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Subject: Driving Across the US Part Two
Posted by: Senator Urine
- [141130310] Sun, Sep 09, 2007, 19:51
So I'm heading back east the first week and a half of November, and I think I'm going to do a different route than the one coming out here. Because of the time of the year I'm not so sure how this would work with the weather (I don't mind driving in some snow, but I want to avoid the whole "chains required" thing). Here's a possible route I mapped out, any advice? You guys were a huge help on my way out here.
Day 1 - Drive south, stop to hike at Crater Lake, stay over in Medford, OR
Day 2 - Leave Medford, stop to hike possibly at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, spend night in Sacramento
Day 3 - Leave Sacramento, drive to Yosemite, spend day hiking there, at night drive to Bakersfield and stay over there
Day 4 - Leave Bakersfield for Vegas, spend day and night there
Day 5, 6, and 7 - Somehow try to fit in Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches (I started another thread about this)
Day 8 - Leave Moab, spend day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, stay over in Denver
Day 9 - Leave Denver for Omaha, NE (not sure what to do there)
Day 10 - Omaha to Chicago
Day 11 - Chicago to Pittsburgh
Day 12 - Pittsburgh to Philly
Sound good? The eastern half of the trip seems pretty boring, and the western half probably has too much stuff crammed into it. I wonder if snow chains could be an issue with Yosemite. |
| 1 | Perm Dude
ID: 16816810
Sun, Sep 09, 2007, 20:05
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Stop in Cleveland, for the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
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| 2 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Sun, Sep 09, 2007, 21:05
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If weather reports indicate any snow at or above 3" in the Chicago area on your way towards the city, stop, and get a hotel somewhere for the night. It is not uncommon during a snow fall for I-55 or I-80 (or most of the other major expressways) to turn into 3-4 hour log jams for very little distance.
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| 3 | Senator Urine
ID: 141130310
Mon, Sep 10, 2007, 00:01
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I see now that the road through Rocky Mountain National Park closes for the winter in mid-October. This screws that day up probably. Maybe I could spend more time in Arches instead and drive to Denver at night.
Are roads into Denver bad usually this time of year? Should I plan a route down through New Mexico / Texas instead?
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| 4 | holt
ID: 587112719
Mon, Sep 10, 2007, 04:59
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In Omaha I suggest you go to the Old Market. It's the historical downtown area. There's street musicians, pubs, coffee shops, museums, wide variety of stores (books, music, antiques, art, clothes, wine, imports etc.), wide variety of restaurants, usually some live music somewhere.
Old Market
The Henry Doorly Zoo is pretty awesome as far as zoos go. It has the world's largest indoor rain forest (Lied Jungle), world's largest indoor desert (Desert Dome), a 1 million gallon aquarium, a 3D I-Max theater, pretty much any animal you'd be interested in seeing (gorillas, orangutans, lions, tigers, rhinos, bears, on and on and on). In the Lied Jungle there are monkeys that literally run or leap right over your head, and there's a restaurant that overlooks the place.
If you like gambling, you can cross the river into Council Bluffs. There's the Ameristar, Harrah's, and also Bluffs Run (greyhound racing).
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| 5 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Mon, Sep 10, 2007, 17:41
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If you haven't done Mt. St. Helens, yet, I'd urge you to check that out over Crater Lake. Even better, do St. Helens, drive to Eugene or Roseburg, and do Crater Lake day two, then drive to Sactown.
In my mind, there are three great attractions between Seattle and Sacramento, St. Helen's, Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta. Whiskeytown is not on that list. Anything south of Mt. Shasta is "drive as fast as you can" to get through. Be aware of the dreaded "tule fog" which can triple your drive time.
Sac to Yosemite in November is usually fine. The park remains open year round from the West, the crowds should be minimal. That will be a long day.
I made a post in the other thread about my opinions re: Utah.
I would suggest driving from Moab to Vail and maybe going snowshoeing for the day.
Drive safely.
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| 6 | Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Sep 10, 2007, 20:32
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You might want to skip Chicago. Just a thought.
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| 7 | Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Sep 10, 2007, 20:54
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Maybe jump on 70 and go though St. Louis and hit the Hill for dinner then you can go through Indy and Columbus on the way to Pitt. The drive through Illinois is very boring though.
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| 8 | beastiemiked
ID: 65112917
Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 00:59
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After you get to Denver I'd probably just get to Philly as quick as possible.
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| 9 | Senator Urine
ID: 141130310
Wed, Sep 12, 2007, 23:48
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Wow, I found out today that I'm going to be staying here for at least another month or two, maybe even five. Came out of nowhere.
So looks like all my Utah planning is probably moot, unless I just get really lucky with weather and try to hit some skiing places in Colorado. I'll probably have to keep heading east though into Arizona and New Mexico after Vegas...anything good between the Grand Canyon and Philly? Seems like a whole lot of nothing, but then again so did Sioux Falls on the way out here and I managed to entertain myself with that bike trail.
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| 10 | GoatLocker
Sustainer
ID: 060151121
Fri, Sep 14, 2007, 18:08
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When you get a better feel, I can help you with the southern side of things.
Did that trip in the Motor Home in Jan/Feb.
Actually quite a bit to see, but will still need to go to the southern side of both states to stay out of snow depending on when you go.
Cliff
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| 11 | Nuclear Gophers
ID: 36833145
Sat, Sep 15, 2007, 21:01
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Stop in Pittsburgh to see a Real Football team.
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| 12 | Senator Urine
ID: 141130310
Sun, Sep 16, 2007, 18:28
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#5 - It looks like I may have a chance to do Mount St. Helens this Friday. I'm taking the day off from work because I'm seeing The Smashing Pumpkins down in Ridgefield at night, so I'll basically be driving from Everett to Portland. Mount St. Helens is a bit out of the way but it's probably worth it if it's going to be my only chance.
Any ideas on what the best trails are on the west side? Preferrably in one of the free-parking areas because I'm cheap.
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| 13 | Seattle Zen
ID: 86541617
Sun, Sep 16, 2007, 20:07
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Yes
Go to the Johnson Ridge Observatory and head East on the only trail towards Spirit Lake. You are supposed to pay $8 even if you are just parking and hiking, but I don't think the world would end if you avoided the Observatory and just hiked for free. The Loowit viewpoint is a mile further West and is a free parking area.
The weather is supposed to be 75 and partly cloudy, which is great because there are no trees and if there are no clouds, you'll get burnt.
I should blow off work and join you ;)
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| 14 | Seattle Zen
ID: 86541617
Thu, Sep 20, 2007, 14:26
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Whiskeytown might not be such a bad place to visit after all :)
An estimated 13,000 [marijuana] plants were found in one garden on National Park Service Land at Whiskeytown
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| 15 | Senator Urine
ID: 141130310
Sat, Oct 13, 2007, 12:35
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Seattle Zen, I never was able to make it to Mt. St Helens that day but I was thinking about either going there or to Mt. Rainier again for a day this weekend. If I parked at or near the Johnston Ridge Observatory, is there enough non-climbing permit hiking to do for a day (maybe about seven or eight hours?) I checked out the website and it seems like the Loowit area trails would be the thing to do, but the conditions say there hasn't been any foot traffic for the past 18 months for some reason and that the trails are in awful condition.
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| 16 | leggestand
Leader
ID: 451036518
Sat, Oct 13, 2007, 12:51
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If you end up in Pittsburgh, go to FatHeads for lunch. It's on the South Side (18th Street and East Carson) and is my favorite place for sandwiches. I can't really explain it further, except that anytime I go to Pittsburgh, I go there. And everytime I bring someone, they love it. You may hear talk of Primanti's in Pittsburgh, but they can't hold a candle to FatHeads. Plus, FatHead's would be a good lunch stop if you decide you'd like to take the incline to the top of Mount Washington to look down on the city over the Monongahela River. Pretty nice views...
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| 17 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Mon, Oct 15, 2007, 14:34
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Too bad you missed out in September, the weather that weekend was great. If you click on the Johnson Ridge link in post 13, it shows a map of the park. You can park in the Observatory parking lot and head East on the trail, which is in great shape. I'd recommend a walk to Windy Ridge and back.
If they are talking about the trails near the Loowit Viewpoint, these are the most popular trails. The National Forest Service is a underfunded disaster and I would guess that they haven't updated their websites in quite a while.
Hope you have better weather than we have down here today. Bring mud boots and raingear!
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