First "big" Tour in our MH

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Map studying, almost full time.  8). What would US191 be like going north, all the way to I80, from Arches NP?
 
Phil-

Unless there is something you really want to see in northern UT or western WY, I wouldn't go all the way up to I80.  Calculating the distance to Loveland, it adds 220 miles to a 400 mile trip.  I70 is really not bad; just know that you will need to take both the ascents and descents slow.  If you were really concerned, you could unhitch the toad and have the wife drive that separately.

If you do go I70 and stick to the plan of 200ish miles a day, there is a real nice state park about 10 miles north of Rifle called Rifle Gap SP.  We stayed there in 2013.

I don't have any specific knowledge about US 191.
 
Not concerned with the drive on I70, or the added miles heading to I80.  I am drawn to the rugged desert geography, and I think driving the western slopes of the Rockies will be just that.  Heading to I80 there are several parks and canyons that might not be nearly as busy as the NPs, and enjoyable.  Many gorges and national forests around.  Maybe we will have to extend our trip into September (Ahh, the wonder of being retired).  8)
 
Funny, my wife made me promise we would drive right by the GC.  (she is deathly afraid of heights.

Even inside the park that shouldn't be a problem unless you're near the edge - there's generally a lot of space from where you park to the edge, and you can actually see some of it from the parking area, though not the best views perhaps. So (IMHO- don't know her) I suspect that you could leave her by the car and amble to the fence where you're near the edge, letting both of you enjoy the canyon. Pictures don't do it justice, and often make it look worse (from a height viewing standpoint) than it really is. A lot of it is the same feeling you get in an airplane that the height itself isn't a problem, even though (maybe because) you're 1,000 feet and more above the ground, so the acrophobia usually doesn't trigger -- maybe other things, but rarely that.

 
You would think Larry would be correct but he is not. I have personally witnessed many people at the canyon who had a bad fear of heights. They would stand as far back from the canyon as they could get and be perfectly safe without any chance of falling in, yet the stand there physically shaking and as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. The first few times I saw it I thought they were either faking it or crazy, but they are neither. There are just some people with such a horrible fear of heights that it just shuts them down. It would simply not be worth it to try and go there. She would be a wreck at the entrance gate to the park five miles from the edge. Not logical but fears and paranoia's never are logical. Please give your wife my condolences.
 
We went to the South Rim last March. Based on Tom's recommendation we hiked down on both BA and SK. We are decent hikers but not nearly as good as we thought. We had every intention of going about a mile each way. But,  we only hiked only about 3/4 mile down each, because we knew we would have to go back up, and up was difficult.  Pay attention when going down and know your limits. Ooh-Ah Point is definitely a "must-see". Also good advise to be ready to go as soon as light enough and return before too hot. We stayed in Trailer Village and used the GC Shuttle service. We took our SUV and drove to the Tower and stopped at a lot of the look-outs along the way.

After spending 4 days at the South Rim (which was way too short), we drove to Williams, AZ and camped at the Grand Canyon Railroad. Our original intention was to ride the train. We didn't realize that it is a train trip back to the South Rim. Once we figured that out, we decided to book something different. We took the full day trip from Williams to the bottom of the Canyon. Only 1% of the visitors to GC visit the bottom. It was a great day and one of the highlights of our 6 month trip. Here is the link for your review:
https://grandcanyon.com/tours/south-rim-tours/the-inner-canyon-tour-from-williams-az/#

Enjoy your trip. It is exciting!
 
Actually you are good hikers. The whole problem you had was it takes at least a week, usually two weeks to become really adjusted to the altitude. Until then it is best to be conservative like you did.
 
SeilerBird said:
Actually you are good hikers. The whole problem you had was it takes at least a week, usually two weeks to become really adjusted to the altitude. Until then it is best to be conservative like you did.

Thanks for the compliment. You are right that altitude made a big difference. We will definitely go back and spend way more time.
 
I just watched a documentary on hiking in the GC. These guys go exploring the slot canyons that few to no people have been in. There's some awesome stuff there.
 
Wife and I hiked rim to rim in 06. When we first got to south rim it was tough to go to the edge.By the time we got 1/2way to Phantom Ranch could walk along the edge with no problem.
Didn't see any helicopter rescues but one woman  that wished she could have one.Rangers had her resting with water and told her no she would eventually walk out, guess she did.It was only 128 degrees.
We loved it have not had time to get back again
 
Well, we are a month into our adventure and having a great time.  We have found it pretty easy to search for a campground the evening before our departure to that particular destination, call in the AM and get a spot for that night.
Grand Canyon South Rim yesterday.  We had a near perfect day for viewing.

Tom, thankyou for your comments, very helpful.  My Google Pixel XL has been great for photos.
 
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