A great area stop for food on the way to or from the lake is the Solar Café, which is located right between Lake of the Woods and the Crystalwood Lodge. The café is only open for a limited number of weekend hours, but if you’re in the area on a Friday night or Saturday/Sunday morning, it’s definitely worth a stop.   On Friday nights from 5-8pm The Solar Café fills with loyal locals and hungry travelers for pizza night.  The pizzas, which range in price from $11-$15, are delicious, fresh and nicely complimented by a great selection of beer and wine.      

More photos at www.flickr.com/photos/crystalwoodlodge

There are two major upcoming events at Crater Lake in August.  The 5th Annual Century Ride will be taking place on August 15th.  Particpants can do the 62 mile ride, The Metric Century, from the Fort Klamath Museum up to the edge of the Rim Drive  or the 100 mile Century Ride from the Fort Klamath Museum around the Rim Drive.   There are 300 participants registered.  The Century Ride is not a race, but an opportunity for avid cyclists to challenge themselves and experience Crater Lake.  More information is available at  http://www.craterlakecentury.com/index.html

Another upcoming event of a similar nature is the 34th Annual Crater Lake Rim Run, which will be taking place on August 8th.  The event has 500 people registered to walk/run either the 6.7 m, 13m or 26m sections.  More information is available at  http://www.craterlakerimruns.com/neweventdetails.htm

Crater Lake National Park does not allow dogs on the walking trails, but Crystalwood Lodge does offer complimentary doggy day care for  Lodge guests.  For more information on Crystalwood Lodge please call 541/866.381.2322 or visit www.crystalwoodlodge.com

Twice each summer the tiny, quiet western hamlet of Fort Klamath is suddenly filled with a parade of motorhomes pulling multi-horse trailers, pickup trucks loaded with horse paraphernalia, and more people than anybody seems to be able to count. Business picks up at the local general store, all of the lodging in the area is booked full, and the postmaster handles a Christmas season’s worth of mail. This can only mean one thing: it’s cutting time! Fort Klamath hosts two cutting meets annually, this year running from July 7-12 and August 20-30 at Mebane Ranch.

Historically, the only way to separate single cows from a herd was for horse and rider to isolate the target and hold it away from the others until it was immobilized. Today only a few cattlemen depend on “cutting” the cows for vaccinating, sorting, branding, and castrating, but the challenge of teamwork between horse and rider lives on in the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). The NCHA has over 16,000 members and represents one of the fastest growing equine sports in the world, with contestants competing for more than $3.7 million at the 2006 NCHA Futurity.

Competitors start arriving in Fort Klamath about a week before the festival. RVs are set up in a pasture just outside of town, a patchwork of temporary homes complete with Astroturf and potted plants. Rows of vendors complete the picture, offering food and the latest in tack and horse accessories. Young riders spend hours grooming and exercising their treasured horses. These small yet expensive, powerful and athletic horses are bred especially for their cutting mentality. In the days leading up to the competition, riders must continue to discipline themselves and fine-tune their relationship with the horse for that crucial 2 ½ minutes in the ring. Each member of a cutting team is fueled by their own personal passion for improving the skill of each member and developing the talent of horse.

At the signal, horse and rider enter the ring. They slowly walk toward the herd and seek a “hot cow”, one that will challenge and showcase the horse’s skill, strength, quickness, and training. Once the target is identified, horse and rider must focus in on its position and then slowly move in to isolate it. After the separation is complete, the rider must loosen or drop the reins and allow the horse to work independently. At this point, the horse controls the contest, using its lightning fast starts and turns to prevent the cow from rejoining the herd. The quicker the horse moves the cow, the more points are awarded. The goal is to keep the cow and horse nose to nose and to keep the cow moving. If a cow fails to give the horse a good fight, the rider may return to the herd and select another. When the cow turns away or doesn’t try to return to the herd, the rider may lift the reins, signaling the horse to “quit the cow.”

The upcoming July event is an open show, including all levels of cutting. The August event is limited to horses from 3 to 6 years old and is the first futurity of the year in the cutting circuit. A typical day show cases 80 – 100 works, over 600 horses, and a small city of owners, trainers, riders, and support personnel.

Curious onlookers may be surprised to find limited seating at the arena and that cutting, unlike many rodeo events, is a relatively quiet activity that is not necessarily meant to be a spectator sport. Nonetheless, visitors will enjoy hustle and bustle of Fort Klamath and the intensity of the cutting events at Mebane Ranch and may be lucky to learn a bit about a sport that has not quite made it to the mainstream. Cutting runs from early morning until dusk, making it an easy event to schedule into a busy vacation weekend at Crater Lake. If you would like more information on summer cutting at Mebane Ranch please call 923.3586 or visit www.nhcutting.com

The Crystalwood Lodge is located 18 miles from the southern entrance to Crater Lake, and approximently 15-20 minutes from Mebane Ranch. If you would like more information on Crystalwood Lodge or other area great Crater Lake area activities, please call 541.381.2322 or visit the activities page on our website.

This coming weekend is the first of three summer weekends that visitors can see to National Parks free of charge! The National Parks Service has waived the entrace fees for this coming Saturday and Sunday at many parks including the Crater Lake National Park to encourage tourism.

In light of this opportunity, the Crystalwood Lodge is offering a last-minute hot deal to anyone who wants to take advantage of the deals at the National Parks. If you make a last-minute reservation mention this blog post, you will recieve 50% off of your stay! This offer is valid for Friday the 19th through Monday the 22nd only. A minimum stay of two nights is required.

The area that surrounds the Crystalwood Lodge is filled with a rich history and eye-pleasing diversity.  Located off of Highway 140 on Westside Road, the Lodge is slightly off the beaten trail, but offers a lot of wonderful opportunities for taking in the outdoors.  The Nannie and Cherry Creek Trails, which were once logging roads, are located less than a mile north of the Crystalwood Lodge.  These trails are perfect for horseback riding, a day hike or a gentle evening walk with the dogs.  Along the well-kept gravel trailhead at Nannie Creek, a plethora of easy, scenic walking/riding paths branch off.  The trailhead extends up 5.2 miles to the main parking lot, where hikers can decide whether they want to take the easy hike up to the Puck Lakes (4.8 miles round trip) or the longer and more difficult hikes up to Marguerette Lake (12.8 mile loop) or Luther Mountain (16.7 mile loop).  Peaceful, quiet and scenic, these trails include no entrance fees, gates, warning signs or asphalt intrusion, making a trip down these trails exploration of Southern Oregon at its best. 

For the summer, the trails are generally snow-free and the trailheads easily managed by most vehicles.  For guests who travel with horses, the Crystalwood Lodge does have four horse corrals and private riding trails available.