7-state geocaching road trip

[+Zolgar]

So I've been quiet on the boards for some time, and haven't been caching as much as I'd like (person I normally went caching with stopped talking to me.. a lot harder to get motivated to go alone.)

 

But.. I decided I needed a vacation and to get out of Tucson for a week, so in mid-September I'm going to be going on a road trip through 7 states (and if I get a passport card before then, possibly pop in to Mexico just to say I did).Decided to make this also a caching road trip, because.. well, that's just more fun.

 

Presently the rout I'm looking at is more or less: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=210450964647509338072.0004a5c2bf07f07899c02&z=6

 

So if there's anyone who's familiar with legs of that rout, I'd be interested in a few pieces of information:

What kinda weather will I want to expect in mid-September?

Anything special I should be aware of?

Any geocaches in the area that are just super awesome and worth taking a minor detour to get to?

 

Also, if anyone wants to meet a roving cacher, let me know. I'm definitely down to hang out with random people. Though my plans won't be set in stone, even when I start driving. I don't want to try and have some super specific itinerary planned that I have to stick to.

[+Warturtle]

Will you be driving a Jeep? If so, you absolutely have to do some of the Trails around Moab, whether there are caches there or not.

As for Utah, I can tell you right now that once you hit around Cedar City, the rest of I-70 is pretty boring until you hit Payson, which it looks like you won't. In fact the majority of southern Utah (other than St. George, Zions, Lake Powell and Moab) seems to be pretty boring in my opinion. I'm sure there are those that would argue with me on that point, though.

 

As for weather, in Southern Nevada it ought to be pretty windy, so you might want a windbreaker if that bothers you. In Utah it ought to be in the 70's.

 

Have fun, of course.

[+Zolgar]

Will you be driving a Jeep? If so, you absolutely have to do some of the Trails around Moab, whether there are caches there or not.

As for Utah, I can tell you right now that once you hit around Cedar City, the rest of I-70 is pretty boring until you hit Payson, which it looks like you won't. In fact the majority of southern Utah (other than St. George, Zions, Lake Powell and Moab) seems to be pretty boring in my opinion. I'm sure there are those that would argue with me on that point, though.

 

As for weather, in Southern Nevada it ought to be pretty windy, so you might want a windbreaker if that bothers you. In Utah it ought to be in the 70's.

 

Have fun, of course.

 

A Jeep? >.> Sleipnir is offended.

I drive a 4x4 Toyota T100 (which I named Sleipnir), he and I can handle low to moderate rated offroading trails though, so I'd love to hit some trails.. but my gas costs are going to be high enough that I won't really be able to afford a lot of extra driving

 

Main reason I'm cutting through Utah how I plan to, is my grandparents are in Manti, and I haven't seen them in a few years. (Besides, the cut through the mountain there is a nice drive)

 

Thanks for the weather info though

[+_dxd_]

 

But.. I decided I needed a vacation and to get out of Tucson for a week, so in mid-September I'm going to be going on a road trip through 7 states (and if I get a passport card before then, possibly pop in to Mexico just to say I did).Decided to make this also a caching road trip, because.. well, that's just more fun.

 

Only have a little weather input, just based on my own experience, I've traveled some of those routes, at various times. Most of NM would probably be similar to Tucson, just a bit cooler, maybe some chance of rain lingering IF we get a monsoon this year. The best chances would be around Santa Fe north, depending on which roads you travel. Oops, guess you're not going to Santa Fe. Bernalillo to Bloomington will be out across high desert, kind of desolate maybe ?

 

Durango to Ridgeway - Mid-September I think there is a chance of snow through the mountains. I was there the end of September one year, and there was around a foot of snow on the ground at Red Mountain Pass, though the Million Dollar Highway was good and clear. I was in CO last September, and within a couple days had sunny 70s, rainy 60s, and 30s with sleet in the mountains.

Ridgeway to Grand Junction, and on into UT - 70s, maybe 80s around Grand Junction.

 

If someone local to those areas tells you differently, ignore everything I wrote, this was just my experience LOL

[BlueRajah]

Utah - Unless you wanted to go through Zions I would Head north and from St George and catch I-70. There is really not much from zions to I-70. Very few caches. At I-70 you go through Freemont Indian state park (free) and there are more caches that route.

 

Be warned state road 29 from Ephriam to Castle Dale is a dirt road, though it is a nice road. When you hit joes valley head north about 8 miles down a dirt road to Potters ponds. That is where Utahs oldest cache is (and one of the Oldest August 2000). It is easy to get to. If it is rainy you may want to skip state road 29 and head north to State Road 31 from Fairview to Huntington.

[+Zolgar]

Hmm.. Zion is a pretty drive, but more caches and less milage if I pass it. It's a toss up, I'll have to ponder it further as I get closer to the trip.

 

Thanks for the warning about dirt roads, I love 'em, but if the weather has been bad I may avoid them. I've got a 4x4, but I don't have mudders. If I can't take the 29, I'll probably actually just break my rule of no doubling back, as the 31 goes a lot further north than I planned.

 

Although, if gas prices are good at that point, a ping up to Salt Lake wouldn't be bad, got a couple people saying I should go up there heh.

[+zoltig]

My suggestion, and take it for what it is worth, is to get away from the interstates as much as possible.

I realize that you have a planned route and limited time but it just seems to me for a cache rich experience while traveling, get to the hiways and secondary roads. Find those small Americana towns and visit them.

I have done this on numerous road trips and totally enjoyed my experience. It is always more fun to have another friend or two to help navigate and share expenses while keeping a keen eye out for geocaches coming into range.

 

How do you prepare for that?

I plan way ahead of time when it comes to pocket queries. I will have a general route idea and execute PQ's shotgun style and transfer all of that info onto one map. ie mapsource.

Download as many caches onto your GPS as possible for a days run in the general are you want to travel. Set the GPS to avoid interstates and start auto-routing.

 

As an example, my caching friends and I did this heading to Alabama last year and we were able to see a lot of very nice countryside because we slowed down. We stopped in small towns. Ate meals in local diners. Found caches day and night. There were 3 of us so while the driver played their role of paying attention to the road, the others would navigate and bring up caches that were coming up on "radar".

 

That aside, I suggest as did UtahnBirder, a side trip to the Moab area. From your planned route, you can follow the Colorado River on HWY 128. It cuts diagonally from I-70 into Moab. There is some very nice scenery along that route as you travel into the canyon.

May I suggest Bonsai Overlook?

 

 

That is the hiway down below. The trail is not a very hard trail. It is called Dome Plateau. On the lower right side of the page for the trail, you will find a GPX download for the trail.

[BlueRajah]

Hmm.. Zion is a pretty drive, but more caches and less milage if I pass it. It's a toss up, I'll have to ponder it further as I get closer to the trip.

 

Thanks for the warning about dirt roads, I love 'em, but if the weather has been bad I may avoid them. I've got a 4x4, but I don't have mudders. If I can't take the 29, I'll probably actually just break my rule of no doubling back, as the 31 goes a lot further north than I planned.

 

Although, if gas prices are good at that point, a ping up to Salt Lake wouldn't be bad, got a couple people saying I should go up there heh.

 

Zion has a lot of virtuals and earthcaches, but highway 89 is pretty slim and you could grab a lot of virtual earthcaches going up I15 and on the old highway near I-70. The roads are usually dry at that point. Come July-September there is little to no rain, so the roads are nice. You could continue up to Provo area, there are a ton up here, and down Highway 6, pretty drive and nice country.

[+Zolgar]

Well, the road trip isn't 100% about geocaching, and I'm definitely a 'quality over quantity' cacher (which is why despite doing this for more than 2 years, I have only gotten about 150 finds). I'll have to ponder which rout to take.

 

However, I've had a lot of people now tell me I really need to go through Moab, so I'll look at changing my course and seeing what I can do to get to Moab. I was hoping to spend a bit more time through CO.. we'll see.

[+rockhoundbmw]

I have found a few caches along your route in AZ and NV, and of those, I recommend:

 

Hi Jolly http://coord.info/GCG1HB (a virtual in Quartzsite, AZ that also appears in Roadside America or Weird USA or one of those types of books)

Yuma Micro (it's really a large cache) http://coord.info/GC249ZX (just north of Quartzsite right off of Hwy. 95)

The United Kingdom Structure is Weathering Away!!! http://coord.info/GC1BAFJ (The cache itself kinda sucks, but if you want to take a detour to Lake Havasu City, AZ to see the London Bridge, it's cool and easy to get to from the main highway.)

 

Las Vegas has many virtual caches, especially along the strip, but try these on either side of it:

Welcome to Las Vegas http://coord.info/GC729A (Classic picture spot.)

Signs of the Times http://coord.info/GCHYED (If you're interested in getting a guided tour of the neon sign boneyard, make sure you make an appointment. Otherwise, you can get some decent shots from outside the fence/wall.)

 

Just outside of Las Vegas is Red Rock Canyon. If it weren't for me seeing other geocachers recommending that place in the forums, I wouldn't have gone, and I would have missed out on some pretty cool scenery (although if you're going to Zion, it might not be as awesome, but I haven't visited Zion). Here's a sample cache I found there: http://coord.info/GC2AP62

 

A non-geocaching recommendation is the Very Large Array west of Socorro, NM.