Route Tucson to Glacier [AZ, UT, CO, WY, MT]

[Stefan_E]

Juan, I saved the route right as you described it. Sounds very nice. Colter Bay Campground has hiker/biker sites too, that would be a nice second stop in Grand Teton, right?

Oh yes, I am interested in a backcountry camp for a night. But I don't want to ask to much of you!

[jamawani]

Stefan -

Don't mind helping at all.
1st - - Do you know safe hiking/camping techniques in grizzly bear country.
Not have you glanced at an article. Do you know how to do everything necessary?
If you have ever eaten or cooked in your tent - you need a different one.
Remember, bears have a sense of smell 2000X that of humans. (Whose noses are basically useless.)
Do you know how to hang a pack 3-4m off the ground and 1.5m from any tree trunk?
Not easy - requires practice - but it's worth knowing.
Most cyclists don't want to ride with a heavy bear container.
At some national parks you can rent one for an overnight hike.
(Some parks do not allow hanging - they require bear containers -
probably because people didn't hang packs correctly and the bears got into food.)

BTW - Raccoons can be more of a pest than bears - but not as dangerous.

Developed campgrounds in national parks usually have bear storage bins.
National forest campgrounds sometimes have them, sometimes not.
(You might consider asking you neighbors if they would put your food in their car.)
If you wild camp, then you will definitely need to secure your food.

Speaking of food - that applies to anything that may have an attractive odor -
Food, cooking utelsils, beverage bottles, soap, toothpaste, chewing gum, etc.

When camping in the backcountry use a 100m triangle when possible.
Tent / Cooking & eating / Hanging trees - with your tent in the upwind location.

https://www.wta.org/go-outside/trail-smarts/how-to/hang-bear-bag-secure-food

I do wilderness hikes and backcountry camping as part of my tours.
It really adds so much more to the experience - even if it's only a single night.
I tour with a two-day, light backpack on the rear rack for this purpose.

Most larger national parks have hike-in backcountry sites.
The problem is where to leave your bike.
Even bigger problem - where to leave your gear.
Many time I leave the panniers in a campground bear box.
I intentionally choose one that seems out of the way and little used.
If the hiker/biker campground seems to have lots of bear boxes, I use those.

Here's a map of Yellowstone's backcountry sites:
https://www.nps.gov/maps/full.html?mapId=f926f448-9fe4-4600-b4c0-3f060737c87f
For cyclists the sites deep in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone work best -
i.e. You can leave your gear stored at the hiker biker campsites.
Plus the Backcountry Office is right there at Canyon.


While on tour I have hiked and backcountry camped in -
Golden Gate, Yosemite, Grand Escalante, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton,
Yellowstone, Glacier, Waterton, Banff, Jasper, Kluane, & Denali.
And others.

It sounds like you will have the time to do this.
Let's face it - the frontcountry campgrounds at national parks are like zoos.
(Better than most European campgrounds which are like parking lots.)

Pic - Great Plains N.P in southern Saskatchewan, 2001 - Note the crowds
In many western Canadian national parks you can cycle into the backcountry!

[Stefan_E]

I've been away for holidays.

Honest answer, so far I glanced at an article. But of course that doesn't suffice. I will practice it before I leave. Thanks a lot for the other tips, panniers, bear boxes and so on. Sounds great.

[Stefan_E]

Hi, for everyone remembering this topic, I cycled the whole route, more or less as planned. It was awesome.
Some info someone might find interesting or helpful.

Starting May 15 in Tucson was a good advice. It was already quite hot, also when I hiked through the Grand Canyon. But I had some very cold nights at Zion, too. So leaving one or two weeks earlier would have been possible, but probably with trade offs.

I remember only two unpleasant roads, one from Payton, AZ north to Pine on AZ 87. The other one was the very steep Kolob Terrace Road going North from Zion NP, pretty, but very hard. From Flagstaff I cycled and hiked up to Humpreys Peak, very impressive.

The Trans Canyon Shuttle brought my bike to the North Rim, it worked great. Only the guy at the Lodge who sells the mule hikes put my bike outside because he didn’t like it in the lobby, I found it without a lock outside in the public bike rack. 

So to anyone new to the US I would definitely recommend this route. You can see so many great parks. Saguaro, Grand Canyon, all the parks in Utah, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and finishing in Glacier. Of course many other beautiful places too. The National Monuments around Flagstaff were great, and Kodachrome Valley and Goblin Valley State Parks in Utah too. Good Amtrak connections to Tucson and Glacier. Thanks again for many good advices here.

[UncaBuddha]

I'm sure we were all wondering if you did your ride. Do you have a website that has pictures and notes?

[Stefan_E]

I'm sure we were all wondering if you did your ride. Do you have a website that has pictures and notes?

Well I did. Three month, first leg was from Savannah, Georgia (where I finished my ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway last year) to New Orleans. That was like two weeks. Then I took Amtraks Sunset Limited to Tucson and went North.

I actually did a daily journal on the then new iPhone App Journal. Now I realize they haven't implemented any way to share it. It just sits there on your phone... Hopefully they add it, then I'll share it here.