It's booked! I'm taking a week-long road trip which corresponds with my birthday. It will be nice to get away from my computer, and take some of the backroads. My itinerary is:
- Friday, September 16th - Travel from Sacramento, CA to Winnemucca, NV (http://markholtz.info/1f2)
- Saturday, September 17th - Travel from Winnemucca, NV to Jackpot, NV (http://markholtz.info/1f3)
- Sunday, September 18th - Travel from Jackpot, NV to McCall, ID (http://markholtz.info/1f4)
- Monday, September 19th - Travel from McCall, ID to Coeur d'Alene, ID (http://markholtz.info/1f5)
- Tuesday, September 20th and Wednesday, September 21st - Stay in Coeur d'Alene, ID
- Thursday, September 21st - Travel from Coeur d'Alene, ID to Ontario, OR (http://markholtz.info/1f6)
- Friday, September 22nd - Travel from Ontario, OR to Winnemucca, NV (http://markholtz.info/1f7)
- Saturday, September 23rd - Travel from Winnemucca, NV to Sacramento, CA (http://markholtz.info/1f8)
And, here is the entire trip (http://markholtz.info/1f9).
Should be fun. Depending on what mood I'm in, I can make side trips in Spokane, Montana, or even Canada.
You can drive from Sac to the ID border in a day pretty easily. Why not give yourself more time in Idaho? It's gorgeous up there, especially around Hells Canyon. And I really like Spokane. Well worth visiting.
There's also some very pretty stuff along the Snake River in the lower part of Idaho (Twin Falls is nice), and Boise is a really great town. I've been wanting to get back to Boise for several years.
Just curious but what's the occasion and I'm taking it you're trying to cap the days at 300 miles? Since you're up in CDA might be worth your while to go east and check out Wallace/Kellogg and the mines along I-90. Flathead Lake and the Going-to-the-sun Road aren't very far either...possible in a single day to boot.
My cap is 250-300 miles per day. No special occasion, just want to check off another state. As for visiting Wallace and Kellogg.... depends on the whim of the day.
Quote from: ZLoth on July 28, 2016, 07:19:31 AM
My cap is 250-300 miles per day. No special occasion, just want to check off another state. As for visiting Wallace and Kellogg.... depends on the whim of the day.
Which one though...why 300 miles? Hopefully you don't mind me asking this but are you uncomfortable with heading off the main highway or traveling a large distance? Reason I ask is because there a lot of doubling back on a stretch of the Great Basin that doesn't have a ton of stuff on it. If that's not the case I could come up with some pretty bad ass alternates on the way back that would fit the 300 miles you're looking at. Also, why not head west towards Bend on US 20 and US 97/OR 62 to get a little bit more meat of the state like Crater Lake in?
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bend,+OR/Ontario,+OR+97914/@43.5273681,-120.1105962,9z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x54b8c0ffa5d3d251:0x1088e7acc720d1b4!2m2!1d-121.3153096!2d44.0581728!1m5!1m1!1s0x54af8fabaacb6761:0x42b1fe6ec09457c5!2m2!1d-116.9629378!2d44.0265525?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bend,+OR/Crater+Lake+National+Park,+Oregon/Redding,+CA/@42.3001631,-124.1172915,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x54b8c0ffa5d3d251:0x1088e7acc720d1b4!2m2!1d-121.3153096!2d44.0581728!1m5!1m1!1s0x54c6170840e5e339:0x902bf2e1452fe3a3!2m2!1d-122.1684785!2d42.8684411!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d291d63b4a202f:0x1f3358ec7b360f57!2m2!1d-122.3916754!2d40.5865396!3e0?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Redding,+CA/Sacramento,+CA/@39.5781686,-122.8430824,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d291d63b4a202f:0x1f3358ec7b360f57!2m2!1d-122.3916754!2d40.5865396!1m5!1m1!1s0x809ac672b28397f9:0x921f6aaa74197fdb!2m2!1d-121.4943996!2d38.5815719!3e0?hl=en
Well, I'm not driving to make time, I'm driving to have a good time. Thus, the magical "300" number. Divide 300 by 60, and you get 5... hours. Also, I will get at least 400 miles out of a tank of gas.
As for Oregon..... that is in the planning stages for next Spring.
Quote from: ZLoth on July 30, 2016, 04:06:29 AM
Well, I'm not driving to make time, I'm driving to have a good time. Thus, the magical "300" number. Divide 300 by 60, and you get 5... hours. Also, I will get at least 400 miles out of a tank of gas.
As for Oregon..... that is in the planning stages for next Spring.
Right....but what I'm saying is that you are literally missing a lot of the best places for goods times and they wouldn't require much additional distance with some minor reroutes on the trip back. I'm talking Crater Lake, Lassen Peak, Lava Tubes National Monument and Mount Shasta to name a few. I gotcha on the 300 miles, I'm just saying that maybe you ought to look at the western alternate instead of doubling back the exact way you came in.
I never heard of Lava Tubes National Monument, and I lived in California for almost thirty years. Still, again, something for a sprintime trip.
Quote from: ZLoth on July 30, 2016, 09:31:43 PM
I never heard of Lava Tubes National Monument, and I lived in California for almost thirty years. Still, again, something for a sprintime trip.
Actually it's Lava Beds National Monuments, it's lava tubes (was thinking about the tubes earlier and said that instead of beds) that are the main attraction. Basically it's on the north side of Mount Shasta near Tule Lake and CA 139:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lava+Beds+National+Monument/@41.7142224,-121.5120046,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x54cea67ae59ba40d:0xd388a0ca3c885cfb!8m2!3d41.7142224!4d-121.5098159!6m1!1e1?hl=en
Quote from: ZLoth on July 30, 2016, 09:31:43 PM
I never heard of Lava Tubes National Monument, and I lived in California for almost thirty years. Still, again, something for a sprintime trip.
I was at Lava Beds NM this past February, and it was pretty cool. They give you a flashlight at the visitors center (after they interview you to see if you have that bat disease), and you can go down into the tubes. The landscape is pretty interesting as well. It was sparsely populated in February, but probably gets a busier in the summer.
Quote from: coatimundi on July 31, 2016, 12:58:57 PM
Quote from: ZLoth on July 30, 2016, 09:31:43 PM
I never heard of Lava Tubes National Monument, and I lived in California for almost thirty years. Still, again, something for a sprintime trip.
I was at Lava Beds NM this past February, and it was pretty cool. They give you a flashlight at the visitors center (after they interview you to see if you have that bat disease), and you can go down into the tubes. The landscape is pretty interesting as well. It was sparsely populated in February, but probably gets a busier in the summer.
Wasn't too bad in May when I was heading to Crater Lake, but that could have been because it was pouring out and there was a low ceiling at about 6,000 feet. I wouldn't recommend trying out in the rain, I got soaked down in those lave tubes but still worth a visit. Really you are out in the middle of nowhere in the northeastern part of the state, weird to see all those natural lake all impounded by the Klamath project.
How is April/May for a visit up in the Crater Lake/Klamath Falls? I will need to take the time off anyways.
Slightly dicey this year since only a small portion of the western rim road was open. I still had a blast since I had a couple friends from Bend come down for a visit in Klamath Falls and we had basically the entire town to ourselves. The weather was in question the entire time and I want to say that I went the second week of May? I'd recommend the last week or May first week of June since you'll probably have more west rim drive open but not the tourist crowd yet. The camp ground was closed also when I was up there.
From May the 7th:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1255.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh630%2FMadMaxRockatansky73%2F13147365_10207973214520796_1519465141276458103_o_zpssk2ccsb7.jpg&hash=2492d78ad5e7f7920293bf10aa6df2320a00d068)
I want to say it was 42 F when I left like at 11 AM that morning? Started out beautiful out but that storm started to brew up on the eastern rim. Got what I came for though and that was pictures with a ton of snow.
Less than a week to go!
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 30, 2016, 09:35:56 PM
Quote from: ZLoth on July 30, 2016, 09:31:43 PM
I never heard of Lava Tubes National Monument, and I lived in California for almost thirty years. Still, again, something for a sprintime trip.
Actually it's Lava Beds National Monuments, it's lava tubes (was thinking about the tubes earlier and said that instead of beds) that are the main attraction. Basically it's on the north side of Mount Shasta near Tule Lake and CA 139:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lava+Beds+National+Monument/@41.7142224,-121.5120046,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x54cea67ae59ba40d:0xd388a0ca3c885cfb!8m2!3d41.7142224!4d-121.5098159!6m1!1e1?hl=en
Following up on this old topic....
I toook advantage of the suggestion, and spent July 6th and 7th at Lava Beds National Monument (http://markholtz.info/lavabedsnm) as part of a mini-vacation. Even though it was a holiday week, it was surprisingly non-crowded. I stayed at the Wild Goose Lodge in Merrill, OR (http://markholtz.info/wildgooselodge) which, for $60 for a small room and microwave, is pretty good. The park was a 30 minute drive away. Some of the "easy" caves, however, were closed due to the endangered bats. Still it was cool to be standing in the cave, turn off the lights, and being in total, complete, and disorienting darkness. Be sure to bring THREE LED-powered flashlights.
As for the previous trip... nice. Because my day trip to Canada took place a few days after the 9/17-19 New York/New Jersey bombing incidents (http://markholtz.info/1na), so all of the Canada border crossing personnel were wearing bulletproof vests, and did a thorough search of my car. The day trip got
bleeped up because of a credit card verification call of a credit card that I didn't apply for followed by a dead battery. I did circle around Kootenay Lake and take the Balfour-Kootenay Bay ferry. I also drove through Moscow (Idaho) and Rome (Oregon).
Kind of interesting how the second tier stuff in the Park Service always seems to be slow on holiday weekends. We did Kings Canyon proper over the holiday weekend and nobody was around past Grant Grove. I suspect most the holiday tourists just wanted to see the big trees and bug for Yosemite (which also was dead up on Tioga Pass on the 6th after everyone went home).
I wasn't too thrilled with my photo results from last year Lava Beds with all the heavy rain, I like to maybe retry in October. I might try to head up to Boise via Crater Lake before Columbus Day to see my brother's new house. I might have to look at that hotel option you described, something a little more quite than Klamath Falls might be what I'm looking for.