Klamath Falls Via Crater Lake

Vidae Falls

Crater Lake wasn’t quite what I expected. Rim Drive does not, for most of what I drove of it, give views of the Lake. The Park leaflet shows the sections I didn’t drive to be similar. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing part of it was closed. I think Maps indicated about an hour to drive all around the Lake. Driving the 30-odd miles around the Lake for only occasional glimpses here and there at specific outlooks would probably have pissed me off in terms of wasted time.

Onward to Klamath Falls

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway sign

There is no cell phone service around the Lake so Maps isn’t working. I follow signs away from the Lake to Klamath Falls, tonight’s destination. As long as the signs continue, the patchy cell service shouldn’t be an issue. There’s a spot down the road where signal comes back long enough for Maps to load up but a mile or two further south, it’s gone again. Maps still works (I think) because once a route is loaded it relies on GPS to guide you.

There’s not much to say about the drive until Upper Klamath Lake. This is a spectacular piece of water. I find out later I’m on the east side of the Lake but the Byway is on the west. That road however does not run close to the Lake edge, so I must have seen this when planning and forced a route change to drive by the lake, off the Byway.

Given the Lake is generally about 5 miles across, and in other places nearly 10, and the views are great, I don’t know why the Byway isn’t on this side given the roads meet up at the bottom of the Lake. What’s also clear by now is that the Byway has little in the way of ‘attractions’ or ‘points of interest’. It’s really just a scenic road. Albeit one that is very scenic, with lots of trees. I mean, lots of trees. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many trees in my life.

It’s almost becoming a bit monotonous. I bet the Byway goes through trees on the west side of Upper Klamath Lake. Thankfully on my route I am tree-less for a while and can see the lake.

Off to the (Nameless) Pub

Maps routes me to the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriot in Klamath Falls. Inside it appears very new, modern and tidy. I learn later it is a new build, opening three years ago. And still in very good condition. My lake view room, for $5 extra, is excellent. The in-room Wi-Fi doesn’t work however and when I call the reception guy he is not interested in fixing it, just giving me a support telephone number to call. I call them and they do fix it. But they can’t give me a sensible answer as to why it didn’t work straight off.

Lake Ewauna from my hotel bedroom

For dinner I walk into the centre of town – Klamath Falls was very quiet, with no-one on the streets – to a pub called The Pikey. I kid you not. It’s an Irish bar apparently, but one obviously unaware of how their name is viewed these days on the other side of the Atlantic. It’s a racial slur in the UK so let’s just say it wouldn’t be allowed here, so I’ll just write the name once as a factual reference…

The barman, Devon, is friendly, busy but attentive. No-one sitting at the bar talked to me all night. The burger I had was OK but massively under-seasoned. Loads of salt and pepper required. I also forgot on ordering that chips in America means crisps in the UK. Hey ho. I stay and watch the end of the baseball on TV. Having had enough beer I try the Basil Hayden bourbon. I was offered this in The Vault but declined it for some reason. But tonight’s the night. It’s very good! So much so I have another.

Game over, check paid and I walk back to the hotel. The town is still dead. Again there’s no-one around on the streets and not a sound to be heard anywhere. It takes me about 15 minutes to get back.

“Cold, Cold Heart” *

My bedroom has a surprise in store on my return. I turned off the aircon when I left because the temperature was just right. On my return I find the room much cooler than I left it, almost cold even. And rather noisy. The aircon is definitely off however. Then I spot a vent above the door and discover it is blowing cold air into the room. And as mentioned, it is also very NOISY.

I search around but can find no way to turn the vent off or close it. Calling Reception, I ask: “How do I turn this vent off?” The lady on duty has no idea what I’m talking about. She says she’ll come up and have a look. Christine arrives a couple of minutes later. I let her in and point out the vent. She has never seen it before but fully agrees that it is “exceptionally noisy”.

Christine says she will call Maintenance and call me back. Five minutes later she calls to advise that it is a fresh air vent – that cannot be closed or adjusted. WTF? She’s again agreeing with me that’s noisy but nothing can be done. She says she’ll knock something of the room invoice. Realising there is nothing that can be done to tame the hurricane, I agree to her offer. Then I get my ear plugs out, insert them, pull the bed covers tight and go to sleep.

* Cold Heart by Dua Lipa and Elton John