PHX to Yosemite and back

Hi! I got some help from this forum already for this trip, but things have changed so much that I will post the new plan.

My wife and I are taking our suburban on this trip from July 9-19, but we may leave on the tenth. I have attached a link to the proposed trip. For the cool weather areas, we plan to camp. We like hiking, waterfalls, scenery, historic things, antiques, photography, and coffee.

I am thinking maybe one to three days spent in hotels. Maybe one in Vegas, and one of them being the day before we go home and maybe one in between depending on our moods :-). I guess I am looking for suggestions on places to see and visit along this path as well as scheduling. Here are some of our preferences:

1. We want to spend a BRIEF time in Death Valley, like just a drive and some pictures (we are trying to escape the heat!).
2. We would like a bulk of our time to be spent camping and hanging around Tioga Pass and Yosemite.
3. We want to see some huge Sequoias, but don't know the best place to view/hike/camp among them.
4. We prefer not to drive at night since we want to take in the scenery.

Please view my map and offer suggestions on what to expect or what to do, route modifications, where to camp/stay etc. I have not allocated where to be on what days yet, so nothing is set in stone. I picked some of the later roads simply because they "looked more scenic" on the map! Oh and Flagstaff on the way home is totally bypass-able. Thanks in advance for your expertise and advice!

MAP

Eric

....if that's your home address on that map, DELETE IT. That's the best way for someone less than scrupulous to know when you're not home. Just say "Phoenix" and you can probably get yourself to the first route easily anyway.

....They have you going 47.5 miles on Grand Avenue, when you could get on the 101 loop??? Ouch. Use a paper map and your own discretion, of course, but I've been on Grand just within the last week, and had to avoid some major potholes.

...Those were the first two things that jumped out at me. As for camping, I believe there are some campgrounds at both NP's (Yosemite and Sequoia) that take reservations. I'd get on the horn now and see if you can catch some cancellations, since they are probably booked up by now. There are sites in the NF's just outside, but you may have to queue up for a site early in the morning as the departing campers leave.


Donna

I would have to agree, delete your address off the internet now. It is not wise to have that on a public forum.

You will also find that the moderators do not like you starting a new thread for the same trip. It helps to keep all discussion in the one thread, so that others can see how the trip developed. Very few trips are taken as set out in the first draft, and many undergo complete changes... you'd never think it was the same trip. That helps others who read these forums understand that dreams become plans, plans deal with reality and reality will eventually become the trip.

Lifey