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Travelling California for 18 days.....Help!

Matt5791

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Arriving probably 27 August for the 18 days, so a bit of a whirlwind tour / driving holiday.

Any help or hints or "must sees" would be very much appreciated!

Photography will be a pretty important aspect. Planning on hiring a car and seeing the following, probably in this order:

Starting in LA;
Mojhave Desert and Joshua Tree National Park;
Las Vegas;
Death Valley;
Yosemite;
Sequioa Nat. Park;
Lake Mono;
Lake Tahoe;
Mt. Shaster;
Redwood Nat. Park;
Wine Country;
Big Sur

Sound like a lot......Why do you have so much interesting stuff!!

Matt
 
Matt,

Death Valley and Vegas in late August you'll be dealing with daytime temperatures between 40 to 45 degrees C. Warning: Yosemite and the other National Parks will be zoos (lots of people and traffic) during the Labor Day weekend August 29 through September 2nd. Avoid Interstate Highways 5 and 15 at all costs.

Travel tip: Get out of LA as soon as possible, which is not soon enough. Better yet, jet (SW-$49) to SF and start your trip there and spend 18 glorious days on the coast between Carmel (LF-land) to Crescent City.

yeah, I have a Nor-Cal bias.

Terry
 
Wow! Welcome to California (and a little bit of Nevada).

That's an ambitious itinery. If you do go to the Mojave, and death valley or Las Vegas in that season please be sure to bring lots and lots of water (at least two gallons per person per day for you and your car) and a few extra quarts of motor oil.

I too would fly into SFO and skip southern california / Nevada ....but, I'm also a bit biased
 
They don't call it Death Valley for nothing. Going there in August is insane. Yosemite in the summer is more like an amusement park with long lines than a national park. In winter, it's paradise. I'd suggest you go fewer places and stay in the northern half of the state and you'll have a much better time. But, I'm a NorCal guy, too. Southern California starts just south of Gilroy...
 
Iwagoshi said:
Death Valley and Vegas in late August you'll be dealing with daytime temperatures between 40 to 45 degrees C.
Click to expand...

Yeah, *be* *careful* *out* *there*. Most people have never experienced 45-degree weather and don't have a clear idea of just how fast you can get exhausted and dehydrated in it. I love the California deserts more than just about any other place on earth, but you gotta treat them with respect: Carry a lot more water than you think you need, check in with ranger stations, avoid going off-trail into the entrancingly lovely countryside.

I second the recommendation to reserve plenty of time for San Francisco. It's one of the very, very few American cities with an actual street life; you can sit and people-watch all day long in SF in a way that you generally can't in American cities.

And give yourself some time to improvise. California is full of weird little byways and eccentricities---the Mojave Desert probably has more strange things per square kilometer than any other place in North America. To my taste, the little abandoned places and the artifacts built by people who were a little mad and so on are a more interesting, often more photogenic aspect of the state than the Big Tourist Attractions are.

Be glad you're taking as long as you are, but even so, expect the distances to be greater than you expect, even when you take into account that they're greater than you expect. We fairly routinely get tourists who expect that they'll stay the night in LA, get up and drive north after breakfast, stop by Disneyland, stop by Yosemite, drive around the wine country a little and have dinner in San Francisco that night!

-NT
 
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Buy a 1 way ticket from LA to Las Vegas, and avoid trying to drive in or around LA until you absolutely have to. Also, you can make a much quicker dash through Death Valley and from there take rt. 136 (I think) up to rt. 395 North, and pass through Lone Pine (Think 'Alabama Hills') on your way up to Mono Lake (the town is Lee Vining) and even make a stop at Bodie, the ghost town.

If you keep going north you'll eventually make your way to Lake Tahoe (go over Monitor Pass for some amazing views), Truckee, and I-80. From there, the world is your oyster, and you've managed to save probably 18 hours of sitting in a non-moving vehicle, surrounded by everyone else in LA trying to get to yosemite/Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

From I-80 you can get to I-5 North, which will take you up to Mt. Shasta, although it's a good 3 1/2 to 4 hours north of Sacramento, with not a lot to look at along the way. Better to stay on I-80 west into San Francisco, or make your way through the wine country to the coast and come south on Rt. 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) into San Francisco, and keep to the coast going south back towards LA and your departure point.

I just did the drive from Bakersfield to Rt. 395 and north up to Tahoe, and back to Sacramento. It's a beautifully scenic drive (rt. 395) and you could spend as much or as little time as you liked east of the Sierra. You could easily do this trip with 18 days, especially if you leave out Mt. Shasta.

Good luck, have a great trip, buy lots of maps!

Paul
Roseville, CA
 
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Oh, also, get Bob Hitchman's 'Photograph America' newsletter. I'm just rereading No. 57, which is 'California Backroads', a wonderfully written descriptor that will give you some great ideas as to where you REALLY want to go. You can order online, I believe.

I have no connection to Bob Hitchman, other than I love his newsletter, which I consider a valuable resource for anyone travelling to a new location to do photography.

Paul
 
Hi there - thanks for all the advise - very helpful indeed.

There is a very good map shop not far from me and I'm off to get some maps and have a look.

Actually it might have been more helpful if I had mentioned that I've been to LA and SF before, albeit I haven't spent all that long in each place.
 
As the California residents have said, you've laid out a pretty ambitious itinerary, and several parts of it don't make a convenient loop.
Having lived in the Mojave desert for a while I know what to expect, but it's a bit of a shock for those unaccustomed to the heat. You won't want to be wondering about on foot in those places past about 10:00 A.M. until dusk. Around Death Valley temperatures exceed 45 C.
Yosemite will be a zoo, and probably not worth it, but there are other areas in the Sierras that don't have near the visitor intensity that Yosemite does and still have glorious vistas. Or, there is the coast, which will also be crowded, but the crowds will be more spread out.
Most of what you've outlined is not particularly close to L.A. Unless you have other plans for So. California it might be better to begin and end in Las Vegas, or SF
 
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Matt, since you've got a good amount of lead time, if you'd like to pm me your address, I can put together a care package with some info brochures, maps, etc, and mail it off to you. Just a gesture of friendship to our pals across the pond.
 
Depending on your route, you might spend some time in the Owen's valley, and Eastern Sierra's and the Bristle Cone forests. I'd consider substituting those for Yosemite or spending less time than more there that time of year if you'd really like to make the pilgirmage. There's also Bodey (abandoned mining town) in that area too. Be very careful about Death Valley in the summer, it can be very dangerous at that time of year which can make things a little less fun; much better winter/early spring location. Driving up from LA through the Mojave is a great trip. If you're comfortable with city driving, don't be worried about driving in LA. I grew up on the east coast, and then lived in so. cal for a few years, and honestly it's not as hard as Boston or New York. In LA Merge is a personal challenge and count on being cut off, but in Boston and New York (and other places in the North East with a lot of traffic) they'll _aim_ for you. Also keep in mind in your planning, some of those places are very far apart, California is a _big_ place (at least north to south). Have realistic expectations about driving times, and stopping places (fuel, food, lodging); there are streches of highway in the central valley where there's nothing for a quit a while.

Peter
 
...by the way, don't forget San Diego...Balboa Park, the Presidio, Sunset Cliffs...nothing to sniff at. In August, we'll have the best weather in the state...and the best beaches!
 
Shmoo said:
...by the way, don't forget San Diego...
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Yeah, it's all right. Unfortunately we're kind of out of the way with respect to everything else, and August isn't our most photogenic time of year, except maybe for street photographers who can work with the crowds of tourists and Arizonan refugees.

The OP really ought to come through San Diego *now*, if you ask me---this is just about the nicest spring I can remember. Lots of different flavours of interesting light, and the colour-landscape people should be in hog heaven with the way the wildflowers have been going.

-NT
 
also... take a look at "the center for land use interpretation." they are an amazing (and can be cooky) organization that deals with the way land is "used" throughout the states (and world). they have a great book on a drive that is a must!!! it's old highway 58 from barstow to the coast. the book explains it all... you'll see cult compounds, extraterrestrial research "sites" (more like wackadoo homes with amazing garden sculpture), the kern river oil fields (think Burtinsky), california valley (a godforsaken piece of land on a high plateau in the middle of nowhere that was supposed to be developed in the 50's with the help of general electric - now is a wasted suburban development sign, empty lots, and the residue of the attempt at the largest solar field in the world), and of course, you'll come out right at the madonna inn (gotta see the bathroom if nothing else)!!!!

pm me if you would like more info on some of the more wacky southwest... exotic dancer museum and stripper hall of fame (on an old goat farm in the middle of the desert between LA and Vegas), the bottle farm etc, etc,.

take a look here... Dead Link Removed


cheers! and have fun.

p.s. - before you get the hell out of LA, you've got to make a visit to the "museum of jurassic technology" -- it is bar none the most amazing place you will ever come across!
 
If you're going to "pass through" LA, be sure to hit the Getty Museum in Brentwood (across the freeway from UCLA). They always have a photographic exhibit that is worth attending, plus the gardens and grounds are simply spectacular. No tripods though. If you want to see an equally beautiful museum in LA, try the Getty Villa in Malibu. It's the original Getty museum and it is built in the form of an old italian villa and sits on a great site in Malibu overlooking the ocean. You'll have to make reservations (I think) for the Villa, but the Museum no longer requires them.

Have fun!
 
Thanks again for all the useful advice......very helpful indeed.

I guess I would be better off visiting later in the year and probaby in the winter for places like Yosemite. Unfortunately I'm constrained on all sides and end of August and into first half of September is looking like the only possibility.

Matt
 
I do not think that Yosemite will be a zoo by the time you get there in September.

I would recommend skipping Joshua Tree National Park. It falls under the catagory " ... not all National Parks are beautiful ... "

Consider adding Inyo National forest out side Big Pine to see the oldest living trees ... about 5,000 years old

and go up to the lodge at Mammoth and from there take the shuttle to the Devil's Postpile - do this in the afternoon because the morning sunlight will not do it justice on film.

and outside of Lee Vining drop over to Bodie. A ghost town in in a state of "arrested decay". http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509

Take lots of film!

Steve
 
I used to do a trip once a year or so when I lived in california that was the salton sea, to joshua park, to death valley, to trona pinnacles, to mono lake and that alone would take me about 2 weeks and I never had enough time in each place. If you would like recommendations on roads and off the beaten path places I'd be happy to help you out.
 

Matt,
I think that is a wise decision, the kids will be back at school, the weather and traffic will be mild and with any luck you may see some fall colors. But still avoid I-5, I-15 and LA at all cost....just because.
 
Matt5791 said:
We have decided to shift the trip around so that Yosemite is at the end - ie as far into September as possible. Hopefully it would be quite as busy then
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This is probably a good idea, most tourist spots are busiest in the US between Memorial day (late May) and Labor day (Sept. 1 this year). Most schools start on or around Labor day, so most kids are back in school, and family vacations are done.

Matt5791 said:
Even if it is though - I just have to go there after all this time looking at Adams photography!
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That was one of my biggest reasons for going. I decided I wasn't going to shoot the things that'd been done so often (el cap, half dome, etc). I came into the valley late in the afternoon with warm evening light on el cap; I'd stopped the truck and was setting up the view camera before I even gave a thought to it. Have a great trip, you've got a lot of great places to visit.

Peter
 

Good move!

Steve
 
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