Originally Posted by
olobo
Thank you all. This has been very helpful. The Amtrak sounds like a great idea. I have a revised plan, and I'd like to hear any thoughts:
- I'm driving cross-country with my bike in mid april, visiting some colleges in Appalachia then cutting north to see some in Wisco/Minnesota. I'm carving out two weeks for this trip so that I can stop for a weekend touring trip (2-3 nights, loop so I can return to my car) maybe in Montgomery County or Driftless area, or anywhere else along the way.
- After Midwest straight shot to Seattle, arriving early May, leaving car with family, then doing Pacific Route N-S.
-Amtrak or flight back up to Seattle early June.
Any thoughts from those more experiences than myself? Recs for small loops along that route?
This is a good call, and you will thank those who recommended going N->S. I, too, have met people going S->N and they were exhausted and miserable.
In Northern California from Eureka to Leggett is about 100 miles, but there are a number of alternate routes roughly parallel to Hwy 101 that get you off the main highway (Avenue of the Giants, Burlington Campground pictured above), such that around 75 miles are on the side roads. At Leggett you start CA-1 and that is the main route until Marin County, where you veer east over to Sausalito and SF proper. In Santa Cruz you again turn off the main Hwy and do not rejoin Hwy 1 until Carmel. Check out the ACA routes, as well as Oregon DOT (ODOT - they have a really nice guide (PDF) to their section of the route. Good luck!