rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 2, 2017 21:00:23 GMT -8
The 5 is a slog. It belongs to the truckers. Yup. Last weekend we did it both directions, SF to San Diego. Yuck, yuck, and yuck again.
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Post by Campfires&Concierges on Oct 4, 2017 16:37:30 GMT -8
No advice, but you are super smart to pick 3 places and stay for a week - you'll be tempted to squeeze more destinations in, but don't. Especially with a baby. I've been traveling for over a month now and moving every 2-3 nights - it's exhausting and I'm not seeing nearly as much as I'd like or hiking as much as I'd like. More like drive, set up camp, drive, set up camp.
Enjoy!
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davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
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Post by davesenesac on Oct 5, 2017 16:25:57 GMT -8
By next July your baby will be 15 months old, no longer a baby and walking around as a young child. In any case you won't be doing any backpacking and expect you two will be carrying the young child papoose style when day hiking on easy short trails? And any car camping will need to be minimalist given you are flying in without much gear. Are you planning on car camping at all or stay in lodging?
I will suggest the last week of June through mid July period for your 3 week road trip because by that time highways that cross the Sierra Nevada should be open unless we have a second consecutive heavy winter and vegetation in all areas you plan on visiting will be nicely green with wildflowers about. Before then the Sierra Nevada will be too early while by late July, much of the vegetation will have gone to seed. I will also suggest not trying to do too much especially with a young child along. The below covers about two weeks leaving another week for you to fit in some other ideas.
Flying into San Francisco is a good idea and is arguably the only city that is truly worth a day or three visiting. There are a vast number of things to do in The City that is a world unto itself different from anything else in California and there many guidebooks for what all that is about.
I will suggest after arriving and getting your rental vehicle, driving right to Yosemite Valley where you could lodge for 2 or 3 nights that in late June is just a wee beyond optimal waterfall flows and very green with wildflowers at that 4000 foot elevation. You would want to spend one day doing the valley circuit and a second morning hiking up the John Muir Trail up the Giant Staircase to Nevada Falls while in the afternoon drive up to Glacier Point through sunset. The next day should have a reservation for 2 nights at Tuolumne Meadows Campground and start driving up there early morning thus arrive after dabbling at various view points like Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake by later morning. Then could take some strolls about the meadow and river areas. The next morning should be an out and back day hike up to Lower and Upper Cathedral Lakes. Not car camping you could stay in a Lee Vining motel.
The following day would be an early morning drive east on SR120 over Tioga Pass and up to the Saddlebag Lake reservoir trailhead where one can take a ferry taxi to the far end where I will suggest hiking up to the Cascade Lake area and back in 20 Lakes Basin one of the ranges most beautiful areas with easy hiking without much vertical that is very different from the Yosemite area:
www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_Chronicles/summer_2017-19.html
From there I will suggest driving east down SR120 to US395 at Lee Vining then driving south 30 miles to the SR203 junction and up for a day or three in Mammoth Lakes that as a winter ski resort has a large amount of summer lodging and lots of nearby hiking. That day at sunset drive up to Minaret Summit and linger through dusk. Early the next morning drive south on US395 about 20 miles to the Rock Creek Road then up to the trailhead at Mosquito Flat at 10220 feet. From there is easy hiking into Little Lakes Valley without much vertical up past a few beautiful lakes to Long Lake.
www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_Chronicles/QZ00468-00490-3x1vw.jpg
After the morning hiking with one week ended would drive back on SR120 over Tioga Pass then across the San Joaquin Valley over Pacheco Pass to the Monterey area where you would have lodging 2 nights. The next morning should be hiking Point Lobos State Reserve that is arguably the most impressive small area along our whole Pacific coast with easy hiking trails.
www.pointlobos.org/
By late morning might spend a couple hours working on your tan at the south end of next door Carmel River State Beach that has some of the most beautiful white sand on the coast. After a second relaxed night will suggest visiting the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium when it opens at 10am.
www.montereybayaquarium.org/
And then in the afternoon drive north on Highway 1 through Santa Cruz to San Francisco for one or two nights lodging. Along that drive are a list of interesting coastal areas. Bean Hollow State Beach on the San Mateo County Park is especially fascinating.
From San Fransisco after X days lodging will advice driving north on US101 to Petaluma and then west to Bodega Bay and spend some time along the beaches of Sonoma Coast State Beach and Salt Point State Park. Further north are a long list of scenic shore and beach areas with several state parks. Fort Bragg's Glass Beach is worth a stop as are Mendocino areas. Plan on lodging somewhere along that coast for a night or two that IMO is just as scenic as what is much further up along the Oregon coast. From there would continue north on Highway to junction with US101 at Leggett and then continue driving north into Humboldt Redwoods State Park where there is lodging in the area. Will suggest the Rockefeller Loop Trail. From there continuing north to Eureka and north to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, the world's finest redwood park where there are enough trails to occupy one for a week plus beautiful coastal beach areas.
North of there is Dell Norte Redwoods and Jedediah Redwoods State Parks however neither offer much more than one would have already seen. North of Crescent City into Oregon just north of Brookings, at Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corrider is what I found to be the most scenic Oregon coast areas but as noted not that different than areas south of Mendocino.
David
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davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
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Post by davesenesac on Oct 5, 2017 22:35:42 GMT -8
A change to my above post is it would be better to start the trip flying into Portland and renting a car there reversing everything in my above post. The reason is from the redwood parks the driving distance is similar to either San Francisco or Portland. Thus instead of having to repeat the leg up to the redwoods returning to SF, you would enjoy Highway 1 along the Oregon coast. The coastal areas are better earlier while the Sierra is better later. You could also save some mileage by continuing south from Mammoth Lakes ending in Las Vegas and would see more and have more hiking along the Eastern Sierra.
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,708
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 6, 2017 12:31:15 GMT -8
next July your baby will be 15 months old, If you look closely, he says they "will have" a new baby then, about 5 months old. Easier to deal with in camp, and lighter to carry/
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