leekelley

Hi,

Firstly apologies for the length of this but i thought it would be easier if i included everything. I am looking for advice on the itinerary, how to and best ways to get permits, accommodation that i might miss from the big booking companies and any little thing you think might be nice or problems we might face. so far all i have booked is the flights and car hire. We love walking (you will see that in the itinerary) and we have experience with altitude in South America. accommodation wise as long as we have a private room or tent we are happy. hostels, cabins, anything quirky but we will also stay in motels or somewhere cheap if it works out well. below is the itinerary i have planned so far, the numbers are the dates starting in July and ending in August:

27 Arrive in LAX at 19:20
28 Day in Los Angeles
29 Beaches near Los Angeles
30 Beaches near Los Angeles
31 Travel to Zion National Park (7hr) *recommendations on places to stop
1 Walk angels landing in Zion
2 Emerald pools or court of patriarchs
3 The narrows or Zion canyon *would a long day to antelope valley be better?
4 Travel to Vegas(2.5hrs)
5 Rest day in Vegas *cheaper chilled out hotel with pool?
6 Rest day Vegas and helicopter tour
7 Walk into Grande canyon floor to camp for the night
8 Walk out and drive to death valley *no idea where to stay
9 Day in death valley driving and finishing at lone pine *where would be the best place to stay with altitude to try and get a little bit of acclimatization?
10 **Advice I have set three days for Mt Whitney but cant seem to see the best way to do it. Either breaks it down to three days or two days hiking with a rest or two days hiking with acclimatization?
11
12 Drive to Big pine
13 North Folks walk near Big Pine (1hr)
14 Drive to Yosemite (2hrs) *stay somewhere near lambert dome
15 Walk clouds rest
16 Walk half dome and drive to Yosemite valley to camp for 2 nights
17 Walk the mist trail and vernal falls
18 Drive to lake Tahoe(5hrs)
18 Rest day lake Tahoe
20 Emerald bay walk and rest day
21 Drive to San Fransisco (4hrs)
22 Day in San Fran
23 Day in San Fran
24 Leave San Fran at 19:35

tomfuller

The 30th fly from LAX to Las Vegas (cheap). Rent a cheaper rental car in LV After Zion and Grand Canyon return the car in Las Vegas spend a day there and then fly to San Francisco(or Oakland) and rent a car to go to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. Return the car to San Francisco and fly home without leaving a car where you did not rent it. Skip Death Valley in the late summer. the other parks are much better and not as hot.

janisj

Just time for a quick comment >>4 Travel to Vegas(2.5hrs) - 5 Rest day in Vegas *cheaper chilled out hotel with pool?

tomfuller

The Golden Nugget along the Fremont Street Experience has a pool with a slide that goes through the shark tank. The pool is quite well shaded. I saw the pool from the upstairs buffet at the Nugget which is quite good.

leekelley

thank you. yes after some thought i will just drive through Death Valley and not stay there. I like the idea of flying but i have already booked my car.

emalloy

Your 6,7,8 Have you considered the time it takes to get between the parks? Do you have a reservation to camp at the bottom of Grand Canyon? Can you hike out and then drive to Death Valley? It will be very hot down in Grand Canyon and most of us consider it a bit more than a "walk" to get down and back up.

Likewise, you don't really walk up half dome and need reservations to camp there too.

You've planned plenty of time for Zion, but it will be hot there too.

sf7307

You also need a permit to climb Half Dome. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm

janisj

Don't worry about keeping a car (tom apparently was traumatized by a rental drop off fee sometime in his past He tells everyone to do that. At least he didn't try to get you on a train)

If you want Death Valley, Mt Whitney, Tioga Pass, and Yosemite you have to have a car.

Re your plans for the GC and Half Dome - yes you need permits/reservations.

I personally don't think Aug 8 is possible. ESPECIALLY in August. The hike out will take around 7 hours and likely longer in the possibly extreme heat. Then the drive is at least 6 hours.

wanderingcanadian

You need a back country permit to camp at the Bright Angel Campground, reservations for cabins and dormitories can be made up to 13 months in advance and are usually sold out within a few hours of the time they become available, it takes 4-6 hours to hike into the canyon and almost twice as long to hike back up and out

5alive

It seems like you have some out and backs to Las Vegas. If that's not something you want, consider this itinerary:

Las Angeles days
Drive straight to Grand Canyon Village next.
Drive to Zion next...
Then to Vegas.
Carry on as you were .

Yes the drive to the Canyon will be long, so get an early start. It is clocking at about 8 hours . I have done it (a long time ago!).
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​​​I would recommend you get two nights lodging at the Canyon so that you can see the sunrise that second morning, before leaving for Zion.

​​​​​Hopefully someone who has traveled this area more extensively can confirm, but I think Hwy 89, which will take you to Zion, is supposed to be a beautiful drive in parts. It goes through another national monument called the Grand Escalante .

The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is really boring so this should be a vast improvement .

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J62

Up to day 6 your itinerary sounds fine. After that you are either omitting or seriously underestimating travel times between locations, and trying to fit too much into too little time.

StantonHyde

I have backpacked into the Grand Canyon 6 times. You couldn't pay me to do it in August. Temps will be in the 100s at Phantom Ranch. You will need to spend the night before your hike at the Rim--not in Vegas. You will need to start at 4:30 or 5:00 am at the latest. I can tell you it takes all day (6-8 hours) to hike down the South Kaibab trail with a backpack, sleeping bag, tent, food etc. with a group of people. You can do it quicker with just the 2 of you. Start at 5 am, get there, and then spend the day sitting in the creek or the River. I would try to get reservations in the bunk house but you may be too late. Otherwise, you are sleeping outside and maybe it gets down to 80 degrees. Take the Bright Angel Trail out--that will take 7 hours. You have to start by 5 am. And yes, you need permits for all of this.

I would skip the South Rim and go to the North rim and do some rim hikes or go a short ways in and come back out. At least it will be cooler.

RVvagabond

Tahoe visit
Emerald Bay. Scenic - driving to. The scenic spot is that island. You need to reserve a boat to that island.
https://www.viator.com/Lake-Tahoe-at...ark/d816-a1606

HOWEVER - I'd take a tram up the top of Heavenly Valley ski resort and look down on all of Lake Tahoe.
Or, both. https://www.tahoevacationguide.com/A...rialtrams.html

If you are from Denmark - there are micro-breweries (small brewery) in South Lake Tahoe.
There is one next to the tram that goes to the top of the mountain.

Death Valley - one of my favorite parks, but brutally hot in July/August which is an attraction.
Stop at Stove Pipe Wells for lunch and a beer. I don't like the other resorts as they are very commercial

Vaga

janisj

>>You need to reserve a boat to that island

janisj

. . . and the view is even better from up on Eagle Falls on the roadway -- the island itself isn't 'The' scenic spot

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Jean

Do you have a permit for Mt. Whitney? If you hike round-trip in one day, you need a day pass. If you hike over 2 days, you need a camping pass. If you camp, there are lots of rules you need to know about. Bear-resistant food containers, packing out your human waste and trash, no camp fires, no camp sites within a certain number of feet of the trail or water, etc. You need a water filtration device, etc. There's probably more I'm not remembering, but basically this isn't an excursion you figure out after you arrive. And you should be a Lone Pine well before the hike. A few days would be ideal. Lone Pine is 6000 feet. Whitney Portal Campground is over 8000 feet.

If you can't get Whitney passes, consider heading to Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, Twenty Lakes Basin off Tioga Road, Virginia Lake, Twin Lakes... So many day hiking options. Also, Mono Lake is interesting.

Do you have campground reservations for your nights in Yosemite?

Jean

https://www.recreation.gov/permits/M...O&parkId=72201

RVvagabond

LA beaches:
Surfing - Huntington Beach. Highest waves are at the pier. It think they close surfing mid-morning.
North about 5 miles is (was) reserved for all day surfing. Best surf in early AM.
Local board shops have instruction
24 hours Web Cam of the pier
https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/re...s/pier-webcam/

THE fun-fun entertaining beach is Venice. You can rent a bike and peddle up/down the beach.
Venice Beach ? Venice Beach, for the creative and the artistic.
24 hour Web Cam
https://www.westland.net/beachcam/

Most movie clips are at taken at Santa Monica. The view from the cliffs is scenic, but the beach itself is -- well, boring.
Vaga

bachslunch

You've allotted at least three days for Zion, and having The Narrows and Angel's Landing on separate days seems wise (haven't done them). Emerald Pools is wonderful, isn't especially challenging, and won't take up a huge amount of time. Am thinking you could fit this easily into the later afternoon after Angel's Landing. If so, you could spend the next day at Bryce Canyon, which isn't all that far away -- one day is a good amount, and it's well worth the visit.

wanderingcanadian

Hwy 89 from Grand Canyon to Zion is stunning, I agree LA direct to Grand Canyon, its probably too late to get accommodation in the park, but you could try Tusayan, the entire area was really busy when I was there in mid-October, it will be much busier in the summer.
Grand Canyon to Zion, then add Bryce Canyon, it is very different than anywhere else you are planning to visit, if I was in that area again I would go back to Bryce instead of a return visit to Zion. Zion is lovely, we found that it's very difficult to see much unless you are part way up a mountain, the canyon is very narrow and looking directly up doesn't provide good views. You will not be able to take a private car into the park, all in park travel is by bus.
I haven't visited the other areas so no comment on that part of the trip