Ride Route Recommendations (San Diego to Seattle and back)

[4xford]

My buddy and I are planning on taking a ride from San Diego to Canada and back, our route up there is going to be quick since we want to spend most of our time on the ride back and coastal. We'll be leaving on the 23rd of August and going to Bishop then just passed Reno and on into Yakima washington. Folks live here so take a day and a half of visiting then off to Canada and back down. We want to check out Leavenworth, Rainier, St. Helens, Olympic National Park, Seattle, Aberdeen, Astoria, and Crater Lake. At least those are the high points we want to see. Any route recommendations for us (going to give ourselves about 10 days on the return trip) or other sights to see? Minimal freeways.

Thanks,
Bruce

[stevewz]

Hmm. Well, if you're looking for efficiency, I-5. To a somewhat less extent, Highway 97 from Weed, Ca. north to Canada or highway 395, although the latter is chock full of boring straight stretches. But, then again, some people are into that. Highway 101 down the coast is beautiful but not very efficient due to the large volume of land barges driven by blue hair's under the impression that going 10 under the speed limit is perfectly fine.

There are, of course, some great roads that sort of criss-cross the Cascades that more or less get you headed north or south but in more of a round-about fashion. Some noteworthy roads are 62 from Medford to Crater Lake, highway 20 from Sisters to Detroit, then 224 north past Breitenbush to Estacada, etc.

When you're on two wheels, there really aren't any bad roads, just some that are better than others. ;-)