Originally Posted by
RedandBlack
Thanks everyone for the advice! This is all great info. So, what I'm gathering is that my April start date is way too early for all of the mountain passes and to just bear the heat and start in mid-summer. I'm just worried about being in the northern, mountainous stretches of the Great Divide/Northern Tier/SC in late Sept. Maybe we can start somewhere else (Southern Tier or Pacific Coast) and hit the SC in shape. I knew getting into this that it would be a hard route. The TA, NT, and ST seem easier, but I'm not really to interested in seeing the East coast or the plains and want to experience deep wilderness camping.
Is there a better way of doing this such as North to South? We would really like to be on the road from April to Sept and the SC and Yellowstone area are the only really must do parts for us. The rest we're flexible on. Thanks again!
Starting in April would be
way too early most years. On the other hand I'd try very hard to avoid waiting until mid summer. A good indicator is to watch when Tioga Pass looks like it will open. I think that ideally you would want to arrive at Tioga as soon after opening as you can.
I have to say that I also wonder about a couple other things you mention...
First, the mention of wanting to "experience deep wilderness camping". This is after all a paved road tour. You will ride through some fairly remote country, but I think deep wilderness camping is a stretch unless you plan to be backpacking along the way. If you really want that experience, a backpacking trip may be a better option.
Second, the idea of riding from April to September. That is five or six months. Given that the SC is a bit under 2400 miles that works out to somewhere around 13-16 miles per day. I am old and not especially athletic and that sounds more like a hiking pace to me. I don't see how it would take more than 80 days. It is a very hard route, but my impression was that it didn't lend itself especially well to very short days, services were too far apart for that in many places.
I don't know if it appeals to you, but with that amount of time you could do a lot of touring, so doing something like starting in Florida or even Central America in April and riding to the SC would be possible. It might be hard to guess that far ahead, when the the roads on the SC will be clear of snow.