In the fall, they release water from the the dam on the Gauley River each weekend after Labor Day. It’s some pretty intense rafting. I know you said you aren’t going to raft, but maybe find a trail to watch the rafts coming down it. I’ve only ever rafted at New River. I’ve never gone to hike.
numerous times traffic was stopped because some yahoo in a camper or big van was trying to go around a curve. Seems like they'd stop those at the entrance
When we were at Sequoia this Summer, they had a length limitation on vehicles that could use the south entrance, which is a series of endless switchbacks.
We tacked Sequoia and Kings Canyon on to the end of the trip to Yosemite and Big Sur as kind of an afterthought. I really liked both. No way to describe just how big those trees in Grants Grove are without walking through there.
Anyone do Paintbrush divide in the Tetons before? Think that’s what I’ll be doing at the end of august.
Anyone been to Yellowstone in October? Long story short. I reported back to work today after being on paternal leave the past month and found out that while out my company had doubled paternal leave from 4 weeks to 8. So I’ve got another month off and wife wants to go somewhere for like ten days. I’m trying to find something that can be enjoyed without long hikes and Yellowstone and Grand Teton seem to make the most sense.
Not in October, but I just got back from Yellowstone a week ago. Note that there are some major wild fires from western Montana and Idaho affecting large parts of park and neighboring areas,and the flooding from the summer has affected access to the park from the north entrance and removed access to Lamar Valley (the best wildlife watching area from what I've heard). We also weren't able to the biking through the park like we wanted because all of the trails in our area suffered washouts as well. Having said that, even dealing with all the various issues, we still had an amazing time. And I believe traffic is down quite a bit down compared to last year and average visation numbers, so it's not all bad news. The last report we saw said major road repairs were to be completed Oct. 15th, but it seemed like an ambitious schedule. If you do end up going and are looking for recs, I'd be happy to share. Wasn't able to make it to Grand Tetons due to flood-related issues, but it looks amazing.
I don't see why you wouldn't visit both Teton and Yellowstone unless it's just a short distance trip that you can make any weekend Teton was amazing
If you're staying at the north entrance of Yellowstone, it really hasn't been feasible since the flood.
Yes, but it's complicated. The traditional road from the north entrance was washed out and is being permanently abandoned. At the moment, there is a temporary road (that is being converted to a permanent) that allows for commercial guides to bring groups in. No personal entry is allowed via vehicle, and you can only walk/bike about 1/2 a mile into the park until you arrive at the first washout. The temp access, that requires a guide, also requires you to enter in one of two 1 hr windows (one at beteeen 5-6am, one between 7-8am). And you have to leave the park in one of two windows, either the 15min window starting at noon or the 15min window starting at 5pm. If you happen to miss that last window, you're forced into a 3-4 hr drive to get out of the park via the west entrance and back to where you need to go. It's definitely an ordeal. Supposedly things will be back to normal soon, though.
Planned on doing the South Kaibab Trail this morning but the trailhead was crowded even at 5:15. So did the Grandview Trail for the second time in three weekends. Great views and a heck of a workout on the way back up. A terrific trail which I won't get tired of 4.5 miles down from 7400 feet at the trailhead to Cottonwood Creek at 3900 ft. Saw a Bighorn Sheep on the trail and wild horses in Kaibab National Forest on the way home. Perfect day Spoiler
Anyone have any strong recommendations for hikes at Glacier NP? Heading there in mid October as I have a few days off in between jobs. Wouldn’t mind a long ish hike if available
Make sure you get to Many Glacier. For a 3/4 day hike, take one of the trails to Grinnell Lake. You can take the elevated one or the main one that is pretty much ground floor if you want something leisurely for all abilities. You won't sacrifice on viewpoints by taking the easier route
Did a long weekend trip to New River Gorge National Park this past weekend in West Virginia. Newest NP in the system, just established in 2020. It'd been a National River and protected land since the 70s, but they've beefed up the infrastructure and maintenance a bit with it becoming a national park. We were a tad early for prime #leafszn, but it was still pretty special. Did several hikes, none of them particularly strenuous/hard or long. Definitely a park you can hit all the highlights in a few days/weekend. We even did a few of the WV state parks which sort of surround the NP (the NP was basically several state parks they combined along the river). Stayed in Fayetteville WV, pretty cool little mountain/whitewater/climbing town. Weather was perfect, mid-50s, sunny and crisp with a bit of breeze. Some of the overlooks/easy drivable/accessible parts of the park were pretty crowded, but overall the least crowded NP I've ever been to. Lots of dogs on the trails, which I found a little odd, but makes sense b/c they aren't super difficult. The NP is also free, so you get a lot of families/folks driving through on 64 who stop. Overall highly recommend, a little latter in October and the trees would have been spectacular--we just didn't want to risk it being super cold.
Watch the weather reports for snow starting about 10/25. Just a precaution. You might not experience any at all… but you could also get dumped on.
Had my first trip to Smokey Mountain National Park this weekend. It was pretty stunning with the changing foliage. I did the Abram's Falls trail on Thursday and a family of river otters was swimming in the falls. I had no idea they had those in the South, I had only seen them in the West. That was pretty awesome and I was lucky to experience... I may post a video later if I can remember. Overall a great park, but extremely crowded even during the week. Thanks tspa for all the tips. We stayed in Townsend and followed many of your recs. Unfortunately we got caught in Cade's Cove traffic and didn't get to complete the entire Charlie's Bunion hike. We didn't arrive until late afternoon and it was getting dark, and there was ice on the trail in some spots so we decided to turn around when we were about half-way up and not risk anything stupid. I'll have to finish that one on the next trip.
That is awesome about the otters! I've actually never seen them in the wild. I have a friend who kayaks a lot and posts videos of them every once in a while, but they are pretty elusive. It stinks about Charlie's bunion, but it gives you an excuse to come back. I probably should have included in my write up on Charlies Bunion that you could have done the Jump Off which is a side trail off of Charlie's. It comes to a cliff edge that looks across to the bunion and I think is about two miles shorter round trip, which might have helped with time. So my bad on that, it's just not a trail I would have on my first visit list because Charlie's is better.
Shenandoah was pretty dry but we still caught some small(4-5") brookies. Best water hole we found ended up bring right beside our camp. Leaves were peaking. Not as vibrant as years past though. Not sure if that's something to do with the lack of rain.
Lady I work with spent the weekend at the North Rim and saw six inches of snow and -5 degree temps. It's wild how different it is up there. Definitely dropped the ball not getting up there this summer
2 questions: 1. Looking for the best tour of the Everglades. I've read many different opinion on this, but mostly I'm looking for a great tour to see wildlife for a half day or full day. There are so many options for tours in this park it is hard to decide which is the best, and if someone has had a good experience I'd love to know #Miami Hurricanes . Also, is it true the southern area down by Flamingo is not really worth visiting? It's a huge park so just trying to hit the highlights on my first visit. I can do other parts another time... 2. For those that have been to Alaska, what are the best parks that are accessible from Anchorage? I'd assume Denali is a great one but didn't know which of the other nearby parks are worth visiting.
Don’t base out of anchorage would be my opinion. Get your preferred camping style (motor home/camper/tent) and visit the kenai. Rent a 4wd and take the haul road up through the brooks range to north slope. Hope is a cool little town and turniagsin arm at its tidal bore are unique. Google the largest bore tides and schedule around them. Whittier is like a scene out of lotr. Bring me some halibut and rockfish out of Homer. Also Denali is a gem. Drunken here so babbling but all the above is true. my favorite Everglades trip was a kayak trip through mangrove tunnels. The water so perfectly still that it makes a perfect reflection of the mangroves and the sky. It’s surreal. Creates an illusion and confusion because the world above and below are identical. When the tide comes in through the tunnels it’s like low level white water. The airboats are low key awesome too.
I did a 10-day road trip through Alaska a couple of years ago and the write up is in this thread, I think. I would recommend bouncing around and staying multiple places to access the different parks, because even the parks you can drive to from Anchorage are not really close to Anchorage. Kenai Fjords would be the closest national park to Anchorage, and really the whole Kenai Kenai Peninsula is great. I did a boat tour into Kenai Fjords from Seward and would highly recommend. I don't normally like group tours that force me to be around people I didn't bring on my trip, but we saw so much wildlife and great scenery. The only part of the park you can really access by car is Exit Glacier. You can get to Wrangel-St.Elias by driving a 50ish mile dirt road to McCarthy. They call it the most remote town that you can drive to in the US. You will read some horror stories online about how bad the road is, but I didn't have a problem. The big thing to access from McCarthy is Root Glacier, and if you have never done a glacier hike this is a good one. There are also other trails from the town, and the scenery is great. If you want to drive to McCarthy, or any other dirt road, you will have to rent from a specialty car rental place. Most of the regulars at the airport (Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, etc.) won't let you drive on unpaved roads with their rental agreements. And much of the best stuff is off of unpaved roads. Then Denali NP is also an easy 4+ hour drive from Anchorage and definitely worth a couple of days. Other places with great views and hiking were the Willow to Fishook Rd., which is just north of Anchorage, and the Denali Hwy, which I took from Wrangell St.Elias to Denali. Both are unpaved and the Denali Hwy was really rough, and it was raining when I drove it, but the guy I rented a cabin from in McCarthy said he thought it was the prettiest drive in the state. There is also the Glenn Hwy, which follows the Matanuska River north of Anchorage which is beautiful. Off of it it is a bushwhacking trail called Lions Head that gets you to one of the best views I've been to anywhere.
I have gone to the Everglades a couple times and once around this time of the year. I went on an airboat tour in early Jan which was enjoyable, but cold. We got lucky in seeing one gator a couple storks. More often than not we were told you won't find much wildlife in the winter and that was the first gator they had seen in a few days. The Flamingo visitor center is not much and probably not worth the drive. It's probably the least impressive infrastructural area in a NP I have been to. I would recommend a slogging tour if anything. The macro terrain is not much to behold from the car. You need to be in it for it to be enjoyable imo. I also live 3k miles from it now and haven't been there in ten years so others will know more.
LeonardWashington are you consciously trying to fit the two NPs farthest away from each other into a trip? Should drive from Everglades to Alaska iyam