U.S. National Parks thread

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  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
    I was at the North Rim for a few days in October 2015.  Left the day after the lodge closed, so there weren’t a lot of people there. Which was nice. Camped in a van outside of the park in the dispersed camping sites for two nights, then one in the park. Dispersed camping isn’t for everyone, and I’ve heared a few horror stories...

    Did the North Kaibab hike into the canyon to Roaring Springs. Park Rangers don’t recommend going further down than that on a day hike, cause you got to go back up. Beautiful hike. I got very hot the further down we went, and hiking out was a lot of work. 3000’ of elevation drop in roughly 4 miles.
    I'm reading that you should take a siesta during the hottest part of the day.
    After a few beers, I slept very well that evening.

    I definitely want to do the rim to rim hike before I kick off though. 

    Rim to rim is 25 miles.  That IS a hike, lol.

    Did you actually pack beers with you?!?  I was just thinking of packing  a bottle.  More bang for the buck!
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
    I was at the North Rim for a few days in October 2015.  Left the day after the lodge closed, so there weren’t a lot of people there. Which was nice. Camped in a van outside of the park in the dispersed camping sites for two nights, then one in the park. Dispersed camping isn’t for everyone, and I’ve heared a few horror stories...

    Did the North Kaibab hike into the canyon to Roaring Springs. Park Rangers don’t recommend going further down than that on a day hike, cause you got to go back up. Beautiful hike. I got very hot the further down we went, and hiking out was a lot of work. 3000’ of elevation drop in roughly 4 miles.
    I'm reading that you should take a siesta during the hottest part of the day.
    After a few beers, I slept very well that evening.

    I definitely want to do the rim to rim hike before I kick off though. 

    Rim to rim is 25 miles.  That IS a hike, lol.

    Did you actually pack beers with you?!?  I was just thinking of packing  a bottle.  More bang for the buck!
    No. Had some at the lodge.

    When I used to go on my annual kayaking trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, I had an extra camelback bladder that I’d fill with booze. Light weight, flexible, and packs better than an actual bottle.
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!

    The North Rim is awesome!  We stayed at Lee's Ferry and did North Rim, Vermillion Cliffs White Pocket, Horseshoe Bend, and Lake Powell back in '10.  Highly recommend all of them.  We also did an unknown trail to the left before coming to the entrance gate on a whim, and it may have been the best view we got!  It overlooked the east end of the GC, you couldn't see down in at all, but you could see across that dead flat plain for untold miles.  The Colorado Canyon was like a razor blade gash, it has such impossibly vertical walls.  We called the view "Scar of the Earth" and then got ripped and forgot to take a picture at the trailhead.

    No interest in the R2R, myself.  I get why some people want to crush it though.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    We wavered back and forth on Glacier and Ireland for quite some time. We are traveling 8/17 - 8/24 this year. And the winner is:

    GLACIER!

    Tell me what you folks know about it. Let me be transparent here: we are not the most physical couple and definitely will not be scaling cliffs and the sort. But we will push ourselves and go on hikes/trails that 90% of people would pass by. Sure some of the pull-offs provide great views, but I love taking a couple hour hike to see a really great view that most people do not get to see. 

    Obviously, the Going to the Sun road is a must do out there. But what other recommendations do you folks have that may NOT make the first 3 pages of a travel brochure? I have also heard that the park really is even more astonishing on the Canadian side of the border. We are going to start our passport process tomorrow! We will be flying out there instead of driving, so that will allow us a couple extra days of sightseeing. Too bad it isn't closer to the Tetons. 

    Any ideas you folks may have are greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to PM, email or text me if you'd like to.

    Thanks,

    Chris (and Julie)
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    edited March 2019
    A friend of my wife quit his job a few years ago and travelled to all of the US National Parks. He put together a blog that has some good info on each park. Might be helpful for folks on here planning summer adventures. 

    http://59in59.com/

    His Facebook has more info. He’d also probably answer your questions as well. Goofy guy, but he’s very knowledgeable about the parks. His dad was a park ranger.
    Post edited by jerparker20 on
  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    Thank you @jerparker20

    Think of how crazy such a trip would be! Except all the biking and running. Ugh!
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    A friend of my wife quit his job a few years ago and travelled to all of the US National Parks. He put together a blog that has some good info on each park. Might be helpful for folks on here planning summer adventures. 

    http://59in59.com/

    His Facebook has more info. He’d also probably answer your questions as well. Goofy guy, but he’s very knowledgeable about the parks. His dad was a park ranger.
    I wish I was wealthy enough to not work and go travel, lol!
  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    Bump
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Glacier is a Biggie, good luck and have fun Darwin!

    Holy crap, in 3 months I'm going to Yosemite!!  The Undisputed King of National Parks and one of the top 10 natural wonders of the world!  I really can't wait to stand under those GodTrees and gaze on the faces of the mighty El Cap and regal Half Dome.
    16,000ft of elevation change over 4 days of hiking with my 40lb son on my back, at 4,000ft above my home elevation...yeeeee haw time to ratchet up the cardio!
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    While picking up stuff around the house, I came across a book I'd purchased recently by Terry Tempest Williams.  I'm just finishing up Eric Burdon's marvelous wild-ride memoir, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood; A Memoir, and was curious as to whether or not moving on to a book by Williams would be too jarring a transition.  Well, no, how could I think that?  This is Terry Tempest Williams after all, one of our greatest contemporary American authors.  There's never a bad time to read any book by her.

    The book is called The Hour of Land and it's "part memoir, part natural history and part social critique... a meditation and a manifesto on why wild land matters to the soul of America."  All of it's thirteen essays revolve around our National Parks.  I read the first brief chapter and am already hooked.  I fully suspect this book will send me back out into our National Parks on adventures not yet experienced, and hope both the reading and the explorations help to sooth my soul in a time when the world feels to me like an insane asylum.  
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • hauntingfamiliar
    hauntingfamiliar Wilmington, NC Posts: 10,368
    I am traveling cross country with my 11 year old daughter this summer. I have had no time to plan my trip. I put in my resignation at work and I am able to start traveling west on July 8th. I would like to bypass NC and TN as soon as possible and explore new territory.  I would like to hit as many National Parks as I can and my daughter would love to see Vegas and L.A. somehow. I want to hit Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree. I need to plan this trip quickly and buy a better, easier tent to set up. I would like to hit the Badlands and take the northern route on the way back. Any feedback is appreciated.
  • hauntingfamiliar
    hauntingfamiliar Wilmington, NC Posts: 10,368
    ^ We have 3-4 weeks leaving from Charlotte, NC. We would like to mix it up between tent camping, cabins and hotels.
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    I am traveling cross country with my 11 year old daughter this summer. I have had no time to plan my trip. I put in my resignation at work and I am able to start traveling west on July 8th. I would like to bypass NC and TN as soon as possible and explore new territory.  I would like to hit as many National Parks as I can and my daughter would love to see Vegas and L.A. somehow. I want to hit Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree. I need to plan this trip quickly and buy a better, easier tent to set up. I would like to hit the Badlands and take the northern route on the way back. Any feedback is appreciated.
    Search "instant tents' and you will find tents from most major manufacturers that set up in less than a few minutes...sounds like a great trip, you and your daughter enjoy...
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    I am traveling cross country with my 11 year old daughter this summer. I have had no time to plan my trip. I put in my resignation at work and I am able to start traveling west on July 8th. I would like to bypass NC and TN as soon as possible and explore new territory.  I would like to hit as many National Parks as I can and my daughter would love to see Vegas and L.A. somehow. I want to hit Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree. I need to plan this trip quickly and buy a better, easier tent to set up. I would like to hit the Badlands and take the northern route on the way back. Any feedback is appreciated.
    This trip sounds HOT!!! As in hot temperatures.  Joshua Tree, GC, and Zion average around 100 degrees in the daytime at that time of the year. Even Badlands can be excessively hot. Last time I was there it was around 105. That was the first part of August. Make sure you have plenty of drinking water in reserve in your vehicle. 

    I would also start making reservations for places to stay/camp. The lodges in the parks fill up fast and are expensive. Stayed at one of the lodges in Death Valley in February. A room was around $225 a night. The campgrounds tend to fill up quick in the parks as well. 

    you can try your luck going the dispersed camping route. It’s free. I’ve never had issues doing it, but I know others who have some interesting stories with their experiences.

    I’d personally do this trip during the late fall (mid-October through mid-November). Temps are not scorching hot and less crowds. If I was doing a summer trip I’d go north: Teddy Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Great Basin, then either Washington (Olympic, Cascades, Rainer) or Northern California/Oregon.
  • hauntingfamiliar
    hauntingfamiliar Wilmington, NC Posts: 10,368
    Thanks for the responses and all the info. ^^ It will no doubt be hot but unfortunately this summer is the only time I have to take a trip like this. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions and will definitely take them into consideration. My house is under contract and I'm getting ready to move so there has been zero time for trip planning but I definitely need to get on it start making reservations! 

    What exactly is the dispersed camping route? Camping in areas that aren't official campgrounds? I'll probably steer away from that since it's just my daughter and I. 
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Anybody else get out on National Trails day Saturday?
    We did our favorite piece of the Appalachian Trail in Grayson Highlands SP, and 20 miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail in Mt Rogers NRA, all within Jefferson and Washington National Forests.
    Rhododendron was in bloom, and the wild pony foal were still small and spindly. 
    Excellent stuff.

    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    I am traveling cross country with my 11 year old daughter this summer. I have had no time to plan my trip. I put in my resignation at work and I am able to start traveling west on July 8th. I would like to bypass NC and TN as soon as possible and explore new territory.  I would like to hit as many National Parks as I can and my daughter would love to see Vegas and L.A. somehow. I want to hit Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree. I need to plan this trip quickly and buy a better, easier tent to set up. I would like to hit the Badlands and take the northern route on the way back. Any feedback is appreciated.
    Hey @hauntingfamiliar - you've had a few weeks to ponder your travel plans. What have you come up with? 

    I am neither the most seasoned traveler, not the most knowledgeable National Parks person. Vegas, Grand Canyon, LA and Joshua Tree all seem pretty logistically simple to plan for. I would guess from there, you will travel to Zion and up to the Badlands as you begin your trek back to NC.

    The drive from Zion to the Badlands will be a pretty rough stretch. If you have a thorough interest in National Parks, I recommend looking at a map of them and where others may be in relation to where you are already wanting to be. Near the Badlands, you may want to dedicate time for Wind Cave NP and Mount Rushmore (I reccomend staying away from the Crazy Horse monument as there is not much to see there). When visiting Zion, there are a few other really interesting looking National Parks in that part of Utah. I believe there are some other National Parks near Joshua Tree. On your way out west, a good day 1 stopping point may be near Hot Springs NP in Arkansas. On your way back after the Badlands just east of Chicago in NW Indiana is the Indiana Dunes National Park. 

    A nice, logistical NP trip home could be: 
    Badlands to
    Indiana Dunes to
    Cuyahoga Falls to 
    Shenandoah
    All parks can mostly be seen during the course of a single day.

    Lastly, a huge tip...begin your Park visiting days early! Wildlife is most active at daybreak. Crowds begong to really fill in around 9-10 in the morning and really put a damper on travel times.


    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    I am traveling cross country with my 11 year old daughter this summer. I have had no time to plan my trip. I put in my resignation at work and I am able to start traveling west on July 8th. I would like to bypass NC and TN as soon as possible and explore new territory.  I would like to hit as many National Parks as I can and my daughter would love to see Vegas and L.A. somehow. I want to hit Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree. I need to plan this trip quickly and buy a better, easier tent to set up. I would like to hit the Badlands and take the northern route on the way back. Any feedback is appreciated.
    That sounds like a great trip!  All of the parks you mentioned are great.  Vegas and L.A.?  Well... gotta see them once I guess, LOL.  My wife and I did a cross country trip about 10 years ago and one of the smartest things we did was take blue highways (so named after William Least Heat-Moon's book) as much as possible rather than Interstate Highways.  We saw so much more of the country that way.  Since you're going through Utah, you might consider also Arches, Bryce, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands- all beautiful places!  Have a great time!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    Thanks for the responses and all the info. ^^ It will no doubt be hot but unfortunately this summer is the only time I have to take a trip like this. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions and will definitely take them into consideration. My house is under contract and I'm getting ready to move so there has been zero time for trip planning but I definitely need to get on it start making reservations! 

    What exactly is the dispersed camping route? Camping in areas that aren't official campgrounds? I'll probably steer away from that since it's just my daughter and I. 
    Dispersed camping is also called "dry camping"- camping on national and state forest lands.  One of the great things about traveling in the west is that, unless otherwise marked, you can do dispersed camping on national and state forest lands and BLM lands for free.  Most of the year- especially in summer- you are not allowed to build campfires and even when they are allowed, you need to obtain a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. 
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    brianlux said:
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    Thanks for the responses and all the info. ^^ It will no doubt be hot but unfortunately this summer is the only time I have to take a trip like this. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions and will definitely take them into consideration. My house is under contract and I'm getting ready to move so there has been zero time for trip planning but I definitely need to get on it start making reservations! 

    What exactly is the dispersed camping route? Camping in areas that aren't official campgrounds? I'll probably steer away from that since it's just my daughter and I. 
    Dispersed camping is also called "dry camping"- camping on national and state forest lands.  One of the great things about traveling in the west is that, unless otherwise marked, you can do dispersed camping on national and state forest lands and BLM lands for free.  Most of the year- especially in summer- you are not allowed to build campfires and even when they are allowed, you need to obtain a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. 
    Hard to make real s'mores without a campfire. A marshmallow browned over a gas stove flame just is not the same.

    :smirk:
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory

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