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Mr. Crow posted:Why are there a thousand people in death valley in the middle of summer, does the whole place not get insanely hot (genuinely curious)? Yes but don't tell anyone because I like having it to myself in the winter
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Aug 10, 2022 04:44
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Acebuckeye13 posted:Gonna try to head up to Redwoods and Crater Lake tomorrow, any suggestions? Prairie Creek is my favorite redwood park, and the Jame's Irvine trail (or loop with miner's ridge) is popular for a reason (though went I went around memorial day weekend it didn;t feel crowded). If you take the trail all the way to fern canyon (as opposed to parking right next to it), you don't need a permit to see the canyon. It is a long-ish hike if you go all the way there and back (~10 miles, ~12 if you do the loop). If not, even just the beginning parts of the jame's irvine trail are worth it. There are wildfires around the Shasta area now, so smoke may be an issue. Doesn't look too bad at the moment and winds should keep it well away from the coast starting ~Friday. But keep an eye on things.
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Sep 7, 2022 17:46
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Joose Caboose posted:Looking at going to Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef in early February (already been to Zion and Bryce). Anyone been to these at that time of year? I've been to those places a few times in early January, which on average should be similar to but slightly colder than early Feb. I'm gonna go again in a few weeks. Overall, it's my favorite time to go. As you say it's (much) less busy. Last year in the Canyonlands needles area we had the campsite basically all to ourselves and trailheads had only 0-2 other cars. In Capitol Reef, the main campsite in the park was pretty sparsely populated, and we had trails mostly to ourselves most of the time. For canyons and such outside of national parks, we would see like 0-1 person all day. Snow can make everything really pretty, although there can be road closure immediately during and following a storm. In general, things seem to get plowed very quickly. The lower angle sunlight is also very pretty, imo. If you plan on camping, night time temperatures can potentially get quite cold, so be prepared for that and properly equipped. We had a couple single digit (Fahrenheit) nights last January, but that's colder than average, and February should be warmer. As far as lodging goes, we've never had a problem yoloing it at the last minute day by day on an as- and where-needed basis during that time of year. We mostly just sleep in the car, though, so ymmv. Depending on where you go, don't expect a lot of shops, restaurants, etc. to be open, as a lot of tourist towns sort of shut down after New Year. Daytime temperatures are never terribly cold, and unlike most of the year never hot, which is great. Trails can be icy, so definitely have some microspikes or similar. Winter storms can temporarily close some roads or mountain passes, so having some flexibility in your plan is good. I've visited during some unusually severe weather and it's never been that hard to just drive somewhere with reasonable conditions and find something fun to do. But if you have a very rigid itinerary, a storm could potentially mess things up. The biggest, and imo only real issue during winter months is mud. There are a lot of places in Utah that are approached via dirt or 4x4 roads. The quality of those roads in winter can range from "fine with AWD and high clearance" to "fine in a proper 4x4" to "an ATV will sink past the axles into the mud". If your itinerary involves off-roading or trailheads at the end of dirt roads, be sure to read up on road conditions during winter. February could be worse than January in this regard--you're slightly more likely to get precipitation and it's less likely to remain frozen. On the other hand, warmer temps and more sun may mean it dries up faster, idk. In general, winter is not the best time for off-road vehicle based recreation, but for hiking most things are quite accessible. Anything accessible by paved road is no problem.
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Dec 6, 2022 23:25
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