Bicycle Travel > Routes

The Western Southern Tier in the Winter (January-Feb)

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kmwoley:
Hi folks,
I've just started to plan my trip leaving in a little less than a month. I'm heading out alone on the ST starting in San Diego and planning to end in Austin (I don't have enough time for the full end-to-end).

I'm looking for advice from folks who've done the west-to-east in the winter time, particularly around advice on if I should avoid the highland/passes or trudge on through and risk some snow/cold. I'm an experienced backpacker, but I haven't done a lot of winter camping but mostly in the pacific northwest. I don't know how much concern I should have wrt cold desert nights.

Any thoughts on re-routing from the ACA's suggested route would be useful.

Thanks in advance!
Kevin

staehpj1:
Conditions can be pretty variable so your trip may be different, but I found it quite pleasant last February.  I saw only a little snow on the ground and the roads were all passable with only a bit of snow near the edge of the road and that only on one pass.  Unless the weather is especially bad there is no reason to avoid the passes.  They were the most scenic part of the trip in my opinion.  The rest of the scenery was kind of boring.  That said the food and the people were great so the trip was nice despite the mostly so so scenery.

If you aren't prepared for the cold you might want to avoid camping on top of the passes.  That said I enjoyed camping at Black Jack SF Camp despite the fact that the low was in the teens.  I had quite a few nights with frost, but it was generally nice since it warmed up pretty warm every day.

I rerouted some because is some places I actually preferred the interstate on either the shoulder or access road.

Westinghouse:
What weather you might get is a matter of probabilities and so variable. Cycling through Van Horn one winter was all blue skies and some overcast. Another winter through Van Horn snowed me in for six consecutive days at a motel. You can try the interstate.

kmwoley:
Thanks, Westinghouse & staehpj1 - I appreciate your thoughts a lot! :)

I've got my flights booked and starting to plan out the details of the route... I'm excited.

Any particular sections where you thought the interstate was a better choice?

staehpj1:

--- Quote from: kmwoley on December 16, 2012, 11:29:07 am ---Any particular sections where you thought the interstate was a better choice?

--- End quote ---
There were a number of places, but off the top of my head I recall quite a long section East of El Paso where I preferred the interstate.  East of Van Horn I rode US 90 rather than stay with the normal ST.

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