goodfoot

Hey everybody,

I'm planning a self-contained trip from Jackson, WY to Portland, OR from mid July to mid Aug (around 30 days total). I'll be following the Transam route up through Missoula. But from Missoula I'm trying to figure out the best route to Portland. I like the idea of following the Columbia river, so I was thinking of following the Lewis & Clark trail. However when I looked at the description of the two routes between Missoula and Clarkston, WA, on the ACA map I saw warnings of fairly poor riding conditions consisting of stretches of road with no shoulders and dirt/gravel roads. I also heard that the head winds can be pretty bad along the Columbia gorge.

Should I, instead, follow the Transam route down into Baker City, and either head north towards the Columbia river, or would you suggest that I skip the Columbia river and stay on the Transam toward the coast and then make my way to Portland?

Is there a 3rd alternative that someone can recommend?

I'll be camping around 80-85% of the time, so a route with nice inexpensive campsites would be nice.

Thanks,
Tom