Seattle to Los Angeles Dec 2015

Old Nov 24th, 2015, 01:43 PM
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Seattle to Los Angeles Dec 2015

We're traveling to Los Angeles for the holidays from Seattle and are planning to take I-5. Having not gone this way before, I hadn't considered snow and ice in the mountain passes. How often do they close and how bad is the driving (compared to say the I-80 stretch across Wyoming)?

We have a 4WD SUV with new traction tires, but were planning on using our more comfortable sedan for the trip. We're from the midwest so used to driving in really awful snow, wind, and ice--trying to get a sense of the snow/ice risk in the mountain passes in northern California. (in other words, is it genuinely hazardous or "Californians freak out when any water hits the road" hazardous)

We want to get south to LA as fast and direct as possible (planning to hit maybe Medford by the first night), but coming back we plan to take our time and stop at a few places.

Any recommendations welcome, thanks!
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Old Nov 24th, 2015, 01:49 PM
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No, we don't freak out. But you will need to carry chains.
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Old Nov 24th, 2015, 02:02 PM
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Weather closures are very rare on I-5.

For a trip of that length, and considering there's virtually nothing along much of I-5 to look at, I'd opt for Amtrak's Coast Starlight over driving. It's not as fast as using your own car but the stress difference is like night and day. It also bypasses the road closure and chain requirement issues.
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Old Nov 24th, 2015, 02:39 PM
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If I-5 is impassable at the Oregon border make your way over to 101.

If, at Grants Pass, you take 199 to 101 and return to I-5 south of San Francisco (about 1,250 miles; 20h). This drive is only about 2 hours longer than the drive all the way on I-5.

Some interesting places to stop on the way back to Seattle are the redwoods of northern California, the Oregon Coast, Portland, and the Columbia River Gorge.

HTtY
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Old Nov 24th, 2015, 03:24 PM
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Thanks all (and I kid, California, I kid )

Sounds good, bought some chains for the sedan and we'll just give it a go!
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Old Nov 24th, 2015, 06:06 PM
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Yeah, glad you bought chains, just in case. Hope you know how to use them!

Sometimes we get trapped on the grapevine at that time of year, but only for a short while.

As you're driving, check the weather reports. Agree that if there's a problem on the 5, head over to the 101, and there's a lot of places you can do that during the drive.

Good luck! It's now not as horribly boring as it was 2 decades ago, but bring a few CDs to play. We like to play area-related CDs, like when we go pass Lodi, we play Creedence's Lodi (Oh, Lord! Stuck in Lodi again!)
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Old Nov 25th, 2015, 06:16 AM
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While the Grapevine can occasionally have ice and snow, the two areas to watch for bad conditions are I-5 between Roseburg and Grants Pass (watch for black ice on some of the low but rather steep passes) and then in the Siskiyous between Ashland and Redding.

I will echo HTtY's suggestion about the coast. Cutting over from I-5 to US 101 really doesn't add all that much time to the drive; on numerous trips over the years (in the dozens) I've figured out that my preferred route (I-5 to OR 38 near Cottage Grove, out to US 101 at Reedsport, the rest of the way on US 101 - all the way to LA) adds something like 5-6 hours overall to the whole trip, even a bit less if there's snow in the Siskiyous and/or tule fog in the Central Valley (a ground fog that will drive you nuts.)

Not to mention I-5 is pretty much sensory deprivation through the Central Valley compared to the redwoods and beautiful coastal scenery on 101. That is, it's sensory deprivation until you get to the I-5 truck racetrack south of the Bay Area, when it becomes a thrill ride with tailgating supersonic big rigs.
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Old Nov 25th, 2015, 06:23 AM
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The Cascades got dumped on last night. I was stuck in the traffic jam south of Bend. In addition to the chains, carry the things mentioned in the "Traveling to Bend" thread below.
Even if I have the chains in the car trunk, I wait until the road is clear rather than putting them on.
I'm putting a big jar of peanuts in each car today along with blankets.
When the gas tank drops below half, stop at the next open station to fill the tank.
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Old Nov 25th, 2015, 10:50 AM
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Gardyloo makes a great point re the valley fog. It can be dangerously pea soup anywhere in the sacramento valley. And even worse in tbe San Joaquin - you could literally hit hundreds of miles of white knuckle driving.
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Old Nov 25th, 2015, 01:12 PM
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If, at Grants Pass, you take 199 to 101 and return to I-5 south of San Francisco....

This is quite a beautiful drive from Grants Pass to San Francisco, and it hasn't had a fog or snow problem on the several times I've driven it during winter months.

HTtY
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Old Nov 25th, 2015, 08:45 PM
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To clarify - The fog would be on I-5 in the central valley.
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