National Parks and Camping (advice for me + general discussion)

[idrinkcoors]

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Clarification: I'm looking to stay on foot and generally stay away from busy campsites.

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Trail Ridge Road gets some heavy tourist traffic sometimes, (it's still a 2 lane road), but RMNP is so huge, you won't have ANY trouble getting away from crowds. The vast majority of RMNP visitors are people who drive the road then stay at a hotel at Estes Park or Grand Lake.

P.S. If you ever saw "The Shinning" you need to visit the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

[RunDownHouse]

Definitely recommend RMNP. Also, check with the rangers at the park about camping elsewhere in the area. I don't know about the back country permit turnipmonster was talking about, but back around 2000 a friend and I were going to camp there but balked at the ~$15 fee. We talked to a ranger and he told us that, if we found an established fire ring outside the park bounds, it was ok to camp there. We found one just outside the park borders, up this little dirt track that needed 4WD to get to. It was incredible. Double check with the rangers, but I've done it a couple times since and every time its been way better than paying for a tent space in a campsite with RVs and everything else.

[suzzer99]

Man I could write a few pages on this. But with August you are somewhat limited. First of all get a National Parks Pass - although I think they call it something funky this year and they raised the price from $50 to $80. If you go to more than one park it pays for itself.

Sounds like Rocky Mt. Natl park would be a good place to start. IF you wind up coming SW be sure to check out Zion and Yosemite. Although Zion will be fairly hot and Yosemite will be crowded, but so will everywhere else that's not scorching in August. Best time to do the Zion Narrows river hike is August - it's awesome. To me one of the highlights of So. Utah is just taking the backroads all over the place, and as long as you have AC, you can do this anytime. Bryce Canyon is a lot cooler than Zion as it's at higher elevation, and definitely worth seeing.

Here's my trip report and pics from that area which you may find helpful:

http://www.synergizethis.com/FourCornersTrip.html

Also there's a link to some CA deserts stuff off that page.

And Yosemite is such a magical place, I can't imagine ever having a bad time there. If you do Yosemite - try hiking from Toulame Lake (sp) up to Cloud's Rest. But be sure to train first, the first couple miles are fairly brutal. But once you get to Cloud's rest and the day hikers have gone back, you'll have the place all to yourself. In August there's a good chance you can sleep out under the stars, which is a really magical experience. Then from there you can hike down towards the valley and do half-dome - if you have any legs left. Hiking to the top of Half-dome after Cloud's Rest is probably the most worn out I've ever been in my life. But I made it, and I'm a fat POS. So a lot of people should be able to.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

[gila]

Those are some real great pictures. I am trying to learn to take better pictures. What kind of Camera/lens were you using? These are the sort of pics I am most interested in. Just nature, at it's best.

[suzzer99]

All thos pics were taken with a Sony point-and-shoot (DSC-W1) which has now gone to camera heaven. I just bought a Nikon D80 - my first serious camera - that I'm taking to Ireland in a few days. I'm still getting used to carrying around a camera that won't fit in my pocket. But I knew that was going to be tough. Hopefully I won't leave it on a bus in Ireland, as I like to do with anything that's not attached to me when I'm travelling.

[bwana devil]

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P.S. If you ever saw "The Shinning", the mini series on tv, you need to visit the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

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how you say, "fyp"?