding on fairly busy roads to Canby and then north along Hwy. 139 to Tionesta. Tionesta once was an old railroad siding and lumber town. Today hardly anything is left and it is more or less a ghost town. We stop at the “Hawk’s Nest” RV park for the night. We are the only guests today and the remainder of the crew seem to be friends and relatives of the owners. They are working on on building a small structure to use as a future store for the customers. We are happy to have a nice place to camp and even get a hot shower in a clean facility. That feels great after riding hard for four days… We are invited to a communal campfire with the locals and meet interesting people.
5/7/2019 Tionesta to Klamath Falls (Mile 272 to 334)
We sleep in on the last day and say goodbye to our hosts. We head north on a smooth gravel road. The gravel soon switches to pavement as we approach the Lava Beds National Monument from the south. Great views of Medicine Mountain and Glass Mountain. Glass Mountain consists entirely of black obsidian. This glassy material was a used by the Native American tribes for making arrow heads, spears and other types of weapons and tools. The National Park has lots of Lava flows and hundreds of Lava caves. These caves and surrounding areas were hiding places for the Modoc Indian tribe in the war with the US Army in 1872/1873. This conflict arose from fights between the Indians and the white settlers. After a long quarrel and loss of life on both sides the Modocs were defeated. Their leaders were hanged at Fort Klamath and the rest of the tribe was deported to exile on a reservation in Oklahoma. We stop for a rest at the Park Headquarters and continue north through the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge. Tens of thousands of geese, ducks, swans, cranes and other birds come here every spring and fall during their migrations. After crossing back into Oregon, we have lunch at the Polar Bear Diner, a little roadside stand in the small farm town of Merrill. From there it is only about 25 miles back home to Klamath Falls. We are happy to be sleeping in real beds tonight.
About the Author: Michael Schaaf. Born 1955 in Bremen, Kreis Soest, Germany. Emigrated to USA in 1980. Registered Professional Civil Engineer, Oregon. Retired in 2016 from Oregon Department of Transportation. Married, two children, four grandchildren. Lives in Klamath Falls, Oregon.