West coast thoughts...

[PrivatePilot]

While I have nothing else to do post-surgery except sit and be bored and think about next riding season, I've been contemplating this:

I've been out west before, but this trip is based on (at least, at this point) 4 bucket list items:

- Vegas (My wife has friends there and will probably fly out and we can meet up there for at least a day on the town)

- The Queen Mary in Long Beach CA (Always wanted to spend a night on her since I'm a ship buff, wife will drive out from Vegas for that, then drive back)

- A visit to Alcatraz

- Ride back through the rockies on the way home. May or may not skip back into the USA once in AB/SK for the trip back east, I've been across the top through MB/ON from there to the GTA many times and short of the section between Wawa to Sudbury it's nothing spectacular, so skipping back through the USA is apt to be quicker.

Planning to camp as much as possible. Dates probably July/early August. Quite possibly 2-4 others coming along (but not my wife), all high experience riders as well. Not afraid of some long high mileage days, did more than a few 1200+KM days this summer on the scoot and had no problems (some will remember my thread on *** comfort ), could have gone further, but want to skip the boring slab stuff fast to be able to enjoy the interesting stuff when we get there.

Suggestions for other must sees on this rough route, keeping in mind the flexible route back east from the Calgary area?

 

[J_F]

yup, I'd skip Sask Man and NW On

head down into Montana from AB
continue on down to WY, lots of parks and scenery
then east through SD, the black hills, Sturgis,
Mt. Rushmore, SD Badlands
east of there it's pretty boring for a bit
then I'd go up through WI then into the MI UP
down MI and back into On at Port Huron

 

[Riceburner]

Did almost the same route in 87. Took a month, only came back cause I had a event to attend. Had friends that moved out to BC a few years after and never took the Trans Canada for those runs.

 

[PrivatePilot]

head down into Montana from AB
continue on down to WY, lots of parks and scenery
then east through SD, the black hills, Sturgis,
Mt. Rushmore, SD Badlands
east of there it's pretty boring for a bit

Should have mentioned...did pretty much all of that before. Would love to do 14 (or more like ALT14, actually) through WY east out of Yellowstone again though (that stretch was super memorable before) so I'd consider that for sure.

But yes, the stretch between east WY/SD was indeed boring as hell....but then again, any route across the prairies/flatlands/midwest is, so it is what it is I guess.

Well, there was Wall Drug...for those who've been out that way before.

So, as per above route it was 10,760 KM and ~88 hours of riding assuming running about 115% of the speed limits, as programmed into Furkot. Adjusting it to pass through Yellowstone from Calgary on the eastbound home leg and though the Bighorn Mountains and east on I90 results in 11731KM and 95 hours. This also works well as the route doesn't pass back on itself until Chicago. I80W on way out and I90E east.

Adding Yellowstone on the westbound leg at that point vs coming back east is actually not a huge difference in the end (11,561KM, 92 hours), but it ends up resulting in a route that misses some nice terrain through Colorado as a result, so not really great there.

 

[J_F]

I have especially bad memories of that stretch of hwy through Gary and Chicago

ever seen much of Wisconsin, the UP and northern MI ?

that's a great way to skip the mess at the bottom of Like Michigan

or, take the ferry east bound out of Milwaukee

 

[MacDoc]

Excellent route. My only caveat is you need to get north enough of Vancouver to pickup 99 and take that so you need to get to Kamloops before you swing south

https://goo.gl/maps/6KP9iyxkdMQ2

99 is one of the best roads I've ridden.

I guess you've not considered flying the bikes to Calgary or Vancouver?? That would knock off 1/3 of your route...not insignificant.

Those daily distances are way too high for my liking. 600-900 is my limit and much prefer a long day at 80-100 kph and time to take photos. Good time of year tho.

 

[Baggsy]

Did my honeymoon North of Superior to Minaki.

We went for a day trip to Winnipeg to look around and buy golf clubs for my wife, which she still has.

It was an awesome trip, I wouldn't change it.

 

[PrivatePilot]

or, take the ferry east bound out of Milwaukee

Yes.

Yes indeed. I like that idea very, very much...and that fits in with my ship buff thing nicely as the SS Badger that is one option not only caters to motorcycles, but is also a historic steamship.

Adjusted course:

11,547KM and 94 hours, including the ~5 hours the ferry consumes.

 

[PrivatePilot]

99 is one of the best roads I've ridden.

I guess you've not considered flying the bikes to Calgary or Vancouver?? That would knock off 1/3 of your route...not insignificant.

Those daily distances are way too high for my liking. 600-900 is my limit and much prefer a long day at 80-100 kph and time to take photos. Good time of year tho.

Will keep 99 in mind thx.

As for flying the bikes out, naah... Too expensive by the time the freight and airfare is rolled in, and half the adventure is gone.

~11,500 over 15 days is only a ~766/day, so with a few 1200-1400km days that leaves lots of complete down/short days for the sights/stops.

Personally I love high-mileing. I get into a real zone and the hours just slide away, interrupted only by fuel stops every ~250KM. One of the most enjoyable days I rode this summer was in the vicinity of 1300km.

 

[tiborgh]

Not sure if the route you proposed is meant as a guideline and details to be finished later, or due to time constrains it has to be followed.

If it's the first case, then I suggest the followings (in case you have not visited them already):
1. Between Denver Colorado and Glenwood Springs, while on I70:

• take a detour to the top of Mt. Evans (4,348m, paved road all the way to the top)
• bypass the tunnel on I70 and take Highway 6

2. Once in Utah, follow UT-128 along Colorado river and stay a night in Moab. While in Moab, visit Arches National Park at sunset and sunrise.
3. Ride Hwy 12, from Torrey to Bryce Canyon and visit Bryce National Park. There is a 3 hour hiking loop (Queens Garden Trail) that is fantastic.
4. Visit Zion National Park and ride through the park from Mt Carmel Junction on 89 to I15 on the west side
5. Before Vegas, turn toward Lake Mead and ride through Valley of the Fire
6. After Vegas hit Death Valley
7. On the way back, if going to Yellowstone, try entering the park through Beartooth Highway.
8. Don't forget Grand Teton (its just south of Yellowstone)
8. Before Sturgis it's worth a detour to Devil's Tower (remember Close Encounter of Third Kind?)
9. Spend some time in Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore
10. Badlands (can't imagine you missed this if you been at Wall Drug)

My personal preference about camping: I love it, but it makes sense to me when I can stay 2-3 nights in the same place. For a long road trip like this, I do not want to spend time setting up the camp and then taking it down the next morning. On top of that, south west is too hot for camping in July. But it's just that, a personal preference.

If you have never ridden the bike in Vegas in July, beware, it's hotter than hot. Rolled in at noon, with 46 degree Celsius outside, my riding buddy almost past out before we reached the hotel. When we left Vegas, we started at 4AM.

And a tip about Alcatraz, the tickets are usually sold out for two weeks in advance, but they can be booked online. In 2009 I saw Alcatraz from the pier.

 

[tiborgh]

Also, the average speed in Yellowstone is about 25-30km/h. It takes forever to get from point A to point B. The whole park is a giant traffic jam, with cagers stopping in the middle of the road and taking pictures of the wild life. Accommodation in Yellowstone is very difficult to find, though in this case my tent came in handy. Again, reservations should be made at least a couple of days prior to arrival.

 

[MacDoc]

It's not so bad if you come in from the less popular directions and roll through on weekdays not weekends. The increased prices for the park in peak times will help ...
BTW ...you must get an annual pass now ( $80 ) as the prices for the popular parks have skyrocketed.

 

[FattBoyy]

If you are coming though South Dakota. Plan for one day just to ride the twisties of the black Hills. I rode out there this summer for Sturgis and it's some of the best roads you can ride.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

[BBstrong]

Interesting read here. Learning a lot.

 

[kiley]

You mentioned that you have done a trip out west once before.
So I’ll assume you have done most of these already.
But heres a list of POI and towns to visit that I acquired over the few trips I have done out west.
This list is compiled of mostly past Billings MT.
Town…Red Lodge
Beartooth Pass
Town…Cooke City
Yellowstone
Town…West Yellowstone
-#12 Lolo MT to Kooskia ID
Glacier NP
White Pass #12
PCH
I spent about 3 hours in Depoe Bay watching the whales.
I only went as far as the GGB but I hear its stunning past it.
Utah and the 5 Parks
You mentioned Alt 14….if you happen to take 16 theres a great lunch stop in Ten Sleep
#129 and #3 Washington to Oregon
Little Crater Lake OR
Multnomak Falls OR

I've done the Lake Express Ferry a couple times.
Its a great fast way to get across Lake Michigan.
They have cheaper rates if your willing to go at odd hours (late at night)
Also motorcycles are free May and June if that matters...you would have to look this up for exact dates

 

[Inthezone85]

That route looks phenomenol. A friend of mine just did a similar ride and he had a blast. Hopefully one day I can get the free time to take a similar trip A true bucket list experience. Cheers.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Thx all, have been watching the responses.

Yes, I've been to Yellowstone before, and honestly, wouldn't rush to do much more than drive through it again - as mentioned, too many clogged roads, and once you've seen the sights once, well...I'm happy with that. I'm more interested in road-based scenery, hence my desire to do the Rockies, Bighorns, etc etc. The stretch between Cody and Sheridan on the east side of Yellowstone is one that I remember very fondly as being one of the more unique and interesting stretches of road I'd ever been on.

Now, I'm kinda leaning back towards adjusting the westward stretch to include the Bighorns as part of the stretch towards Vegas (Yeah, we'll miss Denver but ID and UT have lots of neat scenery as well so that's not huge) and then continue east across Canada instead of coming back down out of AB, then skipping back into the USA (for the stretch down to lake MI and the steamship ferry experience, not to mention the time savings vs coming back through northern Ontario) somewhere in the MB/SK line.

That would look like this now:

11,139KM and 88 hours.

400 KM less and 8 hours less seat time vs the last map I posted.

 

[MacDoc]

Yeah but that's by slab ...if you switch off to the good but slow roads like the PCH and others that time is gonna expand a whole bunch.

If you haven't done it ...Mount St Helens is worth the small diversion.

Lovely road up to it.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Yes I know that's a lot of slab time, however the reality is if I have any hope of fitting this sort of trip into a 15 day timeline, including accounting for several full days off, That's going to have to be the reality unfortunately.

Using my last route still comes out to a 750 km per day average, so each down day will require that average to increase.

 

[MacDoc]

ur a madman - even audiobooks could not keep me occupied on that schedule.