Biking from the West Coast in May: too early?

[JPK]

Hey all.  I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on touring from the west coast, Seattle specifically, in early May.  Is it too early to brave the mountain passes?  We've had record snowfall this year to top it off.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much.

[staehpj1]

It varies a lot from year to year.  That is pretty early.  If you want to do McKenzie Pass it is likely to be closed then, but you can probably do Santiam Pass instead.

Can you go later?  If so I would.  Early May is a great time to start in the East.

[Successor to the Professor]

I would shoot for later in the year.  Even if there's minimal snow, it's still going to be wet, and there are few things worse than being cold and wet.  I would try hitting the Cascade region no earlier than June.

[DaveB]

I can't comment about the Cascades but I've driven over Colorado Rockies passes in early June and the snow banks were still 10 feet high at the sides of the road.  May in the Cascades could be nearly impassible.

[johnsondasw]

Hey all.  I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on touring from the west coast, Seattle specifically, in early May.  Is it too early to brave the mountain passes?  We've had record snowfall this year to top it off.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much.

I live in the middle of the Cascades on Snoqualmie Pass in Washington.  I have had great bike rides on both Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes in May.  However, if you hit the wrong day, you could be in rain, snow, etc.   So anything's possibe from beautiful spring weather to a gnarly late-winter storm.  Good luck!

[DU]

If you were thinking about the Northern Tier here is a link for road conditions on Hwy 20 in the Cascades.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/northcascades.

[psemler]

Last summer I left May 19 from San Francisco taking the Western Express and connected with the transamerica in Pueblo.
I would suggest starting in SF. The route across Nevada and Utah is awesome and May is a good time to do it.

[Jackalope]

I rode the Santiam pass in early June and it was fine.  May could be a whole nother story!!  Good luck!

[MrBent]

Take psemler's advice, but a good weather window would make it possible.