RE: Colorado 17 - The USA's straightest road?
The stretch of I-80 east of Wendover, NV toward SLC is straight as an arrow. When you're travelling east, as you drop down to the desert you can actually see the curvature of the earth as the salt flats are about as truly flat as you can find anywhere.
RE: BEST NATIONAL PARK?
Islandman is right about Yellowstone. It was the first NP in the world for a reason. It is also interesting that someone from Ohio (rbtglove) found Great Basin NP! Indeed it has a lot of diversity. I might also agree with kknowlton about Glacier Bay being the most beautiful, but we explored by kayak which gives a different perspective than that from the deck of a cruise ship.
But to the OP, if you liked RMNP, try Banff and Jasper NP's in Canada. It seems we use them as the basis for comparison everytime we see a new (to us) mountain range. If that's a little too far, try Glacier NP in Montana for the "miniature" version (in area only).
RE: Long tavel in popup, need advice.
We are thinking about taking our children across the country in our popup. We have only camped in it thus far at fairly local state parks, but we want to tour the whole country.I guess the question is do you want to "tour" the country or really see the country. By moving every day, you are taking away valuable time from experiencing where you are -- you know, "smelling the flowers". IMHO that is even more important when you have kids in tow. Now I'll admit that when we travel to a distant locality (1000+ miles away), we'll often have three or four nights in a row when we only spend a night at each place. But once we arrive, we'll generally spend several nights at several different stops so we can spend time sightseeing, hiking, meeting the locals, or just skipping rocks on a lake. I don't believe one cannot experience all this country has to offer by experiencing it through a windshield. We always joke about those who do the "five national parks in four days" tour of southern Utah. We think they won't actually figure out what they've seen until they get home and print the pictures. So take your time. Your children's memories will be of the times they were out of the car, not the time spent in the car driving somewhere.
RE: Alaska trip; Is it Possible??
Why not take the month, book a flight and rent a car and enjoy yourselves in the state?Just cuz we wanted to camp. We even considered flying the kids out so they wouldn't have so much time in the truck but decided against it. We really just want to camp and drive throughout not hotel it. I guess we could always fly out and rent an RV but it doesn't sound as appealing... Both times I've been to Alaska, it's been the fly in, rent a car, and fly out routine. We much preferred spending a month in Alaska than a month of "windshield time" driving up and back (with kids that'd be a nightmare). We packed sleeping bags, a tent, a small backpacking stove and cookware, and camped a variety of places. Every fourth day or so, we'd splurge on a B&B or a small inn or motel to clean up and get back to civilization. After restocking, it was back to camping. Not only can you spend more time in each place and get a better experience, but the kids will love you for it. They'd much rather be throwing rocks in a lake than spending the time in the RV on the road. Unless we have a minimum of two months to do the trip, we'll do the fly/rent thing the next time we go.
If you decide you don't want to do the fly/rent thing, try a trip to Banff and Jasper in Canada. Not where your wife was born, but incredibly beautiful scenery.
RE: BEST RT IN COLORADO
For Aspen changing colors:
Mid Sept. - try RMNP or the area around Steamboat.
By the third week or so, head further south (Maroon Bells, Arkansas River Valley around Buena Vista -- head into the Sawatch Range). The San Juans are also at their peak at that time.
Toward the end of September you'll have to head even further south (Sangre's, Wet Mtns, etc.)
RE: Hwy 550 Ridgway, Co to Durango, CO.
We went over it in August when they were repaving it. Nice and smooth now with newly painted lines. We noticed that in many places that the road width (including paved shoulders) is wider between Ouray and Silverton than some of the sections north of Ouray toward Ridgway. As noted by Moparmaga2, a large percentage of the vehicles on US 550 during the summer are trucks, RV's, and large rigs of various types pulling trailers loaded with ATV's. If you have mountain driving experience, it really isn't an issue. Really. (It's much more interesting in the winters when the roads are covered in snow and ice.!) :E
RE: Most Beautiful State/Federal Road
So many, all with different scenery. A few others not mentioned yet:
Beartooth Highway NE out of Yellowstone.
Old US 30 along the Columbia River Gorge.
Talimena Scenic Byway (a miniature version of the Blue Ridge).
CA 1 along the Sonoma Coast.
RE: Colorado hiking during hunting season
To add to that thought, many of the hunters will be out of state folks who likely have waited for years to draw a tag (not cheap), then spent big bucks for the trip to Colorado, likely used up their last vacation time of the year, etc, etc. What I'm saying is that they have a pile of time, effort, and money tied up in this hunt. PLEASE DO NOT go walking through a hunting area in the middle of hunting season. Hunting season only lasts a couple of months at the most, and the other 10 months of the year the park is wide open for other recreation (hiking, photos, etc, etc).
Nowhere in the hunting regs does the purchase of a hunting license give you exclusive use of public lands. September and October are two of the finest camping and hiking months here in Colorado. No, you can't have exclusive use!
RE: Cave Lake State Park - Ely, NV & Rye Patch
We stopped at Cave Lake SP in both directions on our trip to CA this summer. It's crowded on the weekend with locals coming up to get out of the heat, but in the middle of the week you'll have your choice of several campsites. Lake View is preferred because of it's proximity to the lake, but Elk Flat is good if you like privacy and quiet. A whole lot nicer than the KOA, which seemed to be at least partially filled with full time residents (with the price of gold and silver, mining is on the up swing again).
RE: Nevada 50, Loneliest Highway
Bob Scott is an old campground - that means rather tight and not that many spaces. Bob Scott CG had some work done to it several years ago, including the completion of a new water system with flush toilets. When we stayed there in June, 80% of the sites were filled on a Monday night. Nice place to stay if you're on the road -- and since it's free, the price is right.
Near Ely, consider Cave Lake SP. Nice CG with a lake (surprise!) and hot showers. We like it so much, we stayed there both directions on our trip to CA this summer. Does get busy on the weekends when the locals from Ely show up at their little "oasis in the desert". Nice tent pads, too (since that's what you're taking).
If you decide to stay in Great Basin NP instead, drive to the top and stay at Wheeler Peak CG. Nicest of the park CG's and perfect for tenting. But plan on a couple of nights here to see the parks attractions, including Lehman Cave and a hike through the bristlecone forest.
RE: Propane and High Altitude
Just got back from a week long camping trip at 11,000'. The fridge, stove, oven, HWH and furnace all worked fine. The only issue we had was with those long butane lighters. They wouldn't ignite by themselves, but the regular small lighter would.
The BIGGEST problem we had was we had to pack up and come home!
RE: Unique Silverton, CO boondocking spot
Haven't been there in a couple of years (we're going to Ouray/Silverton next week), but IIRC, several of these boondocking locations do have pit toilets. Too many people were heading into the woods (and too close to the river http://www.getsmileyface.com/sm/mad/011.gif ) to do their business and it was getting gross.
There are actually two large boondocking spots along the south side of the road and a smaller one on the north by the river. Some of the spots in the larger ones are a little more isolated and a few even have some trees and/or bushes for privacy. Before you head into the smaller one on the creek to the north, it's best to get out and scout it on foot to see if there's someplace to park, esp. if you have a larger rig. Turning around at the end of either side of the creek can be a challenge, esp. if someone is camped there.
Both the South Mineral and the Eureka townsite locations tend to be too crowded for us also. And somehow we always end up next to someone with an ATV or motorbike who has to rev the engine at 7:00 in the morning and again at 9:00 at night. Of course in a PUP, we hear it all.
RE: best route to Durango, Co
Short of taking I-70 all the way to Utah and backtracking on US 191 and US 491 or heading as far south as I-40 in NM and heading northward from there, your best bet is US 160 out of Walsenburg. And anyway, I-70 west of Denver has two large climbs -- to the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass. Remember, you're coming to Colorado where we have mountains and passes! ;)
RE: How beneficial is a slide out dinette?
One of the main reasons we chose our PUP was the slide out -- it provides a whole lot more floor area. In our old PUP and HTT (w/o slide out dinette), it seemed only one person could easily move around at a time without creating a traffic jam. As for packing, there's enough room in the trailer to easily overload it beyond the rated capacity!
RE: So much to see, so little time to see it...
Husker2 has it right on. I would think you're looking at two days of hard driving minimum just to get to Yellowstone. Continue on to the Black Hills and it's another very looong day to get there. You can't do justice to either area in less that a week IMHO, especially if you've never been to either one before.
RE: Whats Rts 50,92,133,82 like in Co?
Just remember that past Aspen on CO 82 is Independence Pass, no place for a rig of your size (35' total vehicle length MAX).
RE: Zion Camping Locations
Thanks. I guess I didn't explain myself well. I AM NOT interested in taking my MH through the tunnel-no matter if it fits or not. I want to stay on the east side and camp there...moving on northward to the other parks. Probably the main reason that there are few campsites on the east side of the park is that unless you like hiking off trail, virtually all of the accessible scenic parts of the park are on the west side. Besides the little private CG at the east entrance (seems to be a spot for people who arrive late and can't find somewhere else to camp), you'll have to traval over an hour each way every day to get into the "guts" of Zion. People here have tried to save you a lot of time, gasoline and mileage by suggesting that the east side is not a very practical place to camp and see Zion.
RE: after 2 seasons...bye bye PUP.....
Had a PUP for 11 years, a hybrid for four years, and we are now firmly back in the PUP camp. ;) We like the openness of the PUP over the HTT -- we go camping to see the scenery, not the inside of the trailer. As mentioned, the beds in a HTT are noticibly smaller. And we noticed the shower is smaller in a HTT also. I used to have the shower curtain stick to me every time I turned, and even added velcro to hold it to the walls with little improvement. But in our new PUP, no such problem. Now it's just the two of us camping (with two camping cats), but set up and tear down time at camp is virtually the same with the HTT as the PUP. We get 1/3rd better gas mileage with the PUP, even though it is about the same length and weight as our HTT was. Besides lower gasoline bills, it means a lot fewer gasoline stops on longer trips. Advantages to the HTT: a bigger and more accessible fridge, an easier to use awning, and a bathroom you can use on the side of the highway.
We've been in month long trips in both and far prefer the PUP.
RE: Looking for advice re: Pets in a PUP
As noted in our sig, we have two camping cats, neither declawed. Both have been indoor/outdoor cats in the past, although since one was diagnosed with diabetes, both have been indoor cats for over two years and that is when the camping with cats adventure began. We have to give insulin shots twice a day, and in this area, to board a cat that has medication needs is $17/day. I would note that both are 13 years old, so not as rambunctious as a much younger cat can be.
We took a four week trip to California with both of them in June. The first 1/2 hour down the road the first day of the trip was the only bad part, with both cats getting sick. After that, things settled down. I guess they realized they weren't going to the vet! We didn't have a clue before we started taking them camping, but neither cat has shown any inclination to want out of the trailer. I think they are a little intimidated by what they see and hear outside and want no part of it. In fact they seem to "pout" when they see the sheets taken off the bed since they know it's back in the car. We have taken both of them out on leashes (not liked, but tolerated) and often they make a beeline right back to the trailer. Because we were camping in cool (temperature) places, we'd leave them in the trailer for up to eight hours at a shot with a few windows open of course. Never a bit of damage even to the screens, although like cats do anywhere, they love to try to get into the cabinets and cubby holes to hide. Altogether, they travelled around 4000 miles on this trip.
We once met a couple in Zion from British Columbia and they were on a several month trip with their three cats.
RE: Durango, Colorado
Next time you return, try rafting the Colorado River around Glenwood Springs or the Arkansas River from Buena Vista all the way down to Canon City. As for retiring in Silverton -- BRRR! :E Your first investment should be a snowblower.
