Isn't there pretty significant snow at Glacier until the end of July? A few tips on Yosemite:I drove Going-to-the-Sun the first weekend it was open that year - in 2009 that wasn't until July 4th, so if you want to drive the whole thing it may be a little later in summer, which means that the crowds are worse, but ah well. I don't think the number of people there really detracted from my experience, but I had also just come from the hoards of people in Yellowstone and Glacier seemed practically vacant by comparison. Like at Yellowstone, seeing a mountain goat and her kid would have resulted in a way bigger traffic jam than this one.
Yosemite is really high on my bucket list - I still haven't been and the pictures are amazing. Just need to have vacation days and money at the same time!
* It's very expensive if you want to stay in a hotel... a couple hundred a night to stay at the so-so hotel by Yosemite Falls, or a ridiculous $500 a night at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Even the hotels outside of the park and 45 minutes outside the valley push on a couple hundred a night. Camping or backcountry trips are the way to go. They also have Mash-style tents in the middle of the valley for about $50 a night, but book them way in advance.
* IF you want waterfalls, May (before Memorial Day) and June are best. There's a hike called the Mist Trail where you hike up a 300 foot waterfall and a 600 foot one, and the 300 foot fall is ridiculous that time of year. Don't wear white though, lol. You'll come out looking like you just jumped out the shower. One of the downsides is Tioga Pass Road will likely be closed, and Glacier Point Road possibly. They do try to get them open for Memorial Day though. You would need snowshoes for the hikes on one side of the ridge Glacier Point is on. The other side will be clear.
* If you want hiking or to see the high country, late July to September are best. Tioga Pass Road has the best dayhikes in the park, but the meadows will either be covered in 5-10 feet of snow or be a giant lake as late as early July. The downside is the waterfalls lose a lot of steam by then. Yosemite Falls (tallest in N America) can often be dry by late August, and same with Bridalveil Falls. Lots of the alpine hikes can be snow free by August though.
* The Yosemite Valley is significantly busier than any part of Yellowstone; I much prefer the high country. The Valley will still require at least a day for seeing the waterfalls and El Capitan, or for the Half Dome hike if you're feeling REALLY energetic.
Yeah, it took that long for Going-to-the-Sun to open because that's how long it takes to finish plowing everything for the season. When I got to Yellowstone in mid-May they had just opened the roads all the way through the park there, and there were giant piles of snow on the Continental Divide through July (which was the only month that something frozen didn't fall on us - we had a snowstorm in late June).
Thanks for the tips on Yosemite! Those will definitely come in handy.
Awesome pics!
You guys pretty much did the same trip we did in 2007. We where there for the 4th of July celebration above Mt. Rushmore...great experience. Also did the Deadwood and Sturgis trip.
Got lucky cause my Wife is from Taos and Sister-in-law was living in Denver at the time so we got to stay there with free lodge.
What are the dwellings you're talking about in the Santa Fe area?
Wow Manny I'm jealous.
It's funny since very few tourists like myself ever get to the National Parks, and yet there are probably the most unique feature of the US. I mean we always go to the big cities first and they're cool - don't get me wrong - but they are pretty much how CF described it real life versions of the postcards/TV shows.
My favourite US cities are the ones where I've spent some time there and where I know somebody. That sort of experience gives you an impression of how the city really is and it's the one that stays with you.
But when I went - almost by accident - to Death Valley, I wanted to see more. Yosemite was fantastic and I need to go back, because I barely scratch the surface on that trip. I was afraid of the "postcard effect" of Grand Canyon, but was pleasantly surprised that it's much more.
The way National Parks are organized in the US - you've stroke a good balance between protection and accessability - is simply great and I hope you won't change that. We tend to overdo it in one direction or the other.
My question to all of you: I've been getting into mountain biking a lot lately and I was wondering if there were any Parks that are friendly/suitable to exploration by mountain bikes?
The video of Beartooth looks fun, but I'm thinking more about riding up as well as down.
Arches and Canyonlands both seemed VERY geared to mountain biking. I don't have room for a mountain bike so I only have a road bike and I stick to pavement but we saw a TON of people on bikes between these two parks. I think using a mountain bike would be amazing to get to parts of the park far away from the road.
Just make sure you tell someone where you're going.
Mainly Bandelier National Monument, Petroglyphs National Monument, and Chaco Culture National Monument.
Those look pretty cool. I wish I would have gone to them instead of Taos last time I was in NM.
Arches and Canyonlands both seemed VERY geared to mountain biking. I don't have room for a mountain bike so I only have a road bike and I stick to pavement but we saw a TON of people on bikes between these two parks. I think using a mountain bike would be amazing to get to parts of the park far away from the road.
Just make sure you tell someone where you're going.
I looked those two up and it looks really nice. I've done a couple of difficult trails (short ones - half day) this year and found out that the scenery helps a lot with the motivation.
I'll keep those two destinations on my short list (if I ever find the time to go on a holiday again)
A lot of parks don't let you bike off road. I know Big Bend doesn't allow it, at least in the higher parts of the park. Yosemite doesn't. I'm pretty sure Yellowstone doesn't either. I could see where it would work in the Utah parks though, since they're not covered in big trees and thus you wouldn't need to run people off the hiking trails.
Great pics, thanks for sharing.
I'm astounded you can operate a camera.
And have a drivers license.
While I'm not interested strictly in off roading, I would also like to ride some of the trails and yes I can imagine many situation where that wouldn't be allowed nor safe. Sharing hiking trails with mountain bikes require trails adapted to this. On the other hand sharing paved roads with weekend winnebago drivers also doesn't sound like fun to me.
Following Manny's advice I did find info on a ton of really exciting looking trails for MTB in the MOAB region.
The one park I've ALWAYS wanted to go to is Crater Lake in Oregon. The pics I've seen of it are breathtaking and I'm dying to go there. Has anybody here been to it (assuming pics weren't already posted of it here)?
tlong posted some pics he took there
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost...&postcount=114
I have a billion Yosemite pics earlier in that thread, though the mountain I kept calling Mount Lyell is really Mount Clark (I didn't know Clark had a glacier on it so I thought it was Lyell). I also kept confusing Mount Hoffman and Tuolumne Peak too.
Last edited by baseline bum; 06-05-2011 at 05:11 PM.
I disagree a bit with that. The Yosemite Valley is extremely overdeveloped with the hotels and restaurants, and has very nasty traffic jams on the weekends. The air quality around the valley is horrendous not only due to the traffic, but also all the campfires concentrated into a small section of the park (the valley).
Nice pics...too bad tlong was in most of them, although the asian chick was nice. Didn't realize tlong liked a little rice krispies.tlong posted some pics he took there
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost...&postcount=114
I have a billion Yosemite pics earlier in that thread, though the mountain I kept calling Mount Lyell is really Mount Clark (I didn't know Clark had a glacier on it so I thought it was Lyell). I also kept confusing Mount Hoffman and Tuolumne Peak too.
Nice Yosemite pics too, BB. I've only flown over that park (on several occasions), but would love to tour it one day.
So in the past year we've made another trip to Rocky Mountain NP. I enjoyed it quite a bit and got to see some cool wildlife: Biggest buck I've ever seen, a male Elk with his harem (and heard his bugle call), and a group of male Bighorn Sheep. Also saw the fattest Marmot I've ever seen. I really feel that RMNP is one you gotta get away from the road in order to see the really cool stuff but we didn't get a chance to do that.
On the way back home from that trip we stopped at Great Sand Dunes NP. Dunes there are as high as the Tower of Americas. Yeah, 800 foot tall dunes. WTF. Its pretty crazy. Didn't spend much time here but the spectacle of dunes that big is pretty amazing.
We also revisited Guadalupe Mountains NP and this time we had time to do the hike to the highest point in Texas. That hike was fun, but coming back down at dusk was a sort of "adventure". The views are magnificent. I really recommend everyone in Texas make it out there. It really is a very different part of the state.
Early this year during Spring Break I got to take my mother to her first national parks. We drove to California to visit family, so we stopped at Petrified Forest, The Grand Canyon, and drove through Death Valley.
Petrified Forest was way cooler than I expected. Just a beautiful place. The Grand Canyon was spectacular. Death Valley was somewhat boring and had some of the worst park staff I've ever encountered which also took away from the experience (complete opposite at Petrified Forest - great staff were helpful and made the park more enjoyable).
I really want to go back to the Grand Canyon and I want to explore the interior of the canyon itself. Its really as spectacular as everyone says though. It lives up the hype easily.
Earlier this summer we visited the Black Canyon of the Gunison NP. You don't hear much about this place but it was really awe inspiring. A really cool park. We also stopped at Great Sand Dunes again on the way back from this trip in order to be there when the creek was flowing.
Some pics:
The Grand Canyon
Petrified Forest NP
Death Valley NP
Black Canyon
Great Sand Dunes NP
So now up to 16 parks! We're planning on revisiting Canyonlands and Arches over Labor Day since they were so awesome but hopefully we can hit some more new parks over the next year.
Did you happen to run upon Curiosity while you were out there?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
