Clear Lake is one of my all-time favorite places in Oregon and was so I was anticipating the stay there with great excitement! We also were planning on adding two people to our crew who were meeting us at Clear Lake, so that was something to look forward to as well, though, it meant that it would change the mechanics of our well oiled machine, but that’s alright! It was time to switch it up any how.

Out of Suttle Lake, we immediately started climbing. We avoided a Manzantia filled hike-a-bike section by navigating around the original route. Once back on route, this climb took us up to Sand Mountain, which is aptly named. Sand Mountain is one of the other notorious spots on the OTT. It consists of a long uphill climb with very thick sand, every where. The descent on the opposite side is also quite sandy, so it really is not very forgiving. It is for this section alone that I would recommend having a 2.8” tire… well, and maybe a couple of other sections, but this one for sure! Most of had 2.8-3” tires on and it helped us. We also lucked out because it had rained so much the night before the the sand was somewhat packed down, which meant we could ride most of it.

The wild flowers at the top section of the climb were absolutely astounding. It was like we were in wild flower heaven. I also saw a tiny toad, which made my day!

The back side descent was pretty frustrating - I had a difficult time because sand and I don’t get a long. The others fared alright. After the sand let up, the rest of the descent was rad and got to Clear Lake pretty early in the day. We had a resupply (Deann’s mom Roxie) waiting for us, so we stocked up and set up camp. Our friends Heather and Janelle showed up a bit later and we shared stories and went down to the lake. Clear Lake is beautiful, gorgeous really. No motor boats are allowed, so it’s quiet and pristine. The campground isn’t too big, so it’s not overly crowded and the lake is beautiful and clean.

Clear Lake at dawn, Photo Cr: Deann Garcia

OTT Take 2: Day 6: Suttle Lake Clear Lake

OTT Take 2: Day 7: Clear Lake to Shedd Camp area

OTT Take 2: Day 5: Bend to Suttle Lodge