Advice for late Nov & Early Feb travel on I5

[sonofcy]

I need to find out about road conditions and weather in the future, specifically the last two weeks of Nov and returning the first two weeks of Feb.
I need to do those dates as I only have 3 months left of my 6 month out of province allowance due to another trip.
I figure there must be a few on this forum who have done this, so hopefully one of you will see and answer this.
I plan on 200 miles per day from Vancouver BC to NM via I5, I40, I10
We will be able to boondock due to 600AH of lithium and other preparations. We have lived for the last two winters on Vancouver Island so we are experienced cool weather campers. We will use the many weather tools at our disposal to decide to drive or stay but I am looking for the big picture that one or more of you may have. TIA

2017 F450
2018 Montana 3811MS

[Ken / Claudia]

The weather problems start in southern OR and through to Redding CA. Sometimes the pass is closed for a day or two. Plan on that being a possibility. Weather related close downs are normally short lived. No way to tell you what the weather is going to be during your travel until a week or so before. I would have tire chains for your TV and RV. Know how to put them on and make sure they fit. Watch the news as you travel.

Edit: I wrongly listed bakersfield CA, I met Redding CA.

[JRTJH]

We have a member, raytronx (not active in the past couple of years) that lives in his Cougar fulltime with his DW. They spend the summers in BC and travel to the southwest for the winter. You can view his member profile here: http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/member.php?u=2734

He has a newsletter and reports much of his travel experiences on the web.

[sonofcy]

I follow Ray on YT, he lives about an hour north of me. The problem is he leaves about Oct 1 for his max legal stay of 6 months. I will be using up 3 of my months earlier in the year so that is why I am trying to find out if it's feasible to leave closer to the white stuff.
Is there a way around Grant's pass on the coast, #1 or #101? I don't really relish the idea of putting on 10 sets of chains. The tires on the 450 will last longer than I will live, but are useless in the snow (VERY hard compound)
I just checked google maps and it looks like the 101 high point of about 1,207 ft is between Crescent City and Klamath basically the section in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. At least there won't be any wind in there I bet.

[travelin texans]

Can't help with I5 that time of year other than it's always busy. I40 is well known for winter shutdowns from Oklahoma westward due to blizzards & whiteouts so it would be a crap shoot. I10 shouldn't be any problem all winter, it's far enough south to be clear. As stated you'll have to watch the weather & pick/chose when/where to go.

[sonofcy]

Can't help with I5 that time of year other than it's always busy. I40 is well known for winter shutdowns from Oklahoma westward due to blizzards & whiteouts so it would be a crap shoot. I10 shouldn't be any problem all winter, it's far enough south to be clear. As stated you'll have to watch the weather & pick/chose when/where to go.
I5 is the issue, I can't see any winter weather on I40 between Barstow CA and Needles CA before dropping down to I10.

[Snoking]

This is the site for watching road conditions in South Oregon.

https://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/Road-Conditions?mainNav=RoadConditions&curRegion=7

Plan for an extra day of travel if you have to go to 101 on the coast because of winter weather in the Siskiyous. South bound 38 from I-5 to Reedsport is a good choice in the winter. Chris

[sonofcy]

This is the site for watching road conditions in South Oregon.

https://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/Road-Conditions?mainNav=RoadConditions&curRegion=7

Plan for an extra day of travel if you have to go to 101 on the coast because of winter weather in the Siskiyous. South bound 38 from I-5 to Reedsport is a good choice in the winter. Chris
We are full time so time is not an issue. Just checked the elevation profile on 38 and it is like a pancake. However between Crescent City and Klamath there is a 1200 ft hill.
What we RVers need is a GPS that has a minimum altitude gain mode just like fastest or shortest. I think I saw it advertised once but can't remember what unit it was.

[Snoking]

We are full time so time is not an issue. Just checked the elevation profile on 38 and it is like a pancake. However between Crescent City and Klamath there is a 1200 ft hill.
What we RVers need is a GPS that has a minimum altitude gain mode just like fastest or shortest. I think I saw it advertised once but can't remember what unit it was.

101 is close to the coast so there is a lot less chance of snow. We did have a little snow on the side of the road once just South of the Red Woods.

Just do not make the mistake of get as far South of Grants Pass and try taking 199 to the coast.

[concours]

you may want to check but I seem to remember seeing something from the Canadian Snowbirds Association that BC is now 7 months out of province

[sonofcy]

you may want to check but I seem to remember seeing something from the Canadian Snowbirds Association that BC is now 7 months out of province
Yes, it looks like BC, Manitoba, and Ontario have all extended the 6 months to seven. That helps, thanks for the heads up.

[jsmith948]

From I-5, you can take SR 58 east to US 97, then south and pick-up I-5 again at Weed, CA. Used to take this route (only in reverse as we were northbound)in order to avoid chaining up on all 5 of the hills on I-5. Mt. Ashland is a serious hill. Willamette pass on 58 is much easier and Oregon "sands" the hill with lava rock until it resembles a gravel road. Temps are usually a bit colder over on 97, making for good traction on the compact snow. When I would look in the mirror the trailer tires were white instead of wet looking.
Anyway, that's how many of us truckers did it. YMMV

[Snoking]

We left NW Washington between Christmas and New Years for 5 or so years, and twice went to the Coast to avoid I-5 road conditions. Coming North we never had a problem. One year on April 1st we crossed the Siskiyou's the only day that week that did not have snow on the pass. We would start watch TripReport in the California central valley.

We have Towed North on 97 in Spring, and that can be a lonely/remote area route with very little traffic and/or help.

[sonofcy]

From I-5, you can take SR 58 east to US 97, then south and pick-up I-5 again at Weed, CA. Used to take this route (only in reverse as we were northbound)in order to avoid chaining up on all 5 of the hills on I-5. Mt. Ashland is a serious hill. Willamette pass on 58 is much easier and Oregon "sands" the hill with lava rock until it resembles a gravel road. Temps are usually a bit colder over on 97, making for good traction on the compact snow. When I would look in the mirror the trailer tires were white instead of wet looking.
Anyway, that's how many of us truckers did it. YMMV
The problem is when southbound you have a climb of almost 5,000 ft. The coastal route only gets up to 2,000 ft and is warmer. Maybe it's different for big trucks, but staying out of the snow seems to be my best strategy. The coastal route hills are substantially lower but steeper. My guess is that is a challenge for commercial trucks but no worries for my F450. Fortunately I just found out I now have 7 months away time so that will help.

[66joej]

There may be a caveat to the 7 mos. out of the country. Check on BC health insurance, Federal OAS ( if receiving it), vehicle insurance to name a few. On our truck policy is specifically asks "will the vehicle be out of the country for more than 6 mos". Never out of the country for more than 6 mos. so we never asked about it. YMMV

[sonofcy]

There may be a caveat to the 7 mos. out of the country. Check on BC health insurance, Federal OAS ( if receiving it), vehicle insurance to name a few. On our truck policy is specifically asks "will the vehicle be out of the country for more than 6 mos". Never out of the country for more than 6 mos. so we never asked about it. YMMV
The 7 month reference I found is the BC health page but it is confusing as it also says 6 month. I suspect they just haven't made the changes everywhere yet and in any case you can always apply for a longer period away once every 5 years which I might do and get it bumped to 9 months, 6 months in the USA and 3 months in other Canadian Provinces. OAS has no rules like that, put in your 40 years and the money is yours according to the government of Canada website. Most vehicle insurance is for North America but since my truck is a F450 therefore commercial I will check with my agent.
Before I moved here BC had the best out of province time at 1 year but also the worst (and still is) paying policy.

[sonofcy]

YES, not only is it 7 months, but it's per calendar year so since I will be coming back the year following when I left it is not a problem. It will be 7 months year 1 and 6 months year 2. The 7 months is split between out of province in Canada and a short US trip so I will still be within the USA 6 month rule as well. Problem solved!

[chuckster57]

Totally off topic- can you explain this “out of province” ?

[sonofcy]

Totally off topic- can you explain this “out of province” ?
Canadians have a limit on how many months they can be away from their province (like a state) before they have to re-qualify for free health coverage. It is commonly 6 months but our snowbird organization has been lobbying for years for more. BC changed it to 7 months but the 7th month can ONLY be vacation time no study, business etc. I think one province is even 8 months. Some folks mistakenly think it is out of country, but it's out of province.

[66joej]

Not that we are behind the times but it is still illegal in some provinces to bring alcohol and tobacco across provincial lines. I think it's about taxes. BC does not think we pay enough. OK not political just saying.

[sonofcy]

Not that we are behind the times but it is still illegal in some provinces to bring alcohol and tobacco across provincial lines. I think it's about taxes. BC does not think we pay enough. OK not political just saying.
But so far at least there are no provincial border crossing inspection stations so no enforcement. A quick google search shows that federally at least its wide open, but some provinces are still bucking the trend. BC is open border if you can imagine importing wine into BC. I don't think it's just taxes, it might also be about protecting the local wine, beer and liquor industries.

[Ken / Claudia]

If you are afraid of snow/ice, a good bypass is SR101 along the Oregon coast is really nice, just takes 2 times as long. But I-5 is the way to go. As I said bad (meaning stuff) on road are normally short lived. Sometimes the road maybe closed at points overnight mainly and if chains are needed you would be putting 1 set on truck and 1 set on trailer. If you use one of the road advisory checks, if you think it's too bad, overnight before you get there. Go though in daylight.

[sonofcy]

If you are afraid of snow/ice, a good bypass is SR101 along the Oregon coast is really nice, just takes 2 times as long. But I-5 is the way to go. As I said bad (meaning stuff) on road are normally short lived. Sometimes the road maybe closed at points overnight mainly and if chains are needed you would be putting 1 set on truck and 1 set on trailer. If you use one of the road advisory checks, if you think it's too bad, overnight before you get there. Go though in daylight.
I solved the problem the easy way, I changed the schedule a bit after discovering two facts. It turns out my out of province time is based on the calendar year so since we are crossing the year end that time is spread over two years. The US 6 month rule however is based on a rolling 12 months and is thus our limiting factor. I made a small change in the east coast portion of the trip so now I have a schedule for the SW of Oct 15 to Mar 15. That is leaving two weeks later and coming back 2 weeks earlier than normal. Still a slight chance of the white stuff but much better than Nov 1 to Feb 28. I still think I will take 101 though for the scenery.

[Ken / Claudia]

That sounds like a better plan, there are many fun/nice things to see and do on the Oregon coast. Depends on your time table a night or two in a park and seeing the sights might be a idea. Many private and state parks along the coast. Have a great trip.

[Bnrc73]

Having to watch road closures because of flooding coming home this spring from Texas to Minnesota. I discovered the DOT 511 app for my phone. These are usually updated daily, and more often when needed. This will give you an up to date road report before you head out for your day. Travel well my friend.

[sonofcy]

I just went looking for THE 511 app for my iPhone. Turns out there isn't one, there are a bunch but not for every State or Province. Shouldn't 511 be for the entire country whether it's USA or Canada? A great app would automatically sense your location and spoon feed you all the 511 info for the surrounding 300 miles / 480 Kms or whatever range you configure. Also why are some free as they should be and some are for a fee? BTW, DOT 511 is NOT found on my iPhone, maybe it's an android only app?

[JGriff]

I just looked on Google Play for Android and there isn't an App for it either.

[Bnrc73]

On my iPhone it’s iowa511, Minnesota 511, and Nebraska 511. But your right, not all states have one.