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Winter road trips

Started by TheHighwayMan3561, September 19, 2018, 03:50:16 AM

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Flint1979

Just keep in mind that US-395 is one of those US highways that never touches it's parent route. It's relation to US-95 is via US-195.


jander

Quote from: Flint1979 on November 16, 2018, 05:40:29 PM
Quote from: jander on November 15, 2018, 11:36:38 PM
So I had the random idea of driving from San Francisco to Boise over Christmas.

While I know you all cant predict the weather, what is that drive like?

Thinking I-80 to US-95 to us-20 to us-395

Driving a Mustang and no interest in putting snow chains on it.

Is that drive super snowy, cliff side, high mountain passes?  Or is it generally an "easy"  drive?

I guess my source of comparison is driving SF to Truckee. If its not snowing, its no big deal to drive up there in the winter, even if it had snowed the day before. If its snowing its a shit show, but it will be fine tomorrow.

Is driving to Boise like driving to Truckee, just longer? Or is it desolate blowing snow and treachery?
I'm not sure on how this drive is actually but the route you insist on taking you would be going up I-80 to US-95 to US-20 then to US-395? Wouldn't that just involve riding around in a huge circle rather than going to Boise? I think the route you'd want to take would be I-80 to US-95 to Idaho SR-55 to I-84 to get to Boise. My whole point is that US-395 runs much further west and doesn't even enter Idaho at all.

Sorry, I was being a bet generic in my description, to give the general idea and not the detailed specifics.

Looks like this.

San Francisco. To Boise.

I-280 to us-101 to i-80 to us-95 to id-55 to i-84 in Boise.

Boise to San Francisco would be.
i-84 to us-26 to us-20 to us-395 to ca-299 to i-5 to i-505 to i-80 to us-101 to i-280


Mostly i dont care about the roads in Boise, as I am sure they will be fine, or in the CA central valley, or in the Bay area.  Which is why I left them out.


Flint1979

Quote from: jander on November 16, 2018, 09:06:15 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on November 16, 2018, 05:40:29 PM
Quote from: jander on November 15, 2018, 11:36:38 PM
So I had the random idea of driving from San Francisco to Boise over Christmas.

While I know you all cant predict the weather, what is that drive like?

Thinking I-80 to US-95 to us-20 to us-395

Driving a Mustang and no interest in putting snow chains on it.

Is that drive super snowy, cliff side, high mountain passes?  Or is it generally an "easy"  drive?

I guess my source of comparison is driving SF to Truckee. If its not snowing, its no big deal to drive up there in the winter, even if it had snowed the day before. If its snowing its a shit show, but it will be fine tomorrow.

Is driving to Boise like driving to Truckee, just longer? Or is it desolate blowing snow and treachery?
I'm not sure on how this drive is actually but the route you insist on taking you would be going up I-80 to US-95 to US-20 then to US-395? Wouldn't that just involve riding around in a huge circle rather than going to Boise? I think the route you'd want to take would be I-80 to US-95 to Idaho SR-55 to I-84 to get to Boise. My whole point is that US-395 runs much further west and doesn't even enter Idaho at all.

Sorry, I was being a bet generic in my description, to give the general idea and not the detailed specifics.

Looks like this.

San Francisco. To Boise.

I-280 to us-101 to i-80 to us-95 to id-55 to i-84 in Boise.

Boise to San Francisco would be.
i-84 to us-26 to us-20 to us-395 to ca-299 to i-5 to i-505 to i-80 to us-101 to i-280


Mostly i dont care about the roads in Boise, as I am sure they will be fine, or in the CA central valley, or in the Bay area.  Which is why I left them out.
Honestly from the looks of things US-20 between US-26 and US-395 looks like it goes through the mountains with all those curves like around Juntura. So I'd assume that time of the year it'd be a difficult route to travel. I think myself I would like the trip up US-395. I'm use to winter weather traveling in Michigan though and around here it's mostly flat with some hills here and there and an elevation of around 500-1,000 feet above sea level so we don't experience the mountains.

doorknob60

Quote from: Flint1979 on November 16, 2018, 11:30:29 PM
Quote from: jander on November 16, 2018, 09:06:15 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on November 16, 2018, 05:40:29 PM
Quote from: jander on November 15, 2018, 11:36:38 PM
So I had the random idea of driving from San Francisco to Boise over Christmas.

While I know you all cant predict the weather, what is that drive like?

Thinking I-80 to US-95 to us-20 to us-395

Driving a Mustang and no interest in putting snow chains on it.

Is that drive super snowy, cliff side, high mountain passes?  Or is it generally an “easy” drive?

I guess my source of comparison is driving SF to Truckee. If its not snowing, its no big deal to drive up there in the winter, even if it had snowed the day before. If its snowing its a shit show, but it will be fine tomorrow.

Is driving to Boise like driving to Truckee, just longer? Or is it desolate blowing snow and treachery?
I'm not sure on how this drive is actually but the route you insist on taking you would be going up I-80 to US-95 to US-20 then to US-395? Wouldn't that just involve riding around in a huge circle rather than going to Boise? I think the route you'd want to take would be I-80 to US-95 to Idaho SR-55 to I-84 to get to Boise. My whole point is that US-395 runs much further west and doesn't even enter Idaho at all.

Sorry, I was being a bet generic in my description, to give the general idea and not the detailed specifics.

Looks like this.

San Francisco. To Boise.

I-280 to us-101 to i-80 to us-95 to id-55 to i-84 in Boise.

Boise to San Francisco would be.
i-84 to us-26 to us-20 to us-395 to ca-299 to i-5 to i-505 to i-80 to us-101 to i-280


Mostly i dont care about the roads in Boise, as I am sure they will be fine, or in the CA central valley, or in the Bay area.  Which is why I left them out.
Honestly from the looks of things US-20 between US-26 and US-395 looks like it goes through the mountains with all those curves like around Juntura. So I'd assume that time of the year it'd be a difficult route to travel. I think myself I would like the trip up US-395. I'm use to winter weather traveling in Michigan though and around here it's mostly flat with some hills here and there and an elevation of around 500-1,000 feet above sea level so we don't experience the mountains.

I've traveled US-20 between Ontario and Burns many times, including in winter. It's in a desert, so I don't think I've ever run into snow there (it's usually dry and in the winter, cold). It can be a little curcy in places, but it is not treacherous (in good weather you will still be averaging probably 55-60 MPH). Plus, a lot of the curvy parts are in lower elevation canyons, keeping it warmer. Obviously, snow/ice is still a possibility, so keep an eye on forecasts and Tripcheck.com. But it's not a bad route. It's a much better winter route than I-84 between La Grande and Pendleton, for example.

That said, US-95 is much straighter and flatter, and also very dry on average. So between the two, that's more likely to be a safe winter route (US-395 south from Burns is probably on par with US-95). Another option if you want to go through Burns and down 395, is to take US-95 down to OR-78, and from there up to Burns. It's about 30 miles longer from Boise than going on US-20, but I've done it many times (mostly for change of pace, but winter conditions would be a valid reason to use it).



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