Best route Riverside, CA to Spokane, WA

paulj wrote:
Looking at Google Maps terrain, Sisykou summit on I5 is 4400 ft. At the base of Herd Peak, US97 gets up to 5000 ft. But Weed is 3600ft, Klamath Falls is 4000, Medford 1500ft.

I haven't read complaints about I5 being difficult (too high or steep); it just can be snowy. When I drove it in a car, I felt like I was playing hopscotch with the trucks.

I haven't driven US97 south of Klamath Falls, but it appears to climb gradually (and relatively straight) to the 5000 level, and then stay near that level all the way north past Bend.

There is a long hard pull from Yreka to the border on I-5, 97 is a much easier climb. the climb thru Mt. Shasta, and the lake, is a pretty good one too.