Trans-America Trail then South through the Americas
 

Two of us are doing the Trans-America Trail (TAT) next year (starting early May) and then once we reach the West coast we'll turn South down to Mexico and onwards as far as Panama. After a month's break we'll ship the bikes round the Darien Gap and travel down through South America as far as Ushuaia. We're allowing 3 months(ish) for each of the two parts.

We'd welcome another rider or two for all or part of the trip. We're based SE England so it would be good to meet up if we were going to travel together.

Hey, That's going to be an amazing set of trips for you. Have you thought about weather?

Some food for thought: 2020, I did the TAT following a combination of Sam and GPSKevin's routes. We departed 25 May and arrived in Port Orford, Oregon on 19 June, 26 days. Five of our days were spent at a friend's ranch in New Mexico fishing and relaxing. On 10 June, we encountered a snow closed pass (Engineer's Pass) in Colorado. On 12 June, we ran into deep snow sections of the LaSal National Forest in Utah. If you go early May, be prepared for re-routing at higher elevations.

As for the PanAm, you'll be heading south as the summer heats up! Here's how I did it, following the mountains and cooler weather wherever I could.

I left Los Angeles 31 August and arrived in Ushuaia on 7 March the following year. Now I spent a month in Valparaiso waiting for parts but it broke down like this:

1 Sept- 3 October= Mexico
4 October- 4 November= Central America
5 November- 1 December= Colombia
2 December- 11 December= Ecuador
12 December- 3 January= Peru
4 January- 13 January= Bolivia
14 January- 6 March= back and forth between Argentina and Chile
Arrived Ushuaia 7 March. It was snowing in Ushuaia.

Whenever you do it, it will be the trip or trips of a lifetime. Have fun!

What bikes are you on? Which route, Sam's or Kevin's? What strating point? May may be a little bit early high passes in colorado can be still snowed in.

^^^good advice^^^

May is definitely too early to cross high dirt passes in Colorado. There are a few places (Engineer Pass, for example) where they get plowed out for tourist traffic, but mostly not.

Paved high passes may or may not be rideable, usually they will get snow throughout May, and melt out after a few days- except in shady corners, beware!

This picture is from April. Pavement was fine that day, the next day it snowed. (Note: That was a low snow year.)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

Most high dirt passes (11,000' and up) will be drifted in through much of June, and open by 4th of July. The dirt passes crossing through the mountains in the pic are impassable until July.

Have a good ride!

......................shu

It's unpredictable; IIRC there was too much snow in 2020 passes got plowed early August.. this year they were open around Memorial day.. all depends on how snowy winter was. And it can snow early September there was a snow storm in Vale on September 7th last year? (2 years ago?) It snowed when was going through Nevada mid September just didn't stick to the ground only in a few spots.

Thanks for the info - really useful. The high elevations re the snow is something to think about....

We'll either both be on Himalayans or one Himalayan and one CCM GP450. We're starting at Nags Head, North Carolina and finishing at Port Orford, Oregon. Point taken re the snow - we'll give it a go and re-route if necessary.

Since it is Nags Head it must be latest Sam's route. You should be fine; there's no big obstacles on his route except of maybe steep loose hill about 25mi before Quinn Creek in Oregon. Beware there were massive fires this year in western Oregon.

There's very little dirt on eastern side of Mississippi and then nothing remotely challenging until Colorado.. with exception of water crossings at Witt road in Tellico Plains, Warlock rd in arkansas and rutted forest rd climb in mississippi. There will be some sand in oklahoma and it doesn't take much there to get muddy, even light 20min rain can get you.

How was the rain during your schedule?
Thanks

Sounds like an awesome trip! I'm also from SE England and will be in the USA at a similar time. Will be starting in Vancouver in June and don't have fixed timescales but I'll be travelling around Oregan - California - Nevada around August - September and would be up for meeting up for sections along the way!

I rode the TAT through Colorado and half of Utah last year.

May will be too early to do most of the passes in Colorado.

I wasn't a huge fan of Engineer Pass. It is way too touristy and the trail seemed like it was in bad shape because so many 4-wheel offroad vehicles are constantly ripping it apart. I have a bmw X Challenge with an upgraded suspension and I'm not a fan of beating the hell out of the suspension/ rims for no good reason.

My advice for the TAT in Colorado, is don't be afraid to leave the TAT and go exploring if you have the time. I went off on all kinds of neat trails that are extensions off the TAT.

A good ride to do in Moab is Lockhart Basin. It was a challenge to make it all the way through on that. You are out in the middle of no where, so bring lots of water and make sure you have medical coverage if something happens.

Are you still doing the trip? I'm interested. I am in Reno, Nevada.