Where to go from Vegas

I will be going to Vegas around May of 07. I will have 5 days to travel. I%26#39;m thinking about going to Death Valley and Yosemite National Park. I usually do more drive by sight seeing than hiking. Any suggestions?

Where to go from Vegas

Death Valley is a 2-1/2 hour drive. Yosemite is a good 8-hour drive. Zion National Park in southern Utah is about 4 hours, and Bryce National Park is a few hours beyond Zion. Grand Canyon is 5-6 hours. Closer to LV, Valley of Fire State Park is really nice and about 1-1/2 hours away.

Some TA posters have driven the loop from LV out to Grand Canyon South Rim, then returning via north of the Grand Canyon through Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon (UT), and Zion Canyon. That would take three nights at least to do it right. It sounds like heckuva nice trip to me.

Where to go from Vegas

I have already seen most of Utah and AZ although I haven%26#39;t been to the North Rim of the GC. I was thinking more of going in the Death Valley direction and sites near the Nevada/ CA border.

How long will the sightseeing in Death Valley take?

I don%26#39;t think you would spend more than a few hours exploring Death Valley. Needless to say, Death Valley is a tad warm. I have been there in the winter and have had a beautiful time. May could be a problem. The heat is more than uncomfortable, it can be downright dangerous. If you leave Vegas real early in the morning, and start heading back by lunch you will probably okay.

We went to DV back in May of %26#39;93. Left the Flamingo at 6am. Got to the south enterance at about 8:30. Saw all of the points of interest up to Beaty and exited there. There is much more to see above that point but it was about 6PM by this time. Here is a true story for you. The temp. read 121 degrees at the information building at about noon. We took a cooler FULL of water with us for the trip. I mean a 20 pack of 24oz. waters, and three two liter coke bottles filled with water. We refilled two of the 2 liter bottles at the information building (even though there is a sign at the water fountian saying not for filling bottles- I don%26#39;t get that sign- what do they want people to die?)

Anyway, I remember saying to my wife that we had plenty of water left and is it really necessary to fill these bottles. She said it is better to be safe than sorry in case we get stuck somewhere. Do you know whe finished every single bottle except one 24 oz. each that we drank on the way home. (We stopped at Beatty and the nice Ghost Town there). The most unbeleivable thing about this whole story is we never had to pee all day until we got back to the hotel. Honest to God. It was so dry (8% humidity) that it just absorbs the moisture right out of you!

SO BRING MORE WATER THAN YOU WOULD EVER IMAGINE YOU CAN POSSIBLY DRINK!

Lived to tell about it,

Bob from Ct.

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