Washington and Banff trip planning

[Goodman4]

Choices, choices, choices... 

Thanks for all this, everyone. I'll be playing with options for a good while.

 

[Fontanaman]

BluFJR posted  a damn fine route.

 

[Goodman4]

Here are some of the best roads in WY, MT, ID, OR, WA going into BC on your way to Jasper.  Just remember that you will not get these kind of roads in BC.  Canada has a lower speed limit and the curves are not as exciting.  You will not be able to best the Northern Rockies for beauty and surely will enjoy that part of your trip.  If you take this route across WY, MT, ID, OR you will be rewarded with some of North America's best for beauty.  Allow a minimum of 4 days to do this section of you  ride as it is approx. 1560 miles, but you may enjoy it better if you schedule 5 or 6 days.  Six days will allow you to stop and take pictures that will dazzle those that view them .

I'm getting less optimistic about being able to cross into Canada by July, but I'm pressing on with thinking about this trip as it's still fun to think about. 

I've got the above route mapped in my software now and it does look good.

This route would change the focus of the trip from a Best of Washington and Southern BC + Banff to a Best of Idaho and NW Oregon + Banff trip. This might be ok with me, but I am still pondering. We still get to mark Washington as a state I've been to on the bike, but it is almost cheating with that little corner. It's not cheating more than me counting Idaho already when I only rode 5 miles across Lolo pass from Montana and turned around. This would let me really see Idaho quite a bit more and would see a totally different part of Oregon than we have ridden. When we rode California, we went up to Crater Lake and back down. That is our only Oregon experience.

The section you have at the start makes for a tough choice. Beartooth is my absolute favorite road, but I've done it and Yellowstone two different times, and one was up to Red Lodge and back. We rode all over Wyoming three years ago. So we know we would like it, but it might be a better option to go through N Utah to see something different for this trip. We did southern Utah but I've never been to the Salt Lake City / Park City area or anything in north Utah. It adds 2 hours to the route to go thru Colorado and Utah then up so I'm leaning that way if we go with ID / OR as the main focus. Beartooth would probably add a day, though it would be enjoyable.

The main negative of this overall route is leaving out North Cascades and Mt Rainer. But now I've got two guys from Washington telling me to stay out of their state.  Seriously, I want to see Washington, but Blufjr's route minus Wyoming might actually work better for this longer trip. For WA, it could be a possibility to do a shorter trip with a rental in Seattle another year to see it, or even this year if things with work or the border don't align.

Thanks again for helping me think through this stuff.

 

[Fontanaman]

If the weather is nice in Western Washington go for it.  Just follow BluFJR route to John Day Oregon then follow this route to Mount Rainier.  When you get to Northwoods Washington you can decide to head west like what is shown on the route or head north on FS 25 and go on the east side of Mt. St. Helen (preferred but rough) and this is a seasonal road and as such may not map well on Google Maps in the winter.  Just follow the signs to Windy Ridge a Mt. St. Helens and then on to Randle Washington.

 

[Auburn]

If the weather is nice in Western Washington go for it.  Just follow BluFJR route to John Day Oregon then follow this route to Mount Rainier.  When you get to Northwoods Washington you can decide to head west like what is shown on the route or head north on FS 25 and go on the east side of Mt. St. Helen (preferred but rough) and this is a seasonal road and as such may not map well on Google Maps in the winter.  Just follow the signs to Windy Ridge a Mt. St. Helens and then on to Randle Washington.

The FS90 road from Carson to Northwood has gotten really bad.  I don't recommend it anymore.  The FS has to do a better job maintaining roads, they have done nothing for this area in at least 20 years.  Not even pothole repairs.  Totally unsatisfactory.

 

[blufjr]

Just remember, you aren't going to see everything on one trip.  Identify what you want to accomplish and do just that.  I have been transversing the 11 western States for 15 years and referred to  them as scouting rides.  I don't do the 500-700 mile days anymore and have settled in on 270-380 mile days as optimal.  I now stop more and enjoy the sites I have been viewing while riding the roads in the past.  What ever you do will be perfect.