(July 28, ‘09) This weekend, I’ll be riding and documenting the route posted in the map below. This is preparatory to defining our exclusive Lake County Bike and Wine Tours in co-operation with Blue Lake Lodge. The route “as ridden” will be posted on Monday, with the geo-tagged photos and full description. I’ll be spending the night at either Clear Lake State Park or (depending on gates and permission) preferably at the top of Mt. Konocti (Kuh-nok-tie). That would be the high point in the elevation chart below.
In the meantime, its 5:40 PM and I’m hitting the road in five minutes.
Planned Route
Clearlake Loop Navigation Route
Well, I spent 3 days riding the route and two weeks editing, geo-tagging and uploading the images, due to technical issues ranging from a nominal 42 Kbss dialup line which usually runs at about 10 Kbps to a balky computer which goes to a black screen about 10 times a day., to a messed up GPS file that I still have not fixed.
The ride was a lot of fun, with several unexpected adventures along the way, and as the photo placement shows in the vicinity of Mt. Konocti, the route I rode was not exactly the one I plotted above. The mountain was not accessible, so I rode along the lake. Clear Lake itself was, to say the least, not clear. I’m told the “Clear” part of the name originally was meant to apply to the air, not the water. And rightly so. The lake is generally quite shallow and “eutrophic”, meaning highly conducive to organic production. Boy howdy, it is certainly that, and as a result of our ongoing three year drought, water levels are very low. This time of year there is an enormous bloom of blue-green algae, made worse by nutrient runoff from agriculture and other human activities. This results in large masses of floating and decaying nasty green mats that, unfortunately for those down wind, give off lots of hydrogen sulfide and other noxious gasses and also coat the bottom with green-black sludge, altogether not conducive to swimming or even lounging along the shore in many places.
Although (not so) Clear Lake lies entirely within Lake County, the water rights are owned by the neighboring Colusa County, and the over 100 year history of conflict surrounding this is very colorful and still quite present in the minds of the residents.
For further reading on the history and limnology of Clear Lake California, check out these on-line resources;
Clear Lake the largest freshwater lake in California. … of other opportunities to learn about the history of Clear Lake, including two county museums, …
www.californiaweekend.com/california-vacation/clear.html
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Century
History.
Clear Lake is a large shallow, eutrophic (nutrient heavy), polymictic (well mixed)
lake in the central Coast Range of northern
California.
…
celake.ucdavis.edu/files/69230.pdf
Asking around in Kelseyville, I found out that Lake County is currently purchasing Mt. Konocti, represented on the elevation profile by the prominent elevation peak. Mt. Konocti is an active volcanic cone with three main summits; Wrigh, Buckingham and Clark Peaks, spectacular views of Clear Lake and the surrounding countryside, untouched Oak and fir forests and many geologic features of interest including a 16 acre black obsidian field on the south slope. Lake County is working with great dispatch and determination to turn it into a park. I’ve spoken with the officials involved and have been assured that mountain biking is one of their proposed uses. With about 2000; vertical feet from base to summit this could become a major destination for mountain bikers and a real boon to the local economy.
Wathen Vineyards
Picture 1 of 251
Wathen Vineyards, wine sign #1 heading east on 20
The southeastern quarter of the lake is an area of well paved rolling roads and a series of 300′-600′ climbs from lake level makes for fun and challenging riding, with spectacular views and lovely vineyards tucked between oak scrub and soda pans. The little town of Lakeport sits at the eastern end of the lake and due to the prevailing westerly winds is the unfortunate recipient of all the floating and decaying detritus of a very productive ecosystem, and the noxious fumes on a hot August day are almost overwhelming. I suppose the residents get used to it, but WHEW!, its a little bit rough on the unwary visitor. The shore there is lined with marinas and little resorts and vacation cottages. Lakeshore Drive dips and climbs along the north shore, with grades up to 10%, surfaces ranging from fair to poor and very little to no shoulders. On the other hand, the views and lack of traffic make this a really excellent ride, and the coves and headlands seem to mitigate the odor, which declines the further north and west you go along the peninsula separating the so-called Oak Arm from the main body of the lake. Situated in the middle of that peninsula is Borax Lake, the site of one of the earliest mining ventures in California. The high mineral content of Borax Lake is a result of the ongoing subterranean volcanic activity in the are, as is the case just north of the ridge at the now abandoned mercury mine adjacent to the Elem Indian Reservation, on the south side of the Oak Arm across from the town of Clearlake. This is a highly toxic site with high levels of elemental mercury in the soil and the episodic runoff from the old pits.The water in these pits is full of sulfuric acid, with a Ph of 3 due to hydrogen sulfide gasses venting through the water. An altogether nasty place and not a good spot to mess around. There is concern that local well water could be contaminated with elemental mercury, but the real danger is the conversion of elemental mercury to the far more bio-active methylated form by biological activity upon the runoff. Its hard not to thing that the location of the reservation there is a blatant case of environmental racism, and there are some really heartbreaking stories among the locals about both social and economic conditions there.
While there are several environmental and social issues of deep concern around Clear Lake, don’t get me wrong. The place is spectacularly beautiful, and well worth a visit. The cycling is world-class, the people are friendly and welcoming, the wine is very good and so are the pears and other locally grown fruit. But it is difficult to ignore the problems.
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View on map (geotagged at lat 39.1665382, lng -123.0032730)
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