Yosemite or Death Valley? [traveling w/one disabled and one portable oxygen user]
Feb 3, 2017, 8:03 am
#31
Join Date: Jan 2003
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Seriously I was looking at the pictures of Death Valley on their site... since I (Living in SoCal for 30+ years) want to know why so many visitors wants to go there when I don't know anyone who had been there. The pictures look just like my view from my backyard toward the mountains.. brown on top of brown all year long. 
It looks like a place where they would film movies like Mad Max or The Hills have Eyes.And those little yellow/white flowers on their site's pictures.. they look exactly like those blooming on the side of the freeways every where in spring that gives me and everyone else horrible allergy LOL.
Feb 3, 2017, 9:09 am
#32
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On the same thought, if they want to see Death Valley, just drive to any San Bernardino mountains and tell them it is Death Valley. Seriously I was looking at the pictures of Death Valley on their site... since I (Living in SoCal for 30+ years) want to know why so many visitors wants to go there when I don't know anyone who had been there. The pictures look just like my view from my backyard toward the mountains.. brown on top of brown all year long. It looks like a place where they would film movies like Mad Max or The Hills have Eyes.
And those little yellow/white flowers on their site's pictures.. they look exactly like those blooming on the side of the freeways every where in spring that gives me and everyone else horrible allergy LOL.
Seriously I was looking at the pictures of Death Valley on their site... since I (Living in SoCal for 30+ years) want to know why so many visitors wants to go there when I don't know anyone who had been there. The pictures look just like my view from my backyard toward the mountains.. brown on top of brown all year long. It looks like a place where they would film movies like Mad Max or The Hills have Eyes.And those little yellow/white flowers on their site's pictures.. they look exactly like those blooming on the side of the freeways every where in spring that gives me and everyone else horrible allergy LOL.
The OP mentioned traveling in mid November. By early November Sequoia may have snow and cars are required to carry chains: https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvis...er_driving.htm
Is the OP prepared to put chains on a rental vehicle?
The OP also mentioned being a party of 9. The roads into Sequoia are not fun with a large vehicle and there are size limits. Don't know what they plan to drive, but that's something to consider.
In winter weather, getting around Sequoia, especially for a person with mobility problems, is going to be much harder than Yosemite. Ever since the park restoration activities started (maybe 18 years ago?) it's become increasing more challenging to get near to the most special features in Sequoia and King's Canyon without some serious walking. Plus the altitude is 6,600 to 7,200 ft versus 4,000 ft in Yosemite Valley - more challenging for the person with oxygen concentrator.
In regards to Sequoia, the person carries their concentrator on a little luggage trolley with wheels, so as long as the paths to the features are relatively even, she'll won't have any problems if she walks leisurely. She does fine at the Grand Canyon which is slightly higher but has paved walkways.
Feb 3, 2017, 12:02 pm
#33
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http://www.desertusa.com/desert-cali...us-canyon.html
Feb 3, 2017, 12:55 pm
#34
Join Date: May 2005
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In regards to Sequoia, the person carries their concentrator on a little luggage trolley with wheels, so as long as the paths to the features are relatively even, she'll won't have any problems if she walks leisurely. She does fine at the Grand Canyon which is slightly higher but has paved walkways.
Feb 3, 2017, 1:08 pm
#35
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Feb 4, 2017, 8:30 am
#36
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The drive into Death Valley via Titus Canyon Road is simply and overwhelmingly stunning.
http://www.desertusa.com/desert-cali...us-canyon.html
http://www.desertusa.com/desert-cali...us-canyon.html
From the link abmj-jr gave, there are quite a bit of accessible trails, so it looks quite doable.
Feb 6, 2017, 8:03 pm
#37
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Feb 12, 2017, 11:14 pm
#38
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Yes, the park service recommends a higher clearance vehicle for Titus canyon and this time they are mostly not being overly conservative. It's largely due to the ending part of the drive which involves driving on a dry riverbed where pebbles often get kicked up and can possibly damage something on the underside of the car.
It's still doable if you drive very slowly on this part of the road but having ruined an automatic transmission here when I was young and more foolhardy, I can directly testify to the potential for damage.
Note that the first half of the drive may seem rather scary to one not used to driving up and down a mountain on a dirt road with narrow switchbacks. But it's not dangerous given reasonable care.
Is Titus Canyon worth it? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. It's the day drive that has it all, even a weird ghost town if you start out with a stop in Rhyolite.
It's still doable if you drive very slowly on this part of the road but having ruined an automatic transmission here when I was young and more foolhardy, I can directly testify to the potential for damage.
Note that the first half of the drive may seem rather scary to one not used to driving up and down a mountain on a dirt road with narrow switchbacks. But it's not dangerous given reasonable care.
Is Titus Canyon worth it? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. It's the day drive that has it all, even a weird ghost town if you start out with a stop in Rhyolite.
Last edited by RichardInSF; Feb 12, 2017 at 11:26 pm
Feb 14, 2017, 10:17 am
#39
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Yes, the park service recommends a higher clearance vehicle for Titus canyon and this time they are mostly not being overly conservative. It's largely due to the ending part of the drive which involves driving on a dry riverbed where pebbles often get kicked up and can possibly damage something on the underside of the car.
It's still doable if you drive very slowly on this part of the road but having ruined an automatic transmission here when I was young and more foolhardy, I can directly testify to the potential for damage.
Note that the first half of the drive may seem rather scary to one not used to driving up and down a mountain on a dirt road with narrow switchbacks. But it's not dangerous given reasonable care.
Is Titus Canyon worth it? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. It's the day drive that has it all, even a weird ghost town if you start out with a stop in Rhyolite.
It's still doable if you drive very slowly on this part of the road but having ruined an automatic transmission here when I was young and more foolhardy, I can directly testify to the potential for damage.
Note that the first half of the drive may seem rather scary to one not used to driving up and down a mountain on a dirt road with narrow switchbacks. But it's not dangerous given reasonable care.
Is Titus Canyon worth it? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. It's the day drive that has it all, even a weird ghost town if you start out with a stop in Rhyolite.
Feb 17, 2017, 9:49 am
#40
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Feb 27, 2017, 2:16 pm
#41
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Mar 21, 2017, 2:30 am
#42
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LOL! I know it's probably a small boring town, but it'll just be a place to sleep. It just seems central to everything.
Yosemite - 3:30
Death Valley - 4:00 (if we do it)
Vegas - 4:00
L.A (touristy sites) - 1:30 - 2:00
PCH - 2:00
Heck, even San Jose/San Fran is only 4 hours away.
While my solution is to hotel hop, everyone else hates it and insist I find a "base" so to speak this year. While I was originally planning on staying in L.A proper, the long drive to/from Yosemite plus the traffic made me think otherwise. 6+ hours is simply too long.
Yosemite - 3:30
Death Valley - 4:00 (if we do it)
Vegas - 4:00
L.A (touristy sites) - 1:30 - 2:00
PCH - 2:00
Heck, even San Jose/San Fran is only 4 hours away.
While my solution is to hotel hop, everyone else hates it and insist I find a "base" so to speak this year. While I was originally planning on staying in L.A proper, the long drive to/from Yosemite plus the traffic made me think otherwise. 6+ hours is simply too long.
Fresno is somewhat larger, with 500,000 within the city limits. And the city of Clovis with a border contiguous to Fresno, adds another 100,000.
Both Bakersfield and Fresno/Clovis seem to me kind of unexciting, but they have plenty of shopping and eating possibilities (mostly chains), and of course loads of reasonably priced lodging possibilities (again, mostly chains).