Zion or Bryce?

"Exiled Canuck" wrote in message
om...
As a fellow Haligonian now living in San Diego, I couldn't resist
chiming in with my 2 cents (US). There are two things to keep in mind
in MHO.

First, the extraordinary senery at each of the locations you are
planning to visit will blow you away. San Diego is breathtaking, the
Grand Canyon is out of this world, and Zion & Bryce are each worth
days of exploration on their own.

Second, Distance and driving. The driving bewteen Las Vegas, Grand
Canyon, and Utah is all long and mostly boring. The drive from the
Grand Canyon up to Zion and Bryce is very long and although it
contains some amazing sites, is still draining. Bryce Canyon is a few
additional hours north of Zion and also requires that you climb to
over 9000 ft, which for Bluenosers like us is usually very exhausting.

My adice is to limit the number of locations and enjoy the ones you
choose. I would cut out the North Rim, Monument Valley, and Bryce,
leaving only the South Rim and Zion. I know this seems too drastic,
but I think you will be shocked at the incredible beauty of these two
locations and realize that the American Southwest is place to return
to again and again.

If I was to pick two, it would be Bryce and Zion. Two of the most beautiful
places on earth.

adjgiulio wrote:

"MadHatter" wrote in message
om...

Thanks. I'd really like to go back now that I've got a better camera.

I guess that it depends on what part of Oregon you'd be visiting, how
convenient a hike you're looking for and what type of falls intersts
you the most. There are some places where you could see quite a few
in a day. I'm only familiar with the Cascades region, but if you know
where you'll be, I could come up with some suggestions.

Well, I just settled down in Seattle after a life in Rome, Italy. I'm
planning a 20 days trip in July. I'm basically thinking to drive from
Seattle to Mt. St. Helens and then reach the coast and drive south till the
Redwood NP, CA. Then east to Lassen Volcanic NP, north to Lava Beds NM and
Crater Lake. From there I'd like to explore some of the beautiful Oregon's
scenic byways driving east till the Hells Canyon NRA and come back west to
Portland. Then again north to Seattle. Up to now I've highlighted some spot
I'd like to see as Oregon Cave NM, Toketee falls, Smith Rock SP, John Day
fossils beds, Silver Falls SP, Columbia River Gorge plus all the best State
Parks along the Pacif coast.

Well, which kind of waterfalls I'm interest the most in? Mmmm...I would say
the most scenic. It would be also great if the waterfall wasn't in those
kind of places directly reachable by car with thousands screaming tourists
taking photos and making noise. I'd prefere a some miles long hike and a
peaceful place (anyway as peaceful as a beautiful well know waterfall can
be...).

Thanks for help
Giulio

Remember that in the mountains the level of water in the waterfalls
often depends on the timing of the snow melt. FFM

Are you sure that you want to include Mount Saint Helens in your trip?
The reason that I ask is because it seems that you could take a day
trip there on a weekend. Much the same would apply to Mount Ranier
and waterfalls such as Snoqualamie and Nooksack. Granted, twenty days
is a long time so you very well might have enough time to see all that
you want. We drove up from San Diego last summer and spent the
balance of three weeks exploring the Cascades. It was a very hot
summer and as Frank Matthews mentioned, many of the falls were running
a bit low. Normally I like to see a lot of water in the falls, but
some actually have more character with a lower flow. Altogether we
ended up visiting seventy waterfalls.

We liked that trip so much that we returned for a couple of weeks in
December. We spent about half the time in Silver Falls State Park and
the Columbia River Gorge. After that, we headed over to the northern
coast.

I think that the most crowded falls that we saw were along the
Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway. Of course Multnomah Falls was
the most crowded. Even the hike up to the top of the falls is very
well travelled. If you do end up hiking up there, don't simply stop
at the upper falls viewpoint, which is what the majority of the people
do. Backtrack a short distance to the fork in the trail and then hike
a ways up the Larch Mountain Trail. The hike is gorgeous and you'll
see several very nice falls.

Also in that region and very accessible are Latourell Falls,
Shepperd's Dell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Wahkeena Falls, and
Horsetail Falls. There are other falls which require a bit of a hike
to get to. One that you shouldn't miss is Ponytail Falls, which is
above Horsetail.

There are many other waterfalls in the Gorge. As I mentioned in an
earlier post, Elowah is one that I'd love to see again. In the
summer, McCord Creek was running low and the falls blew over to the
side. In the winter, the creek was a lot more full and I was also
treated to a whispy seasonal fall to the side. I don't know how many
days you have in this area, but it's easy to fill up the days with
great hikes to waterfalls.

You mentioned Silver Falls State Park. There are a bunch of falls
there, but don't plan to have solitude in the summertime. During the
winter, we were practically the only ones there and some of the falls
had a different character. There are also a couple of seasonal falls
there. Winter Falls and Frenchy Falls won't be flowing during the
summer. But there are still a lot of great falls and you won't be
disappointed. There are several falls here that you can walk behind.

If you're headed to Toketee Falls (which is an absolutely stunning
sight) you'll find that there are many falls along highway 138.
Whitehorse and Clearwater would be very easy to fit into your schedule
since they have very short paths. Watson is situated in a very scenic
alcove which reminded me of a natural cathedral. The water was very
low when we were there, but I still felt that it was worth seeing. If
you have more time, you might consider a hike to either Fall Creek
Falls or Susan Creek Falls. They're both approximately one mile
hikes. I take it that you'll probably be headed this way from Crater
Lake. But if I'm wrong and you're coming from Roseburg, make sure to
stop at the Colliding Rivers visitor center. You can pick up a good
booklet called Thundring Waters, which describes the falls in the
region. By the way, highway 138 is a very beautiful drive.

There are a bunch of falls both to the north and the south of highway
138, but I won't go into detail since it didn't sound like you'd
likely have time for them. If I'm wrong, let me know and I can fill
you in on some of them.

Two resources that you might want to look into a

A Waterfall Lover's Guide to the Pacific Northwest by Gregory A.
Plumb. The list price is $15 and I feel that it's well worth the
money.

The other one is Bryan Swan's website
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/
He's done a great job. There's a ton of great information as well as
great pictures. Look at the Regions section. The falls that he's
been to are the ones highlighted in bold type. Click on some of them
to get a preview of the falls that you'll be visiting.

I hope that this has helped. If you have any further questions,
please don't hesitate to ask.

Robert

"MadHatter" wrote in message
om...
Are you sure that you want to include Mount Saint Helens in your trip?

Not really. As you saw, I didn't include in my trip Olympic NP, North
Cascades NP and Mt. Rainier NP...the three major Washington State's national
parks. This is because I think I can plan special visits to those parks all
the year around.
Mt. St. Helens "comes" on the way heading south from Seattle, before
reaching the Pacific Coast.

The reason that I ask is because it seems that you could take a day
trip there on a weekend. Much the same would apply to Mount Ranier
and waterfalls such as Snoqualamie and Nooksack. Granted, twenty days
is a long time so you very well might have enough time to see all that
you want. We drove up from San Diego last summer and spent the
balance of three weeks exploring the Cascades. It was a very hot
summer and as Frank Matthews mentioned, many of the falls were running
a bit low.

[CUT]

Thanks for all the huge amount of information. I need to assimilate all :-)
Just one naive question, also referring to Frank Matthews' advice: so,
what's the best period for a trip like the one I was planning? I wouldn't
have difficulties to move it a bit later in fall or a bit earlier in end of
spring/beginning of summer.

Thanks a lot

Giulio

Zion is a truely magnificent place. Enjoy your trip. =) And if
possible, upload and share some of your pictures.

Mt. St. Helens "comes" on the way heading south from Seattle, before
reaching the Pacific Coast.

If you do go to Mount Saint Helens, check out the movie at the Johnson
Ridge Observatory (at least that's what I think it was called). It's
the last of the vistor centers along the road. We didn't have time to
see the others so I don't know what they're like.

Thanks for all the huge amount of information. I need to assimilate all :-)
Just one naive question, also referring to Frank Matthews' advice: so,
what's the best period for a trip like the one I was planning? I wouldn't
have difficulties to move it a bit later in fall or a bit earlier in end of
spring/beginning of summer.

I think that the water levels would probably be lower later in the
fall. Spring should have good water levels, but the trails might not
be in the best shape at that time. When we were there during the
winter, I noticed that the water was a lot higher in lots of the falls
(but I can only compare it to our summer visits).

I forgot to mention something in my previous post. You said that
you'd like to have some solitude around the falls. If you go to some
of the lesser known and more out of the way ones, there's a good
chance that you can have them to yourselves for a bit. (Though the
crowds weren't really oppressive at the majority of the other places
we visited).

Bryce

Zion

ttt

Bryce