jimboy2 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Hoping to go in 2016 for 5 nights as part of our west coast tour. Vegas and Yosemite are two places I can't wait to visit over there. And both are so completely different! Yosemite is certainly an amazing place, I've been twice, 20 years apart. While the park is open all year just keep in mind that much of the park is 7,000 feet above sea level and the mountain passes that lead into it from Death Valley are around 10,000 feet and don't normally open until well into June and close again early to mid October. The first time I actually got into the park was in April and there was still a considerable amount of snow on the ground in parts of the park.. The second time I went was in August and it was pushing 35 degrees , Pete We are still trying to work out the best time of year to go. We are flying into lax then from there to Sam Diego, Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, drive down pacific highway back to la to do disney for a few days and then fly home. 3 weeks we are going for. Want to pick a time where the weather is nice and the flights are cheap! May and June can be a bit gloomy along the coast I have heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinyflier Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I've just come back from something similar. Flew into LA (2/3 days) then to Vegas (3 days - tacky/noisy/fake/brash... but I went there to see Cirque, Grand Canyon so that was good). Then up to San Francisco - I WALKED ALL the way up Lombard St (mistakenly people think of as "Bullit" road) - from the harbour right to the top - recommendation - DON'T! It nearly killed me! It is seriously SERIOUSLY steep!!!! Toured Alcatraz and Golden Gate bridge Day trip (long day by super comfy coach) to Yosemite - WOW - saw some "specks" climbing El Capitan (huge granite cliff) - AVERAGE time to climb is 5 days (DAYS!) Down Pacific Coast highway (AMAZING route and views are just fabulous). Stayed in Santa Barbera ( I want to reitre there... NOW...), then down to Laguna Beach and back to LA for last 2 days. Universal in LA was absoutely great (priority line passes def worth the extra $$). Helicopter over Grand Canyon was utterly breathtaking. Returned my SUV with 13 (!!!!) miles worth of "gas" in the tank (completed about 1,500 miles overall) at which the Alamo check in guy said "Man - that is the best gas return I have EVER seen! Weather was seriously hot - 38/42 for first week in LA/Vegas, "cooled" down to mid 30s rest of the time. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Hoping to go in 2016 for 5 nights as part of our west coast tour. Vegas and Yosemite are two places I can't wait to visit over there. And both are so completely different! Yosemite is certainly an amazing place, I've been twice, 20 years apart. While the park is open all year just keep in mind that much of the park is 7,000 feet above sea level and the mountain passes that lead into it from Death Valley are around 10,000 feet and don't normally open until well into June and close again early to mid October. The first time I actually got into the park was in April and there was still a considerable amount of snow on the ground in parts of the park.. The second time I went was in August and it was pushing 35 degrees , Pete We are still trying to work out the best time of year to go. We are flying into lax then from there to Sam Diego, Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, drive down pacific highway back to la to do disney for a few days and then fly home. 3 weeks we are going for. Want to pick a time where the weather is nice and the flights are cheap! May and June can be a bit gloomy along the coast I have heard. Well, you've picked the obvious route, you can get into Yosemite several ways but the Las Vegas, Death Valley then Tioga Pass into Yosemite is the best way. Obviously July-September is best for the "nice weather" but keep in mind that Death Valley is seriously hot in July and August, 50C is not uncommon and rental companies usually exclude travel in Death Valley during those months. For cheap flights June and September are going to be considerably cheaper than the peak months. We've been many times to The South West and have found that June is the best month. First off, daylight hours are much longer, secondly, it's fairly easy to find a motel as the kids are still in school and for Americans the driving season doesn't start until after July 4th. The weather has always been great in June, usually in the high 20's to mid 30's. September is also pretty good, shorter days, temperatures a bit lower though but still very pleasant and the sometimes violent storms that you get in the South West in July/August have all but finished. As far as the coast goes I drove down from San Fransisco to San Diego in April (1984) and while the weather was decidedly nippy in San Fransisco it warmed up by the time we reached Santa Barbara. The entire coastline though is subject to mist and fog all year round due to the cold ocean Humbolt current just offshore, for example when I was in San Fransisco it was around 15C but just inland at San Jose it was more like 26C. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 We have been thinking end of May beginning of June. Gonna take a lot of planning out and working out how long to stay in certain places and where to stay. Was thinking of not booking any hotels and just winging it for the whole trip. Now sure the misses is quite up for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I've just come back from something similar. Flew into LA (2/3 days) then to Vegas (3 days - tacky/noisy/fake/brash... but I went there to see Cirque, Grand Canyon so that was good). Then up to San Francisco - I WALKED ALL the way up Lombard St (mistakenly people think of as "Bullit" road) - from the harbour right to the top - recommendation - DON'T! It nearly killed me! It is seriously SERIOUSLY steep!!!! Toured Alcatraz and Golden Gate bridge Day trip (long day by super comfy coach) to Yosemite - WOW - saw some "specks" climbing El Capitan (huge granite cliff) - AVERAGE time to climb is 5 days (DAYS!) Down Pacific Coast highway (AMAZING route and views are just fabulous). Stayed in Santa Barbera ( I want to reitre there... NOW...), then down to Laguna Beach and back to LA for last 2 days. Universal in LA was absoutely great (priority line passes def worth the extra $$). Helicopter over Grand Canyon was utterly breathtaking. Returned my SUV with 13 (!!!!) miles worth of "gas" in the tank (completed about 1,500 miles overall) at which the Alamo check in guy said "Man - that is the best gas return I have EVER seen! Weather was seriously hot - 38/42 for first week in LA/Vegas, "cooled" down to mid 30s rest of the time. David Sounds great! Need to spend more than a day at Yosemite by the sounds of it. Love the idea of the camp sites they have there. Must be so weird going from the hustle and bustle of Vegas to Yosemite! Still a long way off until we can go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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