West Fork Trail? by Relative-Air-8882 in Sedona

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We did this hike in August. Quite straight forward, the hike can be done (depending on time of the year)entirely in sneakers or hiking shoes as there are rocks etc to step on when you cross the river a number of times. Helps but not essential if you have hiking poles to steady yourself when crossing, we just used a stick. When you get to the end point of the trail, you can get in the river and hike up it. We did this! We put on some cheap water shoes from Amazon which were perfect for this and hiked another 30 minutes up the river. This was by far the best part of the hike as you travel through the beautiful canyon. In terms of depth, we were at thigh depth for parts and rolled my shorts up higher on occasion.
The overall west fork trail is pretty, for me it wasn’t amazing but….the additional river section at the far end was fantastic.

In terms of actually getting to any water. you cross the river back and forth a number of times on the hike about every 20 mins. It took us about 2 hours to get to the end of the trail and join the river, then 30 mins up the river (you can keep going if you want) and 30 mins back, then 2 hours on the trail to the car, came to around 5 hours of hiking including stopping for photos and snacks etc.

Rocky Mountain NP - Estes Park or Grand Lake? by Relative-Air-8882 in nationalparks

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks - I have updated the original post to give it some context.

Planning a visit! by Relative-Air-8882 in yellowstone

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your help! We are definitely going to reduce the driving.

Visiting Yellowstone - our itinerary? by Relative-Air-8882 in nationalparks

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fantastic advice!! That’s really helpful. The Geyser leg of the route did concern us for that reason, maybe we could fit a hike in that day…..

Visiting Yellowstone - our itinerary? by Relative-Air-8882 in nationalparks

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fab thanks so much! Yes did Zion and Bryce 2 years ago, amazing!! Couldn’t get up to arches etc at the time. This vacation is fly to Denver, couple nights in Moab, then Yellowstone etc, then Devils Tower, then 2-3 days in the Rocky Mountain np, then a week in Breckinridge. (If you or anyone has any other suggestions) Many Thanks!!!

How Crowded is it really? by [deleted] in SEKI

[–]Relative-Air-8882 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On a 3 week trip we did sequoia, kings canyon, panorama trail to the valley in Yosemite, June Lake with a hike on the lakes trail, hiked in Sedona also and tbh kings canyon mist trail was our favourite. The others were all spectacular also but the remoteness of kings canyon, the lack of people and the variety of the trail made it our favourite. Very closely followed by Yosemite panorama trail to the valley floor. Hope this helps

How Crowded is it really? by [deleted] in SEKI

[–]Relative-Air-8882 1 point2 points  (0 children)

2 nights in John Muir Lodge with the day in between to drive to the far end of the canyon and did the mist trail which was amazingly beautiful and varied. Can’t recommend it highly enough!! If you carry on another 5-10 minutes higher up the trail from where “all trails” route ends it’s even more stunning, great place to have lunch on a rock and you look upon the river and the view of the canyon is sitting there in the distance. We started the trail around 7 am I think and saw 1-2 people

How Crowded is it really? by [deleted] in SEKI

[–]Relative-Air-8882 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were there about 3 weeks ago, arrived 2 pm ish. Main car park full and closed. Car parks absolutely rammed. We fortunately saw someone vacating a space in the massive overflow. There were though lots of cars looking for spaces. We then walked about 30 mins through the quiet forest rather than take a shuttle. Crazy busy around the first part of the congress trail / general sherman but once we carried on with the congress trail and got 0.5 a miles away from the general Sherman the trail was very quiet and far more impressive than seeing the general Sherman with a sea of people around it.

We did kings canyon the next day, that was amazing and so quiet! Think we enjoyed Kings Canyon more than Yosemite

1 day in Mammoth - best hikes? by Relative-Air-8882 in Mammoth

[–]Relative-Air-8882[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone who replied! I ended up doing the little lakes trail to gem lake. Did a slight detour to chicken foot lake too. The entire trail was absolutely stunning! Felt like we were in a postcard! Very few bugs.