henry...@eircom.net (Henry) wrote:
> Several years ago while visiting the States I stopped at Rocky Mountain
> National Park and was duly impressed. This summer I'll be driving from
> Chicago to San Francisco with some friends who have never been to
> America before. The question is, do I take them to see RMNP, or is there
> someplace else, on or not-too-far-off the route, that is equally
> magnificent, someplace that would be new for me, too?
>
> (We have already decided on a slight detour off the motorway, once we
> hit California, to see Yosemite.)
What's missing from this inquiry is what your friends (in particular,
but you too) have seen elsewhere in the world.
For example, if they've been to the Alps, it might be better to skip
the Tetons because Alps-Tetons are generally similar. Thus, the US
Southwest's "Canyonlands" regions may be a greater scenic contrast
than their prior experiences.
The other thing to consider is the route and how many total miles.
Google Maps says that the basic route from Chicago to San Francisco
is ~2100 miles...altering basic routes to add the Grand Canyon (South
Rim) takes it to ~2500 miles, or an extra 400 miles (approx +1 travel
days)...its pretty easy to tempt yourself to ~3000 miles for a route
consisting of Chicago-Wall/Badlands-Rushmore-Yellowstone-Tetons-Salt
Lake-Zion-North Rim-Death Valley-King's Canyon (or Sequoia)-Yosemite-
San Francisco. Figure for a route like that that you're looking at
averaging 250 miles/day for 2 weeks (or a 500 mile day, followed by a
local sightseeing day, etc).
In general, the trick to sustained enjoyable long distance sightseeing
is to find your comfortable daily traveling distance and then plot out
a route that takes in what look like appealing "things to see" items
at intervals that are hopefully roughly equal to your comfortable
daily traveling distance. Of course, it never really works out, so
you'll have some long days followed by (relative) rest days/change of
pace.
-hh |