Just wondering what the earliest date one might be fairly confident of having decent conditions to start the Trans-America (Old Bikecentennial route) going from West to East. Simply put, what's the earliest anyone has started from Oregon and what was your experience?

I did the trip back in '80 and am planning on doing it again in '11 or'12. Any thoughts are welcome.

Wish someone could give some advice on this... I'm going to be on a much tighter schedule than I was 30 years ago.

There is a good bit of luck of the draw in this. Personally I would prefer to hit the road when McKenzie Pass is open, but detouring to Santiam Pass is an option if McKenzie isn't plowed out yet. We started on June 11th in 2007 and that worked out well for us. If you are lucky you can sometimes hit McKenzie Pass when it is plowed out but not yet open to motorized traffic.

One point of reference is the historic list of opening and closing dates for McKenzie Pass listed at:
https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGIO...yClosure.shtml