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Discussion November road trip across the US, suggestions?

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brianmanahan said:
from my 2 coast-to-coast trips, my favorite parts were yosemite and sequoia and bryce and arches

i've heard airbnb isn't as good as it used to be - lots of annoying fees and stuff. last time i used it was 5 years ago.
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Yeah, it's been more expensive than a hotel every trip I've looked at in the last two years.
 
skyking said:
November is pretty damn iffy for Yosemite.
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Yeah I would expect a better than 50% chance Tioga Pass Road will be closed for the season by late-ish November based on recent history of their closure dates. Especially since I think it's forecast to get some decent snow next week, with Tioga Pass being around 10,000 feet. Nice drive with some great dayhikes and backpacking trips off it in mid summer through early fall though and I love staying at the Tuolumne Meadows campground when I'm not in the backcountry when visiting Yosemite. If you get there before the snow though the hike up to Mt Hoffman is amazing without being too long, maybe like 5 or 6 miles roundtrip if I remember right.
 
we were up in Mariposa in march '17, trying to get into Yosemite. It was raining sideways. We got the hint and jetted out of there towing our 5th wheel and did a daring clueless skirt north on the Golden Chain highway, and across the Merced river at Bagby. The entire road closed behind us, hell it washing out as we went down that grade and there were plows and loaders and whatnot running it. That was a huge rain after a big fire year and the hills just let go all over.
 
SteveGrabowski said:
Yeah I would expect a better than 50% chance Tioga Pass Road will be closed for the season by late-ish November based on recent history of their closure dates. Especially since I think it's forecast to get some decent snow next week, with Tioga Pass being around 10,000 feet. Nice drive with some great dayhikes and backpacking trips off it in mid summer through early fall though and I love staying at the Tuolumne Meadows campground when I'm not in the backcountry when visiting Yosemite. If you get there before the snow though the hike up to Mt Hoffman is amazing without being too long, maybe like 5 or 6 miles roundtrip if I remember right.
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My wife does not hike due to health challenges, but we might scratch Death Valley and make a run for Tioga Pass if it is open. It would be an ideal trip for us to do so, not towing our RV and both of us love a winter snow adventure.
Chinook closes about the same time, north and east of Mount Rainier and we try to make a point of both opening and closing that road. We have had a blast on closing day helping pull out the hapless and ill-equipped drivers.
One year this daring lad was driving all over with this large collection of chains in a * Honda Accord* and teaming up with the park ranger and his 4x4. They were having way too much fun. They had enough cable and chain to get on the high side of any corner and drag out the stuck cars.
We stopped to help this one mess, and the state plow truck was stuck in the same corner right above/at Cayuse pass for those that know the road.
He was trying to contact dispatch with no luck. I walked up and asked him if he wanted to get out of the ditch. He nodded emphatically 😀
" turn your wheel to the right" "more" More MORE!" he was trying to cut out of the ditch in one go, and I just straightened out his wheels and said " OK drive out"
Off he went and not even a wave. He was embarrassed as hell 😛

typical opening day snow banks.
IMG_20160527_120913.jpg
 
skyking said:
We're going to start out November 12th. Heading westbound from New York. The current plan is down through West Virginia and Kentucky and will definitely be destinating at Mammoth Caves national Park by day 2. Next on the list is Paducah Kentucky. My wife is a quilter and another stop along the way is Hamilton, Missouri.
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What's your planned route west from there? The Tower Rock mentioned on the drought thread is only about 25 miles or so north of Cape Girardeau and is listed as a National Conservation Site.

www.upi.com

Drought gives visitors rare chance to reach historic landmark on foot - UPI.com

As the water levels of the Mississippi River continued to fall due to a prolonged drought, visitors flocked to the river to see what the receding shoreline revealed: a path to Tower Rock.
www.upi.com www.upi.com


 
If you're heading anywhere in the area, hit up Ithaca/Watkins Glenn, tons of purdy waterfalls, wineries, and walking trails. Food isn't anything to snort at either.
 
Upstate is beautiful, will be doing that another day. We pretty much have our route lined up and it's fairly straight across the corner of Pennsylvania into West Virginia, right through West Virginia and down to the middle of Kentucky. We're going to do any optional lingering in Colorado and Utah if possible. The weather may kick our butt. That's part of the fun 🙂
 
Currently in Rock Springs WY, drinking coffee and waiting on my travel partner to shower and get going. She is not the morning person and we are recovering from a total shit show on Saturday. To top it all off she fell off the slick trailer fender in Idaho and really twisted her ankle. Our destination? A 3rd floor walk up apartment in Queens. :Facepalm:
My best guess is 15000 CGVW. I'll post a picture of my conestoga wagon load later.

We are in a Ex-RR housing single wide mobile split into two one bedroom units. It is super nicely appointed, tastefully decorated and stocked with all sorts of snacks and toiletries and whatnot. $96 all in, and not parking in a hotel lot and worrying about or stuff? priceless. It is a little park of working people right off the highway, and behind it is acres of sandstone and sand and scrub with trails to walk a dog.
 
When we lived in Wyoming, (Big Piney/Marbleton) Rock Springs was a twice a year trip for groceries, school clothes, etc. It's always been a shit hole town...going waaaay back into the frontier days
 
BoomerD said:
When we lived in Wyoming, (Big Piney/Marbleton) Rock Springs was a twice a year trip for groceries, school clothes, etc. It's always been a shit hole town...going waaaay back into the frontier days
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The last time I drove through Rock Springs, there was a dust devil that moved parked cars around. 😱
 
IronWing said:
The last time I drove through Rock Springs, there was a dust devil that moved parked cars around. 😱
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Nonsense...the wind doesn't actually blow in Wyoming...Nebraska SUCKS!

We used to joke that you could tell a Wyoming native...one leg was shorter than the other from leaning into the wind all the time.
 
Becoming functional in North Platte, Nebraska. Today is our longest leg 590 mi.
Today's mission? Heart attack food at cracker barrel!
 
Here is the whole shebang at the Cracker Barrel. Note that the cartop carrier is taller than the lifted canopy. I drug that double drag bucket nightmare through ~900 miles of 30~50 MPH winds. @ 75 MPH, I got about 12 MPG up and down the mountains of Wyoming.
PXL-20221108-191236154.jpg


Once I got out of the wind and slowed down the MPG came up closer to 15.
The Cummins is doing the thing. I pushed it harder in Wyoming than ever before. Up till then, I was able to keep the EGT's below 1200 with relative ease, but that one 8700' pass kicked our butts. EGT ran to the mid-1300's and did not want to come down. I have the cooling fan RPM showing on the smarty tuner and it was on a whole bunch in that state in the wind. The cooling system is really good on these trucks, the temp runs at ~195 and when the fan is on full honk and the EGT is up, it stays at ~205. That fan is sized right.

I didn't catch the name of that pass but Ima gunna call it weshuda-duga-tunnel pass.

I guess it is called Sherman Hill. I don't need to go back there loaded.

Now we are in Ohio, and one more night on the road in Allentown tomorrow. Billy Joel.
 
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skyking said:
The Cummins is doing the thing. I pushed it harder in Wyoming than ever before. Up till then, I was able to keep the EGT's below 1200 with relative ease, but that one 8700' pass kicked our butts. EGT ran to the mid-1300's and did not want to come down. I have the cooling fan RPM showing on the smarty tuner and it was on a whole bunch in that state in the wind. The cooling system is really good on these trucks, the temp runs at ~195 and when the fan is on full honk and the EGT is up, it stays at ~205. That fan is sized right.

I didn't catch the name of that pass but Ima gunna call it weshuda-duga-tunnel pass.

I guess it is called Sherman Hill. I don't need to go back there loaded.
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It's also called "the gang plank" as it was the easiest pass in which to build a transcontinental railroad. We raced Union Pacific's Challenger steam engine up the hill once. The steam engine won but I bet they had to turn off their A/C.
 
BoomerD said:
Driving across Nebraska on I-80 is like driving through hell...nearly 700 miles of nothing...or miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. Boring as fuck.

I've been across it more times than I like to think about...passenger car, pickup, tractor-trailer, truck-trailer, yuck.
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Western Nebraska is pretty. Eastern Nebraska straight on through to Pennsylvania is straight on through.
 
Mission accomplished! We got everything unloaded and brought up a third floor walk-up before the tropical storm really set in. I took the deck off the trailer and got it all cleaned up and returned to U-Haul. I took the lift out from under the truck canopy and set the canopy down on the bed where it belongs and have it ready to go back west. My wife is on the afternoon flight from Seattle to JFK and everything is going on schedule.
Our doggy friend is fully recovered from 6 days of doggy downers. His owner is a vet technician and knows what she's doing.
 
skyking said:
Mission accomplished! We got everything unloaded and brought up a third floor walk-up before the tropical storm really set in. I took the deck off the trailer and got it all cleaned up and returned to U-Haul. I took the lift out from under the truck canopy and set the canopy down on the bed where it belongs and have it ready to go back west. My wife is on the afternoon flight from Seattle to JFK and everything is going on schedule.
Our doggy friend is fully recovered from 6 days of doggy downers. His owner is a vet technician and knows what she's doing.
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Who did you make the drive with if you left Mrs. SkyKing behind?

Be sure to check with the NPS before trying Tioga pass. It's currently closed...but MAY re-open after they clear this latest round of snow.

www.nps.gov

Tioga and Glacier Point Roads Plowing and Road Opening Update - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Tioga Road, Glacier Point Road
www.nps.gov www.nps.gov

Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road are temporarily closed due to snow
Alert 1, Severity closure, Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road are temporarily closed due to snow
The Tioga Road (continuation of Highway 120 through the park) and Glacier Point Road are temporarily closed due to snow. Check current road conditions/chain restrictions by calling 209/372-0200 (then dial 1, 1)
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BoomerD said:
Driving across Nebraska on I-80 is like driving through hell...nearly 700 miles of nothing...or miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. Boring as fuck.

I've been across it more times than I like to think about...passenger car, pickup, tractor-trailer, truck-trailer, yuck.
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ooof, if I ever have to do that drive again it will be too soon. used to drive from IL/WI to colorado twice a year. That was by far the worst stretch. 700 miles of nothing indeed.
 
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