US Roadtrip - Help me with locations!

[Matt..]

I have the following US roadtrip planned for late May into June:

(first number is the day, 2nd is the date, eg. May 23)

1 23 Washington DC (only fly in and have a morning here, so as much as i can see assuming the rain stays away!)
2 24 Pittsburgh (stopover, Duquesne Incline)
3 25 Indianapolis
4 26 Indianapolis (Indy 500)
5 27 Chicago
6 28 Chicago (John Hancock Observatory, Skydeck, Adler, The Bean, Bridges)
7 29 Chicago (Cubs game)
8 30 Sioux Falls (stopover)
9 31 Badlands NP
10 1 Keystone (Mt Rushmore)
11 2 Rocky Mountain NP (there's a remote chance of the Trail Ridge road being open)
12 3 Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak)
13 4 Great Sand Dunes NP
14 5 Ouray (Million Dollar Highway)
15 6 Moab (possibly Mesa Verde NP, i might not have time though)
16 7 Moab (Arches NP)
17 8 Moab (Canyonlands NP)
18 9 Monument Valley (Moki Dugway, Gooseneck Bend)
19 10 Page (Antelope Canyon)
20 11 Page (Horseshoe Bend)
21 12 Grand Canyon NP
22 13 Grand Canyon NP
23 14 Laguna Beach (pickup Corvette)
24 15 Laguna Beach (Ortega Highway)
25 16 Laguna Beach (possibly go out to Joshua Tree NP)
26 17 Laguna Beach (fly out in the afternoon)


If you have specific advice for these areas, or places in between (that i will drive past), then please let me know. I have a month or so of planning time now, so the more advice i can get, the better!

Yes, i am well aware of the distances, and have done these trips before, so no need to tell me about that.
My last trip was: Yellowstone NP > Grand Teton NP > Salt Lake City > Capitol Reef NP > Bryce Canyon NP > Zion NP > Valley of Fire > Death Valley NP > Mammoth Lakes > Yosemite NP > San Francisco > Carmel > Pismo Beach > Santa Barbara > LA.


Thanks

[JulianHJ]

Matt.. said:

14 5 Ouray (Million Dollar Highway)
15 6 Moab (possibly Mesa Verde NP, i might not have time though)
16 7 Moab (Arches NP)
17 8 Moab (Canyonlands NP)
18 9 Monument Valley (Moki Dugway, Gooseneck Bend)
19 10 Page (Antelope Canyon)
20 11 Page (Horseshoe Bend)

Ouray - The road to Telluride is fantastic as well, if you have the time.

Moab - I found this Arches much more interesting than Canyonlands. I could spend weeks there. You may have luck getting some milky way shots depending on kit, cloud cover and willingness to stay up late - it's a new moon whilst you're there.

Antelope Canyon - visit both upper and lower. For upper, have you booked a tour yet? If not, try and get Milo as your guide if he's available. He really knows his stuff in terms of timings and positions, and will try and ensure clear shots for the best rays.

I presume you've already sorted accommodation?

Edited by JulianHJ on Sunday 5th May 09:14

[Simpo Two]

Maybe ask the locals at www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&f=12... ?

[mikef]

JulianHJ said:

Moab - I found this Arches much more interesting than Canyonlands. I could spend weeks there.

I'd agree with this, Arches is spectacular and also worth timing your walks to get the best light. Some of the natural features are quite a hike from places you can park, so you might only get to a couple in a day (Delicate Arch is definitely worth the climb and waiting until it's clear of tourists). Canyonlands is wide panoramas, Mesa Verde is focussed on a small number of outstanding Anasazi ruins, so quite different. Mesa Verde is worth seeing, but not always easy to photo the main cliff palace site without groups of tourists wandering into shot.

[Matt..]

JulianHJ said:

Ouray - The road to Telluride is fantastic as well, if you have the time.

Moab - I found this Arches much more interesting than Canyonlands. I could spend weeks there. You may have luck getting some milky way shots depending on kit, cloud cover and willingness to stay up late - it's a new moon whilst you're there.

Antelope Canyon - visit both upper and lower. For upper, have you booked a tour yet? If not, try and get Milo as your guide if he's available. He really knows his stuff in terms of timings and positions, and will try and ensure clear shots for the best rays.

I presume you've already sorted accommodation?

Edited by JulianHJ on Sunday 5th May 09:14

Yes, all accommodation is now booked.

I will be there with 5dmk2, 17-40L, 70-200L f4, 85 1.8, and a gopro I am going to try some star shots though cant say i've ever been able to do them very well!

Which tour company is that for Antelope Canyon?

[mikef]

Some of my happy snaps to give you an idea what you're likely to see in the three locations you've named around Moab:

[JulianHJ]

Matt.. said:

I will be there with 5dmk2, 17-40L, 70-200L f4, 85 1.8, and a gopro I am going to try some star shots though cant say i've ever been able to do them very well!

Which tour company is that for Antelope Canyon?

Pretty much the same kit as me then. I hired a 24mm f1.4L for the star trails from a US firm - worth it in my opinion to get the best from the skies.

The tour firm is this one

[Breadknife]

I just wanted to add that I'd have liked to spend longer in Canyonlands / Dead Horse Point but as Arches is so much closer to Moab, it becomes a default location. Also, Canyonlands is better at sunrise than sunset, which makes being there at the right time a bit of an effort that we didn't really feel up for. So we missed Mesa Arch at sunrise and didn't do False Kiva. I believe it's Green River Overlook in Canyonlands that I liked best.

Mylo is no longer working on the photography tours at Antelope. We did both Upper and Lower and both were good in different ways. If we went back, I'd probably only go to the quieter Lower canyon where we didn't need to book a tour and spent 4 hours wandering through on our own. It's also a bit more of an adventure. I'd try to do Lower before Upper if you opt to do both. We used disposable rain covers to protect our gear from the fine sand in the air, which can/will be thrown to highlight the beams.

There was a landslip on the 89 somewhere south of Page recently, which closed the road - if it's the south side of the Grand Canyon you are going to, check out the following for updates:
http://www.azdot.gov/us89/pdf/13-090_Flyer_US89Det...
http://adotblog.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/US%208...

Ouray - the 62 west of Ridgway has some good views - I guess you will take this road heading to Moab. Possibly take one of the country roads towards the mountains if your car / insurance allows (they are unmade and can be a bit rough). CO Rd 5 starts on South Amelia St in Ridgway. Do you have the Laurent Martres books? He talks about this area.

Edited by Breadknife on Monday 6th May 09:28

[NNH]

We followed a similar route from Delaware to my wife's home in Los Angeles in 2010. A few thoughts:
- While you're at Mt Rushmore, also visit the Crazy Horse memorial
- Sioux Falls is a pretty town, and worth a little exploring
- In May, even quite major roads can still be iffy. Like an idiot, I took the "short cut" out of Bryce on route 20, because the sign only said closed in winter. Long story short, very tense trip with the road entirely hidden by blowing snow near the summit. Particularly poor move in a Porsche which I'd only swapped back onto summer tyres a few weeks earlier.
- Grand Canyon to Laguna Beach takes you through some unpredictable traffic, so leave early
- Photo ops: Huntington Beach (Surf City, my old home) is beautiful, especially in the early morning. Temecula for balloons and wine country. Sunset Boulevard all the way from the mountains to the beach.

[Matt..]

Breadknife said:

Ouray - the 62 west of Ridgway has some good views - I guess you will take this road heading to Moab. Possibly take one of the country roads towards the mountains if your car / insurance allows (they are unmade and can be a bit rough). CO Rd 5 starts on South Amelia St in Ridgway. Do you have the Laurent Martres books? He talks about this area.

Edited by Breadknife on Monday 6th May 09:28

I am almost certainly going to take US550 (Million Dollar Highway) south, then go past Mesa Verde NP and up to Moab.

and yes, i have the Photographing the Southwest books

[Nick M]

Cracking trip !!

I lived in Phoenix for 3 years and loved that part of the world.

Not much to add other than to say that the Navajo National Monument is worth a detour, and if you have time then also check out Coal Mine Canyon - not far from Tuba City on the road from Kayenta, but not the quickest route to Page. It's a sort of baby Grand Canyon, but with dark seams of coal running through it, and you can wander down into the valley a bit. It's in the Martres book.


Coalmine Canyon by Ethel of Buzzez, on Flickr

If time permits, try to take the extended tour around Monument Valley - you pile into the back of 4x4s and you go further into the park than you can by just self-driving around the normal road.

Driving round there is pretty easy - some nice roads. From memory, there are a few stretches where it can be a bit of a distance between fuel stations, so maybe just keep an eye on that


On the road - AZ by Ethel of Buzzez, on Flickr

Finally, when you're in Page, on route 89 just north of the town there is a rocky butte to the northeast of the road which catches the sunset and glows red in the right conditions - hopefully you'll be able to do it better justice than my rather rushed effort:


Lake Powell by Ethel of Buzzez, on Flickr


Finally, at the Grand Canyon, it's worth looking the other way from most people at sunset - they were all looking to get the sun dipping below the canyon rim, whereas as the real light show was playing out behind them (taken down at Pima Point I think):


Grand Canyon rainbow by Ethel of Buzzez, on Flickr

[Matt..]

Thanks everyone, this is exactly the kind of info i am looking for

If you have any more, then please let me know!