Question for the northwesterners:

I'm planning a January trip from Victoria, BC to somewhere in Florida.

What is the best route to take through the NW states during that time of year? I'm aware the weather may not be on my side and that I could get stranded by snow or ice. I'll just have to trust the forecasts and budget some extra motel time. Should I ferry across to Port Angeles and stick to the coast? Or head in through the interior?

Gear isn't a problem. I have everything needed for cold and wet riding.

And while I'm here: Any recommended scenic routes to the SE? I'm not in any hurry to get down there.

Thanks!

probably as far west along the coast as possible until it gets warmer above freezing, then head east staying in above freezing places. ANy mountain pass will have snow on it and or ice. Oh, and a warm coat is needed.

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Jeff Haar
Issaquah, WA
2012
Yamaha XTZ1200
Super Tenere

Coast route as far as Northern California if there is any chance of snow, then south to Southern California to go east without crossing any Sierra Nevada mountain passes. Even the coast can get snow or freezing rain...budget for those motel rooms.

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2007 DL650A Whee! (SV cam transplant)

Manage the unavoidable.
Avoid the unmanageable.

Coastal. I have a friend that makes the trip every December from the Olympia area on his Concours. He's been doing it 10 years at least that I know, has never had more than a day or so delay.

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Rob

Ride every day, it's good for you.
07 650A | C10 | KLR250

don't start heading east until southern Cal!!!!!!! Go to Key West for a few days and plan on getting drunk. Love that town.

Without looking at a map, I'd say go south on I-5 to I-10. Not sure where I-10 ends, but probably close enough to Florida. Seems the safest winter route.

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( ... as in, "You're a better man than I, Gunga Din!")

I wish you well. If you complete your ride, you will achieve something
that eluded me twice in 2010. And I tried to do that ride in May and June!
(But I was going from Florida to Vancouver.)

So far, it seems you have been advised to go south almost to Mexico
before heading east. Because I met snow in New Mexico in mid-May 2010,
I believe that advice is sound. I was appalled, snow in a state that
borders Mexico, and after the middle of May.

If you choose to cross New Mexico at the north edge of the state,
you will see that US-64 is a wiggly road, but you will not see that it
is a scenic and delightful road. I am pleased that I rode it, and learned
a lot about the scenery of New Mexico.

Just one vignette. New Mexico has lots of sandstone cliffs. These are not
the craggy cliffs you may know well from riding British Columbia. They look
like walls of cabbage-patch dolls, made from wads of cloth stuffed into
sacks made of panty-hose. It seemed to me that the characters Statler
and Waldorf, from the Muppet Show, were glowering at me from cliff
after cliff. It was amusing. I did not see this stuff when I crossed New
Mexico on I-10 by truck a few years earlier.

I hope you do this ride, and I hope I can ride a small part of it with you.
If you want info about Florida, I can provide some, and other Stromtroopers
in Florida can provide much more. We are a gregarious lot, and we do not
hibernate.

If you do not have handguards, I recommend them. I have ridden a lot
in Canada and the northern states, and handguards were important to me.

If you intend to head east before going south (sheer lunacy in my opinion!),
I can tell you about the time I did make it to BC, in June 2006. Idaho is lovely!

But that info can wait until you say you need it.

I suppose you know that Paul Mondor rode across Canada one January.
Somebody chided him for bypassing Labrador, so he did the whole ride
the next January, this time via Labrador. I have not ridden with Paul,
but I have ridden with Geoff Smith of Newfoundland, who rode a few
miles with him as his first ride ended at St. John's NL. Here is Paul:
Paul "The Iceman" Mondor - Home

Best of luck!
Keith

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