Skip to content
Eat and Walk > Plans > Adventures > 202XTrip > Lions and Tigers and Bears, OMA! Part 2 in 2025!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, OMA! Part 2 in 2025!

    Our Adventure: Lions and Tigers and Bears, OMA! Part 2 in 2025!
    Tentative dates of our trip: -
    Maybe sometime in this range: 2025 sometime
    Possible Trip Locations: US and Canadian Rockies- anywhere there are no bears
    Brief Overview:

    • fly somewhere north before the seasonal motels shut down, head south so the desert has time to cool off
    • rent a car with drop off in San Jose
      • Oma wants a BMW X5
    • Pack enough frozen peas and ham salad sandwiches to keep OMA happy.
    • Bring bear spray, leave tent at home. Bring Omas kitchen knife
    • Stay at places under $100 per night and ratings above 8 to keep away from the crowds. Not many places like that.
    • Stay 3-4 days at each place and have 3-4 5 mile hikes close by.
    • Repeat 5-7 times.
    • return slightly used vehicle to San Jose Airport
    • alternative ending
      • go slower and end up in Denver – fly home from there

    Travelers on this Trip:
    Possible Locations:
    We might be hitting a bunch of cool places. Here are a few we are considering:
    Continents: North America
    Countries: Canada and US
    Tips and Last Minute Details:
    Pains:
    • Wyoming is not hot – hope it won’t snow
    • Arizona is hot – but not so bad in September
    • cost estimates
      • flight San Jose to Seattle $70 x 2
      • Car rental 1 month $1500-$2000 low to high end SUV
        • Gas – 2,500 miles, $4/gallon, 20 MPG: ->  $500
      • National parks – anyone in the car is free with 1 old timers pass
      • Lodging – tenting is not an option for Oma, $100-150 average for 8.0+ rated lodging -> ~$4,000
      • Food – Breakfast: B&B or $10×2 estimate, lunch: hike picnic/costco hot dog, rotisserie chicken, ice cream, Supper: picnic or $20×2: Average $80 per day -> budget $2400 for 30 days. Can reduce if we buy a cooler and buy groceries.
      • total ~$10,000 for 2
        • food estimate could be high, lodging and car rental are 2/3 of the expense
    Tentative Itinerary of Hiking and Sightseeing Campaigns:
    • Option A ~1week in Parks in Washington State
    • Option B ~1 week in Southwest Colorado
    • 1 month away from West Sacramento is not preferred
    • Day 1 fly into Seattle and drive to Spokane
      • arrive 9AM and get out of Seattle as quick as possible
      • 2 or 3 quick stops on the way to
    • Day 2 drive to Spokane or Coeur D’alene Idaho
      • 2 or 3 stop on the way to the west of Glacier Nat park
    • Day 3 – 7 glacier national park
      • 1 day west, 3 days east?
      • check if reservations are needed
      • West edge more people, hotels, stores
      • East edge 3 hours through the park, less stores – Indian reservation – more hikes less people on the trails
    • Day 8-9 drive to Yellowstone
    • Day 10-11 yellowstone
      • likely stay inside park- more expensive but avoids long drive to get to hikes. Not cheap outside either. Rooms in park may not be the best.
    • Day 12-14 Tetons
    • Day 15-17 Driggs, Idaho
      • Nice hikes, not crowded, rural
    • Day 18-19 Dinosaur National Monument
      • not crowded, dry, no trees, ??able to walk into stone buildings,see ancient writing on stone cliffs, Mesa Verde but able to get up close to the houses and petroglyphs, need to verify???
    • Day 20-22 Breckenridge
      • Back in civilization, many hikes, lots of condos for rent
    • Day 23 – 25 Telluride
      • Civilization, many hikes, lots of condos for rent
    • Skip? Mesa Verde
      • Dry, long drive in, may be crowded, most stone buildings not able to go in without tour guides
    • Day 26-27 Grand Canyon
      • giant hole in the ground
      • Oma may want to walk down and back up, I will watch out for buzzards from the rim
    • Drive By? Hoover Dam, Lake Meade
      • big wall holding back lots of water, has tours inside, some hikes
    • Drive By !!! Death Valley
      • Drive through
    • Kings Canyon
      • Sequoias, many say it is better than the more crowded Sequoia National Forest
      • Kings canyon is deeper than Grand Canyon, and it has trees for shade
    • Yosemite
      • Hotel with private bath not canvas cabin with public showers and restrooms
    • Tahoe
      • Rest and relax. No more hiking
    Planes:

    Get 2025 pricing

    Fly to remote airport

    Rent Car, Drive from interesting location to interesting location

    Fly home from yet another remote airport many days later

    Ferries, Cablecars, Trains:

    Amtrack? seriously? Not a very good option.

    Lodging to Stay Out of the Rains:
    Hikes (and Sightseeing) / Leg Strains:
    Some Additional Research:

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *