Things to do in Northern California?

   / Things to do in Northern California? #81  
Torvy said:
I drove from Reno to Vegas back in '87. Not much along the way.
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I drive it frequently. It is one of my favorite drives. Hwy 95 is good condition smooth pavement almost the entire way. Light traffic and typical speed is 75-80. Beautiful mountain range views all around.

I fuel in Tonopah, an approximate half way point. Lots of small towns on the trip.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #82  
Gas (and food) are super expensive in Death Valley. It has to be trucked in a long ways. Probably also expensive in Yosemite but there are stations closer outside the park. By expensive I mean for California, where gas is already more expensive than most other states. There's little in the way of civilization around Death Valley for a long ways in any direction. Which makes it great to explore if you're prepared.

I've tent camped in DV in May when the low was 85. I didn't get much sleep and did a 120 mile bike race the next day. Another bike race in a different part of the park and it was 115 degrees during the day in May and that wasn't even in the valley where it gets hotter. It does get reasonably cold at night in the winter. I've seen snow in some of the outer reaches of the park that are low but aren't the valley. The passes can get significant snow.

Flash floods from thunderstorms can be a problem in the summer. Not only have they washed cars away but they can make roads impassible on short notice.

The high country of Yosemite is really awesome but I don't know how much is accessible by car, beyond driving the Tioga pass road (which is worth doing). The good thing is that pretty much all of the east side of the sierras (which is the shortest way to the Yosemite high country) is awesome and there's a lot that is car accessible, at least to the trailheads.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #83  
jyoutz said:
In most western locations, refilling with a half tank will usually get you to the next fuel location. But there are long stretches across Nevada where I wouldn’t go without a full tank.
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Might bring a generator to charge your ev as a backup.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #84  
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Death Valley, Easter week 2003. A friend recommend the north entrance to DV from Lone Pine via Teakettle Junction and Ubehebe Crater. 100? miles of jeep trail, a real adventure. The Subaru is well suited to this light offroading. We saw few others. First night at Mesquite Springs Primitive Campground, second night near the valley floor where it was unpleasantly hot, even for this dawn photo. I've read that those back country routes are now closed with flood damage.

An earlier Easter Week trip, we were to meet friends who got there a day earlier, at Texas Springs campground. They were so miserable with the heat that we all departed that day for the higher country west of there closer to US 395.

And about 1980 we made a day trip from Yosemite in our non-AC '64 Volvo 544. We couldn't get back up the grade out of the Valley due to overheating. This Scandinavian design didn't have the cooling for running many miles up a long grade in 100+ weather. Using the heater for additional cooling didn't help. We were passed by fast new BMW's with mfr plates that were obviously being stress-tested on that grade. Finally long after dark and several cooldown stops, we made it over the ridge and out of well-named Death Valley.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #88  
   / Things to do in Northern California? #90  
Looking around for photos I saw comments that an entry permit will be needed sometimes (after the road is open) to drive up Tioga pass from Mono Lake and enter the Park, when it is overcrowded. Sigarms, be sure to check on this.

And that's a 4k ft climb in 20 road miles. I remember racing my cousin up that grade, my '53 flathead Ford vs her (boyfriend's) Jaguar 120. At that altitude, 10k ft at the top, 'there's no substitute for cubic inches'. I could outpull her on the grades, she could out-corner me on the curves. Evenly matched. Great fun!
 
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