American Southwest

All of those except Yosemite and Redwood will be very hot during the summer.....and ironically very crowded, all the kiddies are out school so all the families are on vacation. While still very hot you might consider Capitol Reef NP and Escalante, both are much less crowded than the more well known Utah NP's. Another lesser known place is Cedar Breaks National Monument, it's one of my favorite places to visit. If you get there early, (say by 7:00 am) you can do the whole hike along the rim and probably be by yourself.

Sedona. I have been to all of the places you have mentioned. A lot of them are quite a bit alike. But I have never seen anything like Sedona, Arizona.

DONT" take one of those jeep trips. Take you own car or rent one of the ATVs. The Jeep tours are not in any one spot long enough and they drive right by some of the best views and overlooks.

Go look at the schedule of tours and you can get the names of the places that you want to see. Then go early in the morning and then again at the end of the day.

If you are going to be in California, I would say the Monterrey Peninsula is a must. All of Highway One is one of the most scenic coastlines in the world. I would do that before Death Valley myself.

Depending on where you enter California, Yosemite is not all that far from San Francisco. You can spend a life time in SF taking pics. Then it is just a few hours down the coast to Santa Cruise and on to Monterrey. You will want to do the 17 Mile Drive from Monterrey to Camel. From Camel continue south to Big Sur, on to Morro Bay via Highway One. From there you can cut over to Death Valley or keep going south to Santa Barbara.

David King,

Cedar Breaks National Monument is exactly the sort of place I don't want to miss out on. Really unique, beautiful landscape with some great trails.

Thanks a lot!

Adam

Floyd,

Sedona is the one place I have been, having lived there for several years as a kid. (My dad was a chef at the Enchantment Resort.) The red rocks of Sedona are definitely some of the most beautiful anywhere. I remember we lived in a house where you could walk out the door, cross the street, and get on the trail leading right up the Sugarloaf! It will be fun to go back. Good advice avoiding the jeep tours.

I'll have to look closer at all Highway 1 has to offer.

I'm also interested in the California wine country, any recommendations for the best regions?

Thanks,

Adam

Joshua Tree National Park... It would be hot...

Temecula, California has some nice wineries...

Big Sur...

Keep in mind tourists don't seem to get out until after 10 am. My experience living next to Acadia National park (very crowded in the summer) was that it was no problem getting parking before 10 which is when you want to be out photographing anyway.

Also 100 yards into any trail and you leave the crowds behind. My last NP trip was Banff last August. Terribly crowded around the hot spots and most of the trails required groups of four because of the bears. Its only an hour from Calgary so there you go.

I highly recommend Kings Canyon/Sequoia as a summer alternative to the Yosemite crowds. There are many highly scenic places, and you could even do a day hike into the backcountry.


I also second the recommendation of visiting Big Sur and the Monterey Area. Lots of great landscape opportunities around there.

If you decide to include Yosemite and hope to get great photos of the waterfalls I recommend visiting that park earlier in the summer rather than later. The drought in California is extreme. The water flow will taper off more and more as summer progresses. Also, don't stay just in the valley, there are some great vistas on the way up to Toulumne Meadows.



Mono Lake is just on the other side of the Tioga Pass and is beautiful as well.



You can also visit Bodie (state park I believe) just up the road from Mono Lake

Patricia,

Your photos are making me excited to explore Yosemite, probably more than anywhere else! Most people stay in the valley, it seems, and I wonder why that is? I for one will be spending a good amount of time in the Tuolumne Meadows.

Matt,

Your photo of Middle Rae Lake is incredible, I remember seeing this pristine spot in a documentary of the John Muir Trail. About how far of a hike into the back-country is this? I wasn't planning on doing too much back-country hiking but I might have to rethink my plans. It looks too awesome.

Edward,

Good point about tourists. I spent a lot of time in Glacier National Park last fall and rarely did I encounter anyone out and about early morning. I guess it's the same anywhere.

Glenn,

Thanks, I'll look into Temecula.

Adam: There are two ways to get to the Rae Lakes. The short way is 19 miles but includes a 7,000 foot climb up and over Glen Pass, then 2,000 feet down to the lakes. This is where I am standing in my profile pic, actually. The other way is 23 miles with a 5,000 foot elevation gain from the trailhead. The whole loop can be completed in four days. I'm not sure if you have that much time, but if you do I highly recommend it. It is an incredible hike.

Link: http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/rae-lakes-loop.htm

"My dad was a chef at the Enchantment Resort."

We ran into Enchantment Resort by accident just a week or so back! We had drinks in the bar and explored the entire place. It is wonderful!

For wine county you want to head north of San Francisco to Napa Valery. The other area that is producing a ton of wine is Paso Robles all the way south to Santa Barbara including Santa Maria where I live. But from Paso, in northern San Luis Obispo to and including Santa Maria there is nothing to see to speak of except vineyards. No great facilities to speak of until you get to southern Santa Barbara County and the Santa Yenez/Santa Barbara area.

But Napa is the best. Great wineries, rich in history and historic facilities and park like areas surrounding the tasting rooms.

If you get as far north you may want to consider going to the coast and checking out the giant redwoods. You can even ride the skunk train! Google that! It is actually pretty cool.

If it gets hot, don't forget about the Rocky Mountains... higher altitude = lower air temperatures.

Ya, Mono Lake and Bodie Ghost Town other great sites... just too many... lol

I'm real leery of the southwest in summer - I was in Joshua Tree National Park in April two years ago, 94ºF - it' doesn't get cooler as the summer advances. Rather then the SW - I'd head more to the NW - above SF (not missing the redwoods if you are in CA). With CA in drought - I'm not sure how the deserty parts would be - and as someone else pointed out - school is out.

Whatever - take your time and don't rush from place to place. IF you still go to Zion - take the tour - you'll see more than just driving through - even if you stop at places where you can pull out.

I agree, if I was traveling during summer I'd go North. I've heard good things about Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Grand Teton National Park is amazing. Even here in Utah we have the Wasatch and a little known area locals call "The High Uintas." is a great area for high altitude alpine scenery with plenty of great hiking trails and small crowds on weekdays.

Agreed, don't go anywhere south of Sedona/Flagstaff/Prescott in the summer in AZ.

Patricia Sanders said: I recommend visiting that park earlier in the summer rather than later. The drought in California is extreme. The water flow will taper off more and more as summer progresses. Also, don't stay just in the valley, there are some great vistas on the way up to Toulumne Meadows.

I second this recommendation. I've been to Yosemite in late spring and late summer. Far better in late spring. Less crowded too because you're there before the kids are out of school. Yosemite is like going to a photographer's convention. Many photographers with long lenses, multiple cameras, and even view cameras. I saw a guy with an old 4x5 camera and wooden tripod, Ansel Adams style.

That said, with Yosemite and any other park, while there are great things to see and photograph in the easy to get to areas, often the best stuff is on back country trails, many of which are day hikes and don't require backpacking. And the best part of that is only the hikers go in the back country. Very few tourists and families take these trails. Too much walking for them and not enough instant satisfaction. Even on the busiest days you can take some of these trails and only see a few people in a couple of hour period.

For good day hikes I recommend buying trail books for the places you want to visit. You'll get to know where the highlights are and can do some advance planning to make the most of your time.

Judging from your beautiful and most excellent photos you probably already know this, but I'm going to say it any way. If you don't have good hiking shoes, get a pair. Plain old sneakers will kill your feet on back country trails. We learned the hard on one trip to Yellowstone. My Merrells are among my best friends.

Depending on where and how you are traveling, the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in SW Oklahoma is not as well known but a very interesting place which is also rich with Native American history - Geronimo is buried there and old Ft. Sill has some historic and museum type area. The Kiowa and Comanche tribal headquarters are there as is, I believe, the Apache headquarters.

It's a bit east of the places you list and can be quite hot in the summer, but it's a very rugged southwestern mountain type terrain and quite beautiful and arresting. The refuge has never been plowed or farmed - it's a native mixed grass prairie surrounded by granite mountains.

I hope you're leaving soon. The gnats and heat will be annoying in those locations after Mid may and into June, except at higher elevations like Cedar Breaks. They're many of my favorite places, and spectacular. Don't miss the dirt roads, hole-in-the rock road, near Escalante, including Devil's Garden, and the dirt roads from Boulder to Bullfrog, and back up Notom road to Capitol Reef park headquarters.

Also, don't miss the dirt road through the Valley of the Gods, near Mexican Hat. These should not be too bad if you take it slow and it doesn't rain. Check with the parks and mention the type vehicle you drive. The roads are easy in a pickup, and should be fine for a normal car. Hole in the Rock road is too rough before you get all the way to hole-in-the-rock, but otherwise, you should be able to do it all if you use reasonable caution and care, assuming your car had good clearance for a passenger car. Easy does it, and you should be fine, I would think.

Horseshoe bend near Page AZ and Lower Antelope canyon would also be near the top of my must see list for the area.

Rae Lakes, Napa Valley, Valley of the Gods... I really appreciate the many great suggestions and info! I cannot wait to get out there. I'll be hitting the road the last week of May so hopefully the heat won't be too bad. Not thrilled about gnats, though!

Thanks again!

Adam, stay away from Yosemite! I just heard on the news tonight, that it sits atop a volcano that last erupted 40,000 years ago and has enough magma to fill up the Grand Canyon 11 times!

On second thought if it's been 40,000 years since the last eruption... you're probably good for a few more years before the next one. Never mind. :-)


Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Haha... although I think you're referring to Yellowstone super-volcano... yeah, I just googled it:

"Underneath the national park's attractions and walking paths is enough hot rock to fill the Grand Canyon nearly 14 times over."

I might just stay away!

If it goes while you are anywhere out west, Yellowstone will take out most of North America. Don't worry, be happy. You could get some great sunset shots, for a day or two before you die of inhaled volcanic ash.