Trip Advice

[bmwgls]

I am planning a trip from Missoula, MT thru Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado before slabbing it back to Massachusetts. (Will be shipping the bikes to Missoula.) Here's the question/problem. I have no idea whether high passes, >10k feet, should be avoided in early September due to potential weather conditions. My personal opinion (guess) is that if the weather is good at lower elevations, then there's a good chance that the weather will be o.k. at the higher elevations. The trouble is that my riding companions want to avoid the high passes if at all possible.

Thanks in advance for any input,
Jerry St.Hilaire

[dbrick]

High passes in the Rockies can close down with weather at any time, even in midsummer. I don't think Sept is out of the question - I rode over Beartooth this last fall in glorious weather the first week of October - *but* it could have been awful, and I was quite willing to turn back if things looked bleak when I had to either start up the pass, or go around it.

If your companions want to avoid passes, then they'll (and, by extension, you'll) have an uncomfortable time even if the weather's nice.

[BubbaZanetti]

i rode from massachusetts to california last october-november and most of the high passes in colorado/north were snowed in or in danger of getting snowed in most nights (although the locals would tell me that by noon any nightly snowfall tended to clear) either way i went south and finally crossed the rockies at the Gila NF in New Mexico 80 miles north of the Mexican border. so i guess if your time permits and the weather doesn't, just keep riding south :D

[riderR1150GSAdv]

In July I met a couple of riders in Cody WY who were on Beartooth pass at the same time I was on Chief Joseph. While I had some rain, they were in snowflurries :D
I guess weather like that can happen up there anytime. Just be prepared for a detour or two and you ought to be fine. :wave

[MostlyIrish]

We were held up trying to get through Rocky Mt Nat Park due to 8" of snow on Sept 3rd. The road reopened the next day and was worth the trip. Snow is possible at those elevations even earlier but I would not plan my route around these great passes until I knew it was necessary.

[flash412]

I have no idea whether high passes, >10k feet, should be avoided in early September due to potential weather conditions. My personal opinion (guess) is that if the weather is good at lower elevations, then there's a good chance that the weather will be o.k. at the higher elevations.I've been in a whiteout on Berthoud Pass in Colorado on the 4th of July. The day started clear and warm in Boulder, was clear in Estes Park but starting to chill, snowing atop Trail Ridge Road, raining below 10k feet. Clear and warm in Granby. Cold and overcast in Winterpark. And then it started to snow, HARD. Over Berthoud Pass with visibility at about ten feet. In Empire, on the other side of the pass... blue skies and seventy degrees.

They say, "If you don't like the weather in the mountains, wait a half hour, it will change."

The trouble is that my riding companions want to avoid the high passes if at all possible.

Sounds like you need new riding companions. Better yet, have them follow you in the pickup truck. God forbid they should have any adventure on a motorcycle trip.

[bobw]

Snow can happen at any time in high mountains. I've hit snow in June, July, August and September when traveling thru high mountains. Just watch/listen to weather reports as often as possible, watch the skies in the distance and be prepared to go to Plan B.

[username]

conditions down low are no indication of what it is like up top. i've hiked up in the san juans on the clearest day imaginable, and just as we neared the summit, a cloud poofed out of nowhere, grew into a bunch of clouds, and starting dumping wind and snow on us. it was june. many other times i've skiied/hiked during winter, and sauntered around mountaintops with no precip at all, during january. anyone who has been up in the rockies has a story just like this. they also have a story about a hike/ride where it was nice the whole time.

your best bet is that as you get near the road to the pass, you check the road conditions. it's day to day, hour to hour sometimes, and everyone has the same concern that you do, so there is lots of real-time information.

IMHO, your riding companions need to take a chill pill and live a little. it's not like you're planning a trip through afghanistan.

[MCMXCIVRS]

I did a mid September trip up over Granite and Beartooth passes two years ago. No snow, but it was cool and windy at the top of Beartooth. It is just luck of the draw what you get for weather, so plan to ride them, but have an alternative route in case of poor conditions. Those are some fantastic motorcycle roads and it would be a shame to miss riding them.