Trip of a lifetime - advice please

[Haigh]

I don't live in the US so no advice from me but enjoy your trip and good luck with any future employment.

[marcr1230]

Ok - getting closer to D-Day

Have the first part of my itinerary settled - badlands, glacier, Yellowstone, salt lake city, lake Tahoe , Yosemite, kings canyon/Sequoia. After that onward east to Utah

Questions now about carrying gear. I will be driving to these parks they day hiking and back country camping in them.

I'll be taking a DSLR and lenses, tripod and 2-3 film cameras and assorted lenses.

How would people pack/carry them for hiking and camping? I wouldnt take everything on ever trip away from the car, but would want the DSLR and a film camera. How do you carry with a backpack or daypack and keep stuff accessible yet somewhat protected?

[venchka]

Take a medium format camera.
Roads in Yellowstone & Glacier start closing soon after Labor Day. Don't tarry. Both are unique.
You could easily spend 2 months in the Four Corners area. Early October in the San Juans is not to be missed.
Everyone else hit the high spots.
If you are close, a morning or afternoon at the Custer battlefield is interesting.
Capitol Reef National Park. An overlooked gem.
Bon voyage. I'm totally envious.

Wayne

[ornate_wrasse]

Originally Posted by venchka

If you are close, a morning or afternoon at the Custer battlefield is interesting.

I agree with Wayne's comment above. If you happen to be close to it, visiting the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana would provide an interesting glimpse into one of the most famous battles in US history. Although they didn't have it when I visited the Monument, they have a cell phone audio tour you can listen to on your phone.

Although you'll be at elevation (meaning cooler temperatures) in a lot of places you will visit, it still may get hot enough during the middle of the day that you should have some way to keep your film from getting overheated. Perhaps a check of the weather forecast would be a good idea.

Have fun on your trip!

Ellen

[venchka]

Originally Posted by marcr1230

Ok - getting closer to D-Day

Have the first part of my itinerary settled - badlands, glacier, Yellowstone, salt lake city, lake Tahoe , Yosemite, kings canyon/Sequoia. After that onward east to Utah

Questions now about carrying gear. I will be driving to these parks they day hiking and back country camping in them.

I'll be taking a DSLR and lenses, tripod and 2-3 film cameras and assorted lenses.

How would people pack/carry them for hiking and camping? I wouldnt take everything on ever trip away from the car, but would want the DSLR and a film camera. How do you carry with a backpack or daypack and keep stuff accessible yet somewhat protected?

In place of a medium format camera, give some serious thought to stitching images together to make panoramas. My friend Jeff Kohn does this with outstanding results. Look at the EXIF data. Jeff rarely uses wide angle lenses for his work. He tends to stay in the range from 45mm to 100mm.

http://www.pbase.com/jkohn/2012_san_juans

As for keeping your gear protected yet handy: When I was a lot younger and stupider, I carried a Pentax 6x7 around my neck on multiday backpacking trips. The camera was always ready. Ziplock bags will keep stuff dry in a backpack. You may need the larger sizes made for clothes, pillows, etc. Walmart sells them in the camping section. I use fly reel cases from the fishpond for my view camera lenses. They will also hold my zoom lenses for the DSLR. I would still place any lens case in a Ziplock bag - double bagged for better rain protection.

Wayne

[v_roma]

Originally Posted by marcr1230

1. Any guidance with respect to must see places along the way?
2. Photo tips - traveling with gear, what types shots will resonate and be remembered, silly to try to out do Ansel Adams
3. Admonitions and warnings? Danergerous situations and places to avoid
4. General thoughts and suggestions
5. Weather issues and camping gear suggestions for the season

1. Having recently returned from a business trip to Cody WY, where I had only one day off for sight-seeing, I heartily recommend driving through the Bear Tooth Pass Highway and the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Having less than a day for sight-seeing, the locals recommended that I bypass Yellowstone Park altogether and do this drive instead. Of course, you will have time for both. There are some many amazing places to stop and take pictures of along these two highways that, by the end of the day, you will think nothing of yet another amazing vista 10,000 feet up. From Cody, take 120, left on 296, which eventually turns into Chief Joseph Hwy. Take a left onto 212 (i.e., Bear Tooth) all the way up to Red Lodge then head back down through 308 and 72. You are basically doing a loop.

3. There are probably many things to be careful about when doing this kind of trip. Respect nature and the fact that you are out of your element in many, many ways. One I would mention from personal experience is that that some of these places are pretty high up and, if you're not used to high altitude, be careful not to over-exhert yourself or you might pass out. I did not but was close

[venchka]

Originally Posted by marcr1230

...

5. Weather issues and camping gear suggestions for the season

The usual backpacking scenario:
1. Down bag. I have 2. One light for summer. One middle weight for true 3 season use.
2. Down vest. Wind blocking fleece. Gore-Tex outer layer. Long underwear. NO cotton away from the car.
3. Wide brim hat. Fleece gloves. You're from Chicago. You know what you need for snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc. That would be a normal September-October morning anywhere out west.
4. Good boots. Broken in.
5. Hiking poles. More than once they have saved me from broken legs, ankles, etc. Double duty as a makeshift monopod.
6. Sturdy 3 season tent. It gets windy in the mountains.
Have fun.

Wayne

[goamules]

You will enjoy your trip, I guarantee it. I decided to leave North Carolina for some adventure 22 years ago, and never went back. NM and AZ have been my jumping off points, to where you are going, which really are some of the best places to photograph in the US.

[rickp]

Originally Posted by Vics

Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Slot Canyons on the Navaho reservation near Page, AZ. Death Valley incl. Zabrisky Point. (terrific dunes). I've never seen it, but Monument Valley...

we got to death valley last april (between las vegas and highway 1 on the way to san francisco), and would certainly go again.

three humble suggestions: 1-2 nights in las vegas for R & R; a helicopter tour of the grand canyon, and something like a hasselblad SWC + slow film + polarizer to capture all the 'wide' grandeur of the parks you'll be visiting.

enjoy your trip

rick

[Duane Pandorf]

Originally Posted by marcr1230

Ok - getting closer to D-Day

Have the first part of my itinerary settled - badlands, glacier, Yellowstone, salt lake city, lake Tahoe , Yosemite, kings canyon/Sequoia. After that onward east to Utah

Questions now about carrying gear. I will be driving to these parks they day hiking and back country camping in them.

I'll be taking a DSLR and lenses, tripod and 2-3 film cameras and assorted lenses.

How would people pack/carry them for hiking and camping? I wouldnt take everything on ever trip away from the car, but would want the DSLR and a film camera. How do you carry with a backpack or daypack and keep stuff accessible yet somewhat protected?

Looks like we will be in the same locations during the same time. I will be leaving with my family in our travel trailer August 24 and heading to the Badlands to begin with.

A link to our prospective trek: 2012 West of the Rockies Road Trip

If we're in the same place you won't be able to miss us as I will be towing a 34' Airstream TT with a big blue Ford truck. We'll be on the road for 9 weeks.