GDMBR in June and AZT in July/August

[Matsen]

Hello!

My girlfriend and I are planning on riding almost all of the GDMBR starting in the beginning of June and making a turn somewhere over to AZT, going north again to Flagstaff, probably in July/August. I have read somewhere that the beginning of GDMBR could be blocked by snow in early June and that AZT might be too hot in July/August.

So my concern is snow, the sun and finding water. Is it possible to do this trip these dates? It will be a three month bikepacking tour, June to August, and we will be camping most of the time. I'm from Sweden by the way. The dates are pretty much impossible to change because of work, but any good advice on a route would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Racingguy04]

could you ride north bound? staring in arizona, and finishing in canada? that way it's not insanely hot when you're in arizona and you won't have to worry about snow by the time you make it up north.

[AZTtripper]

June is one of the hotter months here in AZ, usually dry and the sun can be very intense with little cloud cover. July and August is Monsoon season, isolated but intense thunderstorms can dump tons of water. The AZT south of Flag is at a high enough elevation to be cooler but there is a sticky mud in the area that can stop you in your tracks.

My thoughts: Start up north however far north this years snows will allow. You can't fly directly to the start anyway so once your close you can use ground transport to get to the best starting point. You might get lucky and start in Banff. Somewhere in Northern New Mexico take roads over towards Flag, if it's dry pick up the AZT above the Mogollon Rim. At the very least you'll be able to ride north of town as the soil is different up there and not the sticky stuff.

[Matsen]

@Racingguy04: Thought about that, but we will also do some regular sightseeing off-bike in the US.

@AZTtripper: That was valuable info! Thanks!

[Smo]

I would agree with AZTripper about June, and even up here in Flagstaff there's a possibility of forest closures, especially if the winter continues as it has.  We just had a few 60 degree Fahrenheit days, up here in Flagstaff, at 7000 feet in February.  June is Arizona's driest month and Montana's wettest.

Last summer the Arizona monsoon was the second wettest on record.  I heard from the folks at the Grand Canyon North Rim that it rained there for forty days in a row and looked like Scotland.  July and August would've been miserable up on the northern AZT in 2013.  But the monsoon is incredibly unpredictable and there's no telling what'll happen this year.

So I would say, just be flexible.  If you're in AZ and it seems like it's going to be another wet monsoon, then take a bus up to Idaho and do the new Idaho Hot Springs route.  The Northwest (both pacific and interior) has the best weather in the country in August, IMO.  And ending a three-month tour by soaking in hot springs might be pretty nice . . .