Our recent roundtrip to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion and Death Valley

[Harald]

So, my wife and I came back to Denmark from our trip to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Death Valley etc.
It was a great vacation by the way, and some truly amazing National Parks we visited. The food was awful, though. Except for the breakfast with the scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes with syrup and so on. :ready:

In this thread I will try to list as many facts from our trip, as inspiration for anybody who consider visiting one or more of the places we did.
This story came out much longer than I intended and maybe a bit boring too. :zzz:
Unfortunately it exceeds the character limit so I have divided it into several posts in this thread.
Please observe that whatever comes next is subject to the concepts of IMHO, YMMW and sorry to keep you.
Please also excuse my lack of English skills.

Other acronyms:
National Park: NP
Grand Canyon National Park: GCNP

The short version
2 adults
Las Vegas --(60 km)--> Hoover Dam --(400 km)--> GCNP --(450 km)--> Bryce NP --(120 km)--> Zion NP --(500 km)--> Death Valley --(70 km)--> Las Vegas.
Las Vegas (3 nights)--> Williams (1 night)--> GCNP (3 nights)--> Bryce NP (2 nights)--> Zion NP (2 nights)--> Death Valley/Beatty (1 night)--> Las Vegas (2 nights).
Two weeks in latter half of March. Snow locally, all roads cleared. No accommodation booked ahead except for first stay in Las Vegas, generally we were able to find accommodation as we went along using a combination of calling ahead locally and asking on arrival. Do not expect a gourmet experience. Rental car: 6 cylinder sedan. The number of shows could determine the number of required nights in Vegas. Hiking boots, clamp-on’s and lot’s of water. Watch out for school holidays such as Spring Break…
Car and gas: ~$1000 in total
Accommodation: ~$1400 in total

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Weather
On arrival in Las Vegas the weather was fairly cold, maybe 10-ish degrees C, and a cold wind blow down from the north, I think. During daytime the sun compensated and it was nice.
Snow was present in the NP’s mostly scattered in GC and Zion, whereas piles of snow were present in Bryce. No snow on the roads, though.
In Death Valley the temperature was probably 25 degrees C, and back in Vegas it was also much warmer.
We had rain for one night during the first stay in Las Vegas.
Generally we were wearing jeans and a jacket/fleece of some sort. And sunglasses! I would also recommend sunscreen.

Car :drive:
Originally we hired a class “Compact” car from Hertz (e.g. Ford Focus). When we came to pick up the car the rental guy asked about our trip. When we told him about our plans he suggested renting a bigger car. He argued that due to elevations on our route a 6 cylinder engine would be more appropriate. He asked if we planned to visit the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon west rim, in that case he would recommend a car with a higher clearance as the last 15 miles (?) is an unpaved road. Since we didn’t plan to visit the Skywalk, we settled for a Huyndai Sonata. This worked out fine, but it is rather boring… Whether this was all just a sales trick I don’t know.
The rental fee was approx. $850 for 13 days incl. free mileage, one tank of petrol, two drivers and all necessary insurances. The $150 was the upgrade fee.
We drove approximately 1500 miles and bought an additional 38 gallons of fuel.

Accommodation :relax:
In this paragraph I will try to list a few details on our various accommodations. We tried to keep it fairly cheap, i.e. no fancy-pancy. The locations will follow our route.
Las Vegas: Americas Best Value Inn. 2 queen size beds. No breakfast. Located in “airport backyard”, i.e. lots of noise from airplanes. 5-600 m east off The Strip. Small swimming pool (too cold for us though). $100 (booked in advance via a Danish travel agency).
Williams: Travelodge.1 queen size bed. “Continental Breakfast”: Muffins and Danish pastry, coffee and tea. $70 + tax (weekday rate and incl. 10% off due to AAA membership and then some extra bargaining)
Grand Canyon (Tusayan): Red Feather Lodge. 2 queen size beds. Breakfast: toast and some other bread, muffins, Danish pastry, yoghurt, oatmeal, cheese, marmalade, fruit. Do not dine at their restaurant. $111 weekdays 10% off due to AAA membership. Tel.: 1-928-638-2414.
Bryce NP: Ruby’s Inn. 2 queen size beds. Breakfast not included. Rate $85.50 incl. 10% discount due to AAA membership. Tel.: 435-834-5341.
Zion NP (Springdale): Quality Inn. 2 queen size beds. Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, potatoes, cereal. $100 after bargaining. Tel: (435) 772-3237.
Death Valley (Beatty): Motel 6. 1 queen size bed. Breakfast: None. Meals at the neighbouring casino. $65. Tel.: 1-800-466-8356.
Las Vegas (2nd stop): Travelodge. 2 queen size beds. Located on the strip (east side), next to Planet Hollywood. Breakfast: Muffins, Danish pastry, juice, coffee/tea, oatmeal. A bit scruffy and some noise from our neighbours. The hotel is currently surrounded by a few construction sites, i.e. more noise. Small swimming pool. $150.

End of Part I

/Harald

[inthedark]

Great update. I was just reading the other thread wondering how the trip went.

Did you buy an Annual National Park pass? I believe they just raised the prices to $80 from $50, but with the amount of parks that you went to it still would have saved you money.

The car rental salesman was probably trying to talk you into a more expensive car, but with the amount of driving you did on this trip, it was a wise choice. The engine drone and vibration from a compact sedan gets really annoying after a while on the road, plus the larger car is a lot more comfortable to stretch out in. A SUV might have come in handy at Death valley if you wanted to explore some of the more remote sections.

As you found out, most restaurants at a tourist area like the Grand Canyon are less than appealing. They don't really have to worry about repeat customers or maintaining a good reputation. It doesn't matter if they suck, they're still going to have steady stream of new unsuspecting customers.

[Harald]

The long version
We arrived at Las Vegas late Friday night mid March and checked into our hotel around midnight.
The next two weeks we drove to Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Bryce NP, Zion NP, Death Valley and back to Las Vegas in a rental car.

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Hoover Dam
We arrived maybe around 10-ish in the morning and had to wait in a line of cars due to a security check of a small bus. I suggest you try to get there in the morning to avoid the majority of traffic. If you arrive from the west side there is a parking house just before crossing the dam. On the eastern side, there are a few small parking lots within walking distance of the dam. Whether you are east or west bound you can access the parking house and parking lots, but I would assume that the parking house will cost a parking fee.
We took the small of the dam tours; I think it was approx. $11 per person.
To enter the visitor’s area you need to pass a security check. I asked the guards if I could take of my jacket and have them run that through the scanner, rather than having to empty all my gadgets out of the pockets before I walked through the scanner gate. But no; that is after the fourth attempt they decided that I should just let them scan the jacket. Apparently it was my binoculars that kept trigging the sensors.
The tour started with a short informative movie (maybe too many violins and crying babies). After that we were allocated a group and a guide to bring us by the elevator down into the interior of the dam and afterwards into the generator building, and eventually back up to an exhibition area. If you like to learn something about the Hoover Dam, rather than just walk across it, I recommend this tour. Apparently there was an even more advanced tour that also included a yellow hard hat...
The exhibition gives a fairly good introduction to the technology of a hydro plant and to the conditions the men who worked at the construction site were subject to.
I believe we spent approx. 2 hours visiting the dam.

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Route 66
Leaving the Hoover Dam we aimed for Route 66 east bound. For some reason this road is often mentioned in travel guides and among travellers. I have to admit, I don’t know why, at least not in terms of scenery. I can appreciate it used to have great importance for the development of America and that region in particular. If you are in a hurry, I think you can focus on the small bit going through the town Seligman.
By the way, if you end up in Kingman (west of Seligman), don’t take the buffet at Chan’s!

We stopped at Williams for the night, arriving maybe 5-ish (pm), maybe an hour south of Grand Canyon. Thus, we could have made it the same day to Grand Canyon, but we didn’t quite know if accommodation was available there, and didn’t want to be driving around looking for accommodation.
We were now in the middle of March and the weather was cold, ice and snow was still piled up around parking lots and in the side of the street.
The “main street” in Williams counts several hotels, and apparently some people prefer to have Williams as base for their daily visits to Grand Canyon.
We decided to go for a steak dinner, so what would be more appropriate than the “Rod’s World Famous Steak House”? However, we took a small stroll up the main street before going to dinner. I know nobody in Williams, so maybe these guys were from out of town, but they were driving up and down the street in their pickup truck yelling obscene and racist comments at the few pedestrians on the sidewalk.
As for the steak dinner, what kind of “world famous steak house” is not able to cook a steak to medium, when offering to do so? :fishbone:
This proved what seemed to develop into a general concept of most of our meals: quantity over quality.

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Grand Canyon
Leaving Williams the next morning we had called a few hotels in Tusayan to book a room. The Red Feather Lodge was able to offer us a smoking room as the only option.
Tusayan is a small town maybe a mile south off the south entrance to Grand Canyon. The town’s only business is visitors to Grand Canyon, so you will find a few hotels, a variety of dinner options, a gas station, visitor’s centre (including a National Geographic’s IMAX Theatre), heliport, a few grocery stores also selling camping supplies and souvenirs. I say again: do not visit the Red Feather Lodge Restaurant!
We stayed three nights there and I think it was a very convenient starting point for our daily visits to the canyon, just to say there are other useful options of accommodation rather than staying at the Xanterra operated lodges and hotels inside the park, which are likely to be fully booked and probably comparatively expensive.

The first day in Grand Canyon, or not exactly “in” as to suggest that we were down in the canyon, but rather we were walking the rim, I shot maybe 80 pictures with my digicam. Whenever I turned my head in a new direction the view presented another magic scenery. Before I go on I should probably mention that we do not have mountains in my country (Denmark): no place is above 200 m above sea level (this applies to the Danish territory if you disregard Greenland and the Faroe Islands).
Hence, any mountain view becomes impressive.
But Grand Canyon really startled me. :o At times I found myself trying to imagine what feelings and thoughts might have struck the people originally watching this place for the first time, whether these were Indian tribal members or Spanish conquistadors.

The Grand Canyon NP is very well organized. Paved trails cover the most of the South Rim, and shuttle buses will take you to and from numerous stops along the rim for free, so I believe most of the rim trails are accessible by wheelchairs and families with small children. Basically you drive your car to the central part of the park, park your car and get on a shuttle bus.
I will not get further into detail because this information is available at the official website (http://www.nps.gov/grca/). I will point out these observations though:

You should not attempt to walk all the way down to the river and back up on the same day
The western part of the rim trail (red route) is closed for maintenance until September
If you wish to hike down the canyon, seek advice and information in the visitor’s centre
If the trail is icy, get cramp-on’s ($13 in the shop)
Wear hiking boots
Bring water!!! And sunglasses
Accommodation inside the park is fully booked maybe 2 years ahead. Check the website or call the Xanterra booking office to check for last minute cancellations. OR: check the hotels in Tusayan instead
The North Rim was still closed for visitors (mid March)

For us three nights were appropriate. We spent the two first days walking the rim, and one day we decided to hike down the South Kaibab trail having our lunch at Cedar Ridge. Part of the trail was still covered by ice and snow, so we were happy about our cramp-on’s. We had booked a helicopter flight and needed to show up in the heliport by 3 pm. So we had to watch time carefully as we descended, because climbing back up is much more strenuous. So I think the better way would be to save an entire day for walking down the canyon to whatever depth you think you can manage.
As for the helicopter flight, the company– Papillon (http://www.papillon.com/popris/show_categories.aspx?category_id=15&lang=en-US)–offered three different flights at three different rates. We booked the longer one at the Tusayan visitor’s centre in the morning. When we got to the heliport we paid the flight we wanted. Unfortunately the sales person forgot to tell us that the long flight was cancelled due to weather conditions, so it was half way across the canyon we realized the flight was the shorter one. Back at the heliport we complained about this and they returned the fare difference without any questions. But I don’t think the shorter flight is very interesting: of the 25 minutes in the air approximately 15 minutes were flying from the heliport to the rim and back.

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We watched the sunset at the watchtower close to the east entrance.
I took a lot of pictures of this genuine Indian watchtower, only to discover there is nothing genuine about it—apparently the company operating a souvenir shop in the tower asked some architect to design a watchtower as the Indians would have, if they were to build something like this.
You need to visit the Grand Canyon National Park!

Scenic R89A
Leaving Tusayan travelling eastbound, we drove through Grand Canyon NP visitor’s area for the last time exiting at the East Entrance. Staying on R64 we aimed for R89 Northbound. Along this road a lot of local Indians have their small outlets with hand crafted jewellery. We decided to stop by and walk a short distance to a more eastern part of the canyon (maybe 10 minutes).

The R89 divides into a western part, R89A, and an eastern part R89, the latter one going to Page. We chose the R89A, as it is supposed to be a scenic route, and I believe it was.

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We crossed the Colorado River on Navajo Bridge close to Marble Canyon. There is a small visitor’s centre on the north rim, with toilettes and a souvenir shop (of course). In fact there are two bridges, a newer one replacing the older one. Pedestrians can walk across the old one and you can see the Colorado River maybe some 100 m below. No entry or parking fee.

We headed on aiming for Bryce National Park, crossing the Arizona/Utah state line at Fredonia and Kanab. We paid a local supermarket a visit to buy some water and probably some snacks too.
As we moved closer to Bryce more snow was covering the fields next to the road.

Bryce Canyon
We arrived at Ruby’s Inn at Bryce NP maybe around 5-ish pm (not taking local time into account), approx. 7 hours of driving and approx. 500 km from Tusayan.
Ruby’s Inn is not only a hotel/motel. They also have a restaurant, a grocery store, camping and fishing gear shop, souvenir shop (of course), laundry and a gas station. All this was very convenient as the alternative on the opposite side of the road was closed for the season…
The restaurant was quite busy at dinner time, with a rather long waiting line. Fortunately the staff was well organised and waiting time, once seated, was not a problem. I enjoyed their breakfast buffet. I had learned not to expect too much of the dinner meals, so I suppose they did OK. One night we decided to settle for starters and then a desert, rather than a main course. My wife ordered their Chocolate something desert, and when I was about to ask for my choice of desert, the waitress warned us that the Chocolate desert was plenty for two people. And indeed it was.

Ruby’s Inn is located maybe 1 km off the park gate.
The visitor’s centre inside the gate is nothing like the Grand Canyon’s. During their opening hours they will of course provide information about trails etc. And they do have a souvenirs shop. And restrooms.
We inquired about the trail conditions, as we expected a lot of snow/ice. The lady told us that the trails facing north were likely to be covered partly by ice, and sometime during the day the trails were likely to turn “muddy-muddy”.

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We walked down into the valley among these amazing geological structures that are what Bryce NP is all about. As we came down the temperature rose and it became comfortable compared to the colder conditions on the rim.
Standing on the rim the night before watching the “Hoodoos” from above, and still feasting on the impressions from our visit to Grand Canyon, I was sort of disappointed. But down in the valley it was a completely different feeling, once again I was really amazed.
Now, walking the trails down is not as difficult as in Grand Canyon. They may be steep in the beginning, but they level out fairly quickly as the canyon/valley is simply not as deep as Grand Canyon (I suppose this makes sense, considering the name). This also means that the audience somehow changes, from serious hikers to families thinking this is just a stroll in the park. It seemed to me that some of these “family-type” visitors were focusing on yelling and shouting to each other, rather than just enjoying the scenery. In my opinion part of the experience of visiting a national park is to use all senses to take in whatever this marvellous place has to offer. Otherwise one might as well visit a Disney resort.
We stayed for two nights, which gave us one night for the sunset, a walk down the valley, sunrise (damn those time zone changes), half a day for driving to the far end of the park to watch the scenery from a different angle.
A lot of snow there, thus, the access to the “Under-the-rim-trail” from Rainbow Point was closed.
The Bryce Canyon lodge and campgrounds were closed for the season.
As for accessibility by wheelchairs and strollers with small children, I have to refrain from any recommendations since much of the rim trails were covered by snow. Walking down into the canyon, I will suggest that small children should be considered “dead weight” (excuse my French), i.e. they may have to be carried.

End of Part II

/Harald

[Harald]

The long version (continued)

Zion National Park
From Bryce we turned back south and headed for Zion National Park. Just the night before I was looking at the map and realized that we should aim for the town Springdale at the south entrance rather than the north entrance close to Cedar City (Kolob Canyons). The reason for this is that the south part seems to offer more trails, “more to see” and is “better” organized as is the northern part. I have no personal experience with the northern part of Zion NP, so maybe I am wrong. Anyway, the drive from Bryce to Springdale is only some 120 km-ish, BUT the last bit—Zion-Mount Carmel Highway—is through Zion NP and a lot of scenery requires frequent stops, not to mention “Tunnel” (as Gollum would have put it). Apparently the tunnel occasionally requires one way traffic organized by two park rangers, one at either end. I would strongly recommend taking this into account when putting together a time schedule. I imagine that during high season traffic will become extremely dense as the road is pretty narrow locally, and a steep descent/ascent could probably lead to heavy build up.

As we arrived at Springdale we asked for accommodation a few places that were fully booked until (I think attempt No 3) we were in luck at Quality Inn. Now, when we left Springdale two days later, I counted at least 14 motels/hotels on the way out of the valley. Apparently Xanterra also operates a lodge in Zion NP, obviously on the “inside”. We never tried to book this, furthermore a special permit is required if you want to bring your car to the lodge compound.

Zion NP is well organised. Leave your car at the parking lot just inside the Springdale park entrance and take the free shuttle buses up into the valley. Get off at whatever stop and get on the trail. The visitor’s centre offer similar service as in the other NP’s. I recommend that you seek advice before wandering off to any of the more “advanced” trails (in general I think this is a reasonable strategy).
We started off with one of the “lighter” trails, the “Emerald Pools Trail”. Once again a lot of yelling and shouting.
As a friend of mine, who gave a lot of valuable input to our trip, said: “In Bryce and Grand Canyon you are walking on the top looking down. In Zion, you are walking at the bottom looking up.”
On arrival at Zion NP and the walk up to the Emerald Pools I got the same “disappointment feeling” as I felt on arrival in Bryce. But not for long.

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The next morning we decided to walk the trail up to “Observation Point”. This trail is the longest (I believe 12 km) and ends at the highest point overlooking the valley. A clear sky but rather cold as the sun hadn’t reached the bottom of the valley and a cold wind blow through the valley. I was wearing pants (of course), a T-shirt and a fleece jacket, but still felt cold. We bought a sandwich at the local sandwich bar (which is also a supermarket) right next to the entrance of the park, got on the shuttle bus and went into the canyon. The trail was steep and icy and we were happy that we brought our clamp-on’s. Part of the trail goes through a slot canyon, and we had to climb a few snow piles to cross the little river flowing below, this was fun, but I doubt it looked very elegant.
I don’t consider myself in very good shape so the hike was kind of tuff, but we managed and had our sandwich at the top enjoying the spectacular view. Although I felt cold in the morning I was happy I didn’t bring another shirt or jacket as this would just add extra weight to my pack that also carried the 3.5 litres of water we drank during the walk.
Down, and back on the bus we overheard a conversation by some strangely dressed people: Virgin River flows in the bottom of the Zion Canyon and the northern end of the canyon is partly submerged. But you can walk up the stream as the canyon narrows above your head. These guys had rented special dry suits and boots from Zion Adventure Company (http://www.zionadventures.com/hiking_the_zion_narrows.html) in Springdale to do this. I think this could have been great fun too, but we were leaving the next morning for our next destination.

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Death Valley
The drive from Springdale to Death Valley was approximately 7 hours with a short stop in Mesquite just to shop some ordinary supplies such as water.
Death Valley is a “car experience” as opposed to the hiking experiences from the previous three destinations. Obviously you need to get out of the car to get a better view, but distances between “must-see’s” are so long that you need to drive around to see them all.
As for accommodation we ran into a bit of trouble. There are three motels/hotels inside the valley, but they were all fully booked. We went to the visitor’s centre and asked for advice. The lady handed us a list of hotels in the nearby towns such as Beatty. We made quite a few phone calls finally ending up with a smoking room at Motel 6 in Beatty. Beatty is a small town maybe an hour’s drive to the east of the Death Valley NP, just across the Nevada/California state line. Big enough to have their own casino, though. We had our dinner and breakfast there.

Originally we had planned two nights at Death Valley, but settled for one: After arranging our accommodation from a phone booth at the visitor’s centre, we drove to the north end to see the volcano crater. Since it was now late afternoon we decided to drive to Beatty and find our hotel.
The next morning we drove back into Death Valley. Starting with The Sand Dunes at Furnace Creek and then working our way to the south end, we left the NP and California approximately 4-ish in the afternoon. No need to stay another night as Las Vegas is maybe a good hour’s drive away.
Our air condition was busy all day, and this affected the fuel consumption significantly.

Since we planned to visit more than 2 NP’s the admission officer recommended us buying a collective NP ticket, as this would turn out to be cheaper. I believe this was $80.

Las Vegas (second visit)
During our initial stay in Las Vegas we felt that even though our hotel was located fairly close to the strip, a lot of walking was required up and down the Strip. So we cancelled our second reservation as we managed to book a room at the Travelodge located on the south end of the Strip. The hotel is located on the eastern side of the Strip. If you plan to arrive through their entrance from the Strip you need to drive in the northbound lane. Their block is bound by East Tropicana Avenue to the south and by East Harmon Avenue to the north. They have a big sign marking their entrance. If you pass the Harley Davidson Café, you got too far. In that case continue a bit further north on the Strip and turn right on East Harmon Avenue (first possible right), and you may be able to enter Travelodge’s parking area “from the back”, if you look out for entrance’s to your right.

My general impression about Las Vegas is that the casinos can be visited during one day as a sight seeing activity. The volcano at The Mirage is under refurbishment I believe until sometime during 2009. The pirate experience at Treasure Island was cancelled every time we came by due to weather conditions. :thinking:
Apart from the Stratosphere tower at the northern end of the Strip, I think its worth concentrating in the southern end as most of the famous casinos are located there. As for the Stratosphere, they have a BUSY security check before you can access the elevators to the top.
We booked tickets for an Elton John concert in Cesar’s Palace; my wife loved it, so that was great. When we arrived to enter the theatre we had to pass a security check, I think they were mostly concerned about cameras, but they made me check in my LM Juice S2 at the counter! What did they expect? That I would run up the isle, jump on to the stage and cut the wire for his microphone? Anyway, when I returned to collect my knife at the counter the lady claimed that they never check knives. Fortunately some manager was clever enough to check the office just behind them, and “viola!” (I was not the only one). :(
We also watched the Blue Man Show at the Venezian. :crackup: That was great; and no paranoid security check. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that. I recommend this show, remember to pick up one of the free bags of earplugs at the entrance before you get seated, and don’t be late for the show…
Information about shows, accommodation and much more can be found at LasVegas.com (http://www.lasvegas.com/).

We played a little roulette at Paris. Before we left Denmark I decided that I would be willing to loose $100, so at the table I changed this money into chips and my pulse went up. A waitress serves free drinks at the tables, free in the sense that the casino expects that you loose more money when sitting at the gambling table rather than standing at the bar… However, the waitresses are responsible for several tables.
Most of the casino hotels (not all, though) offer a buffet. We tried out the Mirage’s buffet. It looked delicious but don’t go for the turkey—it is dry. IIRC the price was $25 including free soft drinks, alcoholic beverages are extra.
As for shopping: there is a huge shopping mall where the Strip bends, I think it is called “The Fashion Show”? I am a bit uncertain whether the sunglasses in the isle booths are genuine though. Alternatively some of the large casino hotels also have shopping facilities. For none-Americans it might be interesting to go to the Vegas REI store (http://www.rei.com/stores/87), but you’ll need to go there by car.
I shot an AK47 and an Uzi at The Gun Store (http://www.thegunstorelasvegas.com/). Check their webpage for a $5 coupon. By the way, these guys also sell SureFire flashlights even though they don’t show up on SureFire’s retailer list.
Coupons for free this and free that are everywhere, but I think most coupons are offered by the less interesting places for them to attract customers. But among the coupon offers you might be able to find valuable phone numbers and addresses for accommodation.


My parents visited the same NP’s July/August last year. They were sorry they had planned only one night each place, not enough time. Also, the weather was HOT! As my father said regarding their visit to Death Valley: “Whenever we stopped to marvel at some view, we all got out of the car and hurried back in!” (air condition). At all their destinations, however, temperatures were high.

Wow, you made it!

Thanks for reading.

/Harald

[inthedark]

Sounds like a great trip, wish I had enough vacation to do something like that again. Now that you're an experienced roadtripper, is there anything you would have done differently on this trip?

A couple of questions on your trip

Route66 - Did you only take the portion from Kingman to Seligman? Yeah, overall it's not a really scenic road, I think the main draw is the nostalgiac feel of it. You can find areas that look exactly like they did 50 years ago, but they're spaced pretty far between. About the only thing on that section of road is the Hackberry general store, which is a kitschy little place in the middle of nowhere. I hope you didn't just fly right by it. On your way down from Hoover Dam there is also the small ghost town of Chloride that's an interesting stop along the way.

Death Valley - Too bad you didn't have more time there to visit the Racetrack Playa or Scotty's castle, two of my favorite sights in the park. The road out to the racetrack is rough in some spots, and is at least a half day trip. You're definitely right that it's not a hiker friendly place, without a car I doubt if you could make it to more than 1 sight. The real beauty is in it's extremeness, it's one of the hottest, driest, most uninhabitable places on earth, but with todays technology we can sit and enjoy from the comfort of an air conditined vehicle.

Zion - Is that observation point trail at Angel's landing? Did it have chains near the top to pull yourself up? Also, the canyon those hikers were talking about is the Narrows, one of their most photographed canyons. You can start the hike from the Temple of Sinawava, and hike half way up, or start from the top and hike down (permits required). You're walking in knee deep water the whole time, so at this time of year it's not recommended.

Were you able to catch the water show at the Bellagio or stroll through the grand canal in the Venetian? Even though I've been there a number of times, I still like doing that.

[illusion]

:woohoo:

Finally Harald ;D. That sounded like a great trip, but how do you feel about it?

From LV to Page we are going the same way, So you didnt like the RT66? Did you enjoy all the NP or did it get to "much".

And we need more pictures!!! :roof:

[Harald]

is there anything you would have done differently on this trip?


He-he, I was thinking the same thing.
Our basic concept was that the trip should have time for relaxing--no stress and hurry. A friend of mine also suggested The Arches (http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm), and I have to admit that this is something I would really like to see as well--maybe next time. However, we decided pretty early in our planning, that this was too far off our route given the time frame and our basic concept.
The night in Williams was something I could have done without, obviously. I think the better way to organize it would be to arrange the accomodation in Tusayan while still in Las Vegas and then just drive all the way to Tusayan.

Furthermore, in GCNP we would have preffered to have an entire day for the hike down the canyon, i.e. saving the helicopter flight for another day.



A couple of questions on your trip

Route66 - Did you only take the portion from Kingman to Seligman?
(..) the Hackberry general store, which is a kitschy little place in the middle of nowhere. I hope you didn't just fly right by it.


Yes.
And yes, I am sure we missed it.



Zion - Is that observation point trail at Angel's landing? Did it have chains near the top to pull yourself up?


http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/8568/zionobservationpointxx5.th.jpg (http://img395.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zionobservationpointxx5.jpg)
No. The picture in my post about Zion is from Observation Point overlooking the valley and Angels Landing. Angels Landing is the top just to the right of the picture's centre.
No chains.



Were you able to catch the water show at the Bellagio or stroll through the grand canal in the Venetian? Even though I've been there a number of times, I still like doing that.


We watched the water show--"So ein Ding muss ich auch haben". I suppose the music changes every hour?
The Canals in The Venezian are sort of special as are all the other themes in the casino hotels. I think Cesar's Palace was the most impressive.



That sounded like a great trip, but how do you feel about it?


It was a great trip, we really enjoyed it. Except for the food :green:



So you didnt like the RT66?


Arr, well. I didn't mind as much as I think it might be a waste of time if one is in a hurry.



Did you enjoy all the NP or did it get to "much".


That is a good point! By the time we reached Death Valley our motivation was sort of gone.

Did you really read all of it? ;)

/Harald

[Blackheart]

Something that struck me as being odd...

A Dane with a AAA membership. :shrug:

Harald, does the AAA operate in Europe as well, or did you sign up just for this trip?

[Harald]

Something that struck me as being odd...

A Dane with a AAA membership. :shrug:

Harald, does the AAA operate in Europe as well, or did you sign up just for this trip?


Well, I tried not to complicate the story even more by getting into detail about this, as the main topic turned out to be long enough by itself.
I am not a member of AAA (http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode.woa/wa/route). And I have to admit that I don't know if they operate in Europe.
However, a similar Danish organisation FDM (http://www.fdm.dk/public/) colaborates with AAA in some way, thus, offering access to various discounts. And I am a member of FDM. FDM also operates a travel agency, and we bought our flight tickets, booked our initial accomodation in Las Vegas and the rental car via these guys.

Whether Europeans visiting the US could benefit from an AAA membership, I think is worth considering.

Thanks for asking, Blackheart.

/Harald

[dewildeman]

Harald,

Sounds like you had a great trip. Glad you got to see the sunset from the tower, it's worth the drive. When you're at the canyon you can look at a spot and then an hour later it looks different, depending on the sun.

[illusion]

Well, I tried not to complicate the story even more by getting into detail about this, as the main topic turned out to be long enough by itself.
I am not a member of AAA (http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode.woa/wa/route). And I have to admit that I don't know if they operate in Europe.
However, a similar Danish organisation FDM (http://www.fdm.dk/public/) colaborates with AAA in some way, thus, offering access to various discounts. And I am a member of FDM. FDM also operates a travel agency, and we bought our flight tickets, booked our initial accomodation in Las Vegas and the rental car via these guys.

Whether Europeans visiting the US could benefit from an AAA membership, I think is worth considering.

Thanks for asking, Blackheart.









/Harald


We also have an organisation here who works with AAA, its called NAF. So I will try use my card from them to get some AAA discount when we are going over.

[Harald]

We also have an organisation here who works with AAA, its called NAF. So I will try use my card from them to get some AAA discount when we are going over.


On your membership card there might be a logo: "Show Your Card". This indicates some level of discount agreements. (if you google Show Your Card lot's of discount services pop up). :matrix:


/Harald

[illusion]

On your membership card there might be a logo: "Show Your Card". This indicates some level of discount agreements. (if you google Show Your Card lot's of discount services pop up). :matrix:


/Harald


Yes i have that on the card :roof:...

[Harald]

In this post I’ll give a small introduction to the gear I carried :knuppel2: and (some of the) clothing I was wearing during our trip.
From the details in the previous posts you may find that parts of the trip were “city-activities” changing to day-hikes.
The weather was always dry but temperatures and the wind was changing depending on time of day and location. Bryce was the coldest and Death Valley the warmest.

Furthermore, since we could only bring a limited amount of luggage (flight trip), our wardrobe ended up in the casual/practical category, i.e. no suits, necktie, huge selection of shoes or similar.

Clothing
While in Las Vegas I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Outdoors I had to wear a jacket as well, usually a North Face fleece jacket.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7983/cedarridgexo9.th.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cedarridgexo9.jpg)

While in the NP’s I was usually wearing zip-off pants, T-shirts, the same fleece jacket and occasionally a North Face hardshell. When hiking I was wearing hiking boots. And my hat :beanie:. And my Oakley Half Jacket (http://oakley.com/halfjacket) polarized.
I prefer the light coloured garments because they don’t heat up in the sun the same way dark colours do. Unfortunately light coloured clothes tend to mess up quicker…

As also mentioned in the main post we strapped clamp-on’s to the hiking boots when the trails turned out icy.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/166/bootsandclamponsed6.th.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bootsandclamponsed6.jpg)

Gear
Along with my check-in luggage I brought a small North Face Borealis (http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=NA&model=AE6J&language=en) back pack (I think my pack is an early issue compared to the one at the end of that link). This served as a day pack during our walks in the NP’s.

Apart from the stuff in the picture below we also brought:
Water. 0.5 l plastic bottles (during the entire trip we bought 3x24 bottles of water)
Sun screen
Food
Snacks and energy bars
Digicam
Pen and paper
Maps and info folders on the NP we were visiting
Binoculars
Small pill box with pain killers
Hand sanitizor
Passport and so on

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2346/redigeretusagrejvt7.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=redigeretusagrejvt7.jpg)

1. Wet tissues
2. Paper tissues
3. Thermometer (attached to pack shoulder straps)
4. REI whistle (attached to pack shoulder straps)
5. Emergency charger
6. Mobile phone: Nokia N73 (http://www.nokia.co.uk/link?cid=PLAIN_TEXT_119601)
7. Leatherman Juice S2 (http://www.leatherman.com/products/tools/s2/default.asp)
8. SAK: Vic Explorer (http://www.victorinox.ch/index.cfm?site=victorinox.ch&page=164&lang=E)
9. Suunto Clipper Compass (http://www.suunto.com/suunto/main/product_long.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=1013419867394 0056&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723697223380&bmUID=11122856)
10. Oakley polarized Half Jacket (http://oakley.com/halfjacket)
11. Keychain, details (http://edcforums.com/index.php?topic=511.msg203046#msg203046)
12. 5 m of accessory cord
13. Zipper pouch with mesh front
14. Strips, short and long
15. SureFire 2G-LED (http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/carfnbr/0/prrfnbr/24460/G2supandreg-sup-LED). I bought this in Las Vegas, and immediately included it in my EDC.
16. Chemical cooling package, first aid accessory, e.g. for twisted ankles
17. Lip balm with sun screen
18. Matches, carried along with No. 19:
19. Wire saw: Coghlan’s Commando saw (http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_CK%20S201_A_name_E_Coghlan%AE+C ommando+Saw) in a Maglite Solitaire gift box
20. Plastic container with eye drop vials
21. Gaze
22. Flexible tripod for digicam
23. Carabiner

Originally I brought the SAK (No. 8) from home, but carried the LM S2 (No. 7) as soon as I got this at REI in Las Vegas.

/Harald

[InspektorGadget]

:include:

Sounds like a nice time. I love road trips. Unfortunately my wife wont even consider them. She doesn't like "exploring" like I do.

Rich

[illusion]

How much gear did you buy Harald?

[Hank0331]

Some of those parks are on my list of favorite places I've been to. Even Death Valley is fun with the right amount of fire power. (Okay, maybe not in Death Valley, but close enough to feel the heat.) I sincerely hope you enjoyed your time in my favorite state and welcome you again.

[bigfoot]

Nice trip report and photos! You sure covered some mileage and saw a LOT of sights.

Ahhh... Williams, AZ. I remember stopping there as a kid on the way to the Grand Canyon. Somehow I doubt much has changed -- reading your notes kinda confirms that. :laugh:

[Harald]

How much gear did you buy Harald?


Illusion, you can find the entire list here (http://edcforums.com/index.php?topic=5767.msg203087#msg203087) :broke:

/Harald

[illusion]

Illusion, you can find the entire list here (http://edcforums.com/index.php?topic=5767.msg203087#msg203087) :broke:

/Harald


My money is going to grow wings when I get down there... :P

[bpfsu]

Sounds like a great trip. Been to the Grand Canyon a couple times as a child, but haven't made it as an adult. Don't know how often you get to make trips to the U.S., but Yellowstone National Park, to me, is one of the most impressive places I've ever seen. The variety of landscapes, wildlife, and geothermal activity make for an interesting sight. You would need to go during the summer, since they've closed it off to all but tour groups during the winter, but maybe my dad wouldn't have gotten a speeding ticket on his snowmobile had we followed a tour group.

Just my $.02

BP

Edit: Don't know where my brain is. I have been to the canyon as an adult, just not from the top looking down, but from the bottom looking up since my family went on a 5-day white water rafting trip down the Colorado River. Also very fun. Lot's of little side canyons with spectacular sights.

[Harald]

Don't know how often you get to make trips to the U.S., but Yellowstone National Park, to me, is one of the most impressive places I've ever seen. The variety of landscapes, wildlife, and geothermal activity make for an interesting sight.


Hm. I would sooo like to go. We might have to move there to see everything on The List :work:



Edit: Don't know where my brain is. I have been to the canyon as an adult, just not from the top looking down, but from the bottom looking up since my family went on a 5-day white water rafting trip down the Colorado River. Also very fun. Lot's of little side canyons with spectacular sights.

Wauw, that sounds cool! :relax:



My money is going to grow wings when I get down there... :P

:trampoline:
Illusion, you might want to do your shopping before going to the casino's... :evil:

/Harald