There are signs at the Grand Canyon that say “down is optional, up is mandatory”.
One more thing about hiking the Grand Canyon: it ain’t really worth it.
Yeah, it’s a challenge. And yeah, it’s a wonderfully satisfying thing to brag about having done. And yeah, I’m glad I did it.
But hiking down the canyon isn’t like hiking up a mountain. When you reach the peak of a mountain, you earn your reward: -there’s a great view–a wide, impressive, vista stretching for miles in every direction.
Now, the Grand Canyon is one of the greatest views you’ll ever see—but *the view doesn’t improve when you hike it! * The best vistas are from the top, before you start.
For some people, that’s probably true. My experience was a bit different. I went to the Grand Canyon several years before I hiked it. The view was gorgeous, but it was too grand to really take it all in. The scale of the place was just beyond what I could really appreciate. I had to go back and get down into the canyon; to feel what it did to my body in order to give some context to what my brain had already seen. There was one spot where the trail curved around a wall and it looked like it just went out into open space. There’s an inner, deeper part of the canyon that, viewed from the rim, doesn’t look like much. When I got there on foot I discovered it was still another 1000 feet down to the river. I got overheated and threw up about a hundred yards before the bridge. Had to sit down in a little stream to cool off, filled my water bottles, drank and threw up again, then staggered to Phantom Ranch.
And that was just on the way down. Took about 16 hours to hike back up. I was seriously hurting at the time. But looking back, I’m glad I did it. I can appreciate it now in a way I never could before.
I’d love to do a rafting trip. I’ve done side-to-side, someday I want to go end-to-end.
The descent into the Grand Canyon, either by foot or by mule, is definitely worth it. One of my most vivid memories of the Canyon is a violent thunderstorm during the night I was in the Phantom Ranch. The reverberations were incredible.
And in spite of the extreme heat, the river is like ice.
And yes, hiking down is much more brutal than hiking up. Among other things, it’s murder on your feet. I’ve also hiked up and down volcanoes; have only gotten injured on the way down.
That looks like an interesting hike, and a jewel in the desert.
The distance issue is now a stereotype in the US. Places in the US, especially the west, are much further than they are in Europe. US tourists are known worldwide for being boorish, self-entitled assholes. People in the US make fun of ignorant European tourists who expect to rent a car in New York City for the week and take day trips to Vegas, the Grand Canyon, LA, and the Alamo. Dude, take a look at the map!
This x 100. I’m so seriously.
Please don’t be like these German tourists who never made it out of the desert. It’s dangerous out there - hot, dangerous, dry, and hundreds of miles of wilderness unlike anything you will find in Europe. There are coyotes out there, and they can hurt you.
Most of the safety tips that apply to the Australian Outback apply to the wilderness areas of the SW US.
Even though it looks like I am late to the party, I’d like to add my voice to the chorus of those saying the original plan is undoable, or at least unrealistic.
I’ve driven/hiked many of the routes you outlined. Things take longer than you expect and distances in the West are greater than you think, complicated by rugged geography. You will be dashing from one place to the next without allowing time to stop and smell the roses and no way to consider options on the spot. You could spend a month in Yosemite and still miss most of it.
So plan a more leisurely trip this time and save something for next time. You’ll be glad you did.
As I said, we are now committed. While you are more than welcome to tell us this trip is impossible, at this point it’s gonna happen pretty much as described in post #60 (for the sake of completion, we are staying in Kanab, UT, at the end of day 9).
Any more particular tips about awesome stuff to eat or see along the way?
I’m not sure if you are talking to me or a hypothetical stupid person, but thank you - I did! If you take a look at post #60, you’ll see all of our driving mapped out, and you’ll notice that there are two, maybe three days with a driving total of more than 4 hrs. I appreciate all the advice and feedback, good and bad, that I was given, but please don’t make me out to be like the ignorant European tourist you were talking about. I have been to most of these places, I have done the hikes, and I know it’s doable. I am not talking about driving from New York to the Grand Canyon in a day here.
How truly bizarre. We’ll have to see if we have two hours to spare that day, but it sounds really interesting! Anything “must see” in Death Valley right off the highway?
I think 2 hours from the Valley to to Lee Vining is decidedly optimistic, for several reasons:
- Traffic in Yosemite Valley can be brutal - many summer days have some times of near gridlock. (But you’ll probably be departing early, which may avoid much of the problem.)
- Route 120 is typically quite busy.
- It will be at least as busy as normal this summer, given that it will be very late to open due to record snowpack.
- Tuolumne Meadows is stunningly beautiful (whence all the cars full of tourists) - chock-full of amazing place to stop for overlooks, swimming (Tioga Lake), short & long hikes, etc. It has a great reputation - which would be much greater if the nearby Valley (a serious contender for “most spectacular location on planet Earth”) didn’t grab most of the headlines. You will have to harden your heart to pass through this area without stopping.*
Two hours might be close to record time for this drive in tourist season.
*It’s probably too late to fit with your plans, but there’s a remarkable and under-appreciated hike you could do: It starts near Tenaya Lake and takes you 7.5 miles (each way) to Clouds Rest, a peak just east of - and 1000’ higher than - Half Dome. The peak is sort of a blade of rock (about 150’ wide), with drop-offs of around 2000’ to the south and 5000 ft to the north - a stunning 50-degree granite face with Tenaya Canyon below. From there, the view west, looking down onto Half Dome and into the Valley beyond, is one of the finest you will see in a long lifetime. But this is a full day’s adventure - and at least moderately strenuous.
We didn’t plan on driving through the park in two hours, precisely for reason number 4. That’s just the total amount of driving we have to do that day (as I said, rough estimate, as Google Maps will not let me take Tioga Road. I’ve been told Mapquest will). The day will be dedicated to taking this beautiful road at a leisurely pace, stopping wherever we see something that strikes us or taking a dip in a lake. Lee Vining (or Bishop, slight change of plans) is but our last stop that day and not a destination in itself.
Okay - makes sense.
If you’re interested in an attractive & inexpensive place to spend the night near Lee Vining - and are into camping - a good option may be US Forest Service campgrounds along Route 120. They don’t fill every day, so there’s a decent chance you can just show up and grab a spot. These are fairly primitive sites: water, toilets and trash disposal available, but no showers, electricity or other services.
One I’ve used is located at 37.9305/-119.1613 - about a 4-mi drive from the town of Lee Vining. It has several camping sites along Lee Vining Creek, with interesting bird life and trout visible in the clear water.
Note that while the rather few restaurant choices in Lee Vining reach into the semi-acceptable range, the food stores and gas stations there seem devoted to the cause of making you wish you’d shopped elsewhere. I know little about Bishop, but suspect it would be better in this regard (it could scarcely be worse).
You’ll want to arrive at the west entrance to Yosemite Park with a full tank of fuel. It’s available in the Valley and at Crane Flat, but notably expensive. It used to be available in Tuolumne Meadows, but that station was permanently closed a couple of years ago.
As I’m sure you do as well, I wish you had more time to spend in Utah, the natural beauty here is tremendous.
There has been weather-related flooding off and on since February in a few counties up here in the Northern part of the state; I saw in the Darwin Falls blog post someone wearing rubber boots - that’s a great idea.
Utah’s alcohol markup is set at 86%, so you can either get the cheaper, weaker beers at a grocery store or the stronger and more expensive stuff at state-run stores or the brewery/distillery themselves. The .05 DUI law goes into effect in 2018.
The Whoa Nellie Deli just up the hill on 120 has great food and some picnic tables outside with a grand view of Mono Lake.
One of my favorite spots in Death Valley–someplace I visit almost every time I’m there–is the pool at Furnace Creek Ranch . I think day-use is $5.
OK, you’ve done it before, so you know what you’re in for. 
I’m positive you can book breakfast and/or dinner at the Ranch without staying in the dorm, but not sure of the specifics. I would call the Back Country office (don’t have the number) and see if they can help. That’s what they’re for.
The Whoa Nellie Deli – whoa, they must be (fairly) new because there used to be nothing there, on 120 and close to 395. And by fairly new I mean in the last 20 years. Before then I drove or rode 120 regularly from San Francisco over to My in-laws in Bishop, before they moved away. And 108, 4, 88, 89, etc…
I called their number but their message says they’re closed for the season. Makes sense, because Tioga Pass is closed every winter for the snow and they’d get very little traffic.
Looks like a good place, thanks for the tip.
Yosemite in July can be crazy crowded, just getting in and out of the park in your car can take many more hours than you anticipate just due to the traffic.
I’ve driven and ridden across Yosemite on 120 lots of times in the summer. If you do it early AM or after dark when the constepatingly slow RVs are off the road then everything - uhh - passes through nicely.
I’ll second Whoa Nellie Deli–great food in the middle of nowhere. It even has its own Wiki page.
If you are going to stay in Kanab I highly recommend staying at The Parry Lodge. It is a local institution and old time Western movie stars stayed there back in the day.
Keep in mind that when driving into Zion (and I assume Yosemite) there will be a LONG delay at the park entrance (it could easily be an hour at peak times). There is also a tunnel that only allows for one-way traffic (during peak times) so there will be a delay there as well. Depending on your schedule you will want to park outside the park in Springdale and take the shuttle into the canyon. You’ll eventually have to drive through Zion to get to Bryce/Kanab but you can do it later in the day when the line won’t be as long.
I don’t see it mentioned yet, so I’ll recommend getting a “America The Beautiful” National Park annual pass. Cost is $80, which will save you some money vs. paying for each individual park’s entrance fee.