dbuzi123 - like jamawani says, i am taking the northern tier. i am, however, diverging from the northern tier where it hits adventure cycling's lewis & clark trail in willston, north dakota. so i'll be missing glacier national park altogether. so no grizzlies! good!

it sounds like the advice is to not have any food in the panniers? i had been planning on dedicating one front pannier to stove/pans/food, and then just hanging that pannier every night. are y'all recommending that i just keep the food in a plastic bag on my rear rack or something, and then just hang that?