??? about Towing in the Mountains

[Haystacks]

I have some questions that you may be able to help me with. We are
planning our summer vacation and hope to take a 3-week trip out west in June 06 with a 12 and 14 year old in a 2004 PSD 6.0 crew cab SB pulling a 30 ft Travel trailer (8000lbs). We plan on going to Yellowstone, then South Lake Tahoe and then back home to Indiana. We plan on driving around 500 miles per day. Do you have any advice on a trip this long? Driving in the mountains is my main concern? I've only had the trailer for about a year (about five trips) and that is the extent of my towing experience. Thanks for any help. Haystacks [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Mike1000000]

edited because of brain fart



I was thinking about Yosemite, not Yellowstone

[william_04_X]

when i first bought my X i towed my trailer(30ft,10K#) 18.5k miles in 2 1/2 months..we stayed a week at flagg ranch at the south entrance to yellowstone..it was great...during my travels i would have a goal of around 600 miles per day if i was mostly(if not entirely) on interstates..some of the state highways can really slow you down(300-400 miles per day)..take your time and don't be in a hurry...use common sense...the mountains will be a piece of cake with the diesel.....use T/H coming down if you have it,and keep the R's high going up...bring the cameras for yellowstone(one of the coolest places on Earth)...while you're in the park try some of the dirt roads that spur off...some of the best sights are off the pavement...have fun

[LongRider]

If you are meeting stuff that is bigger than you are, then just take your time, and you can go most anywhere with your trailer.

What causes most wrecks are some fool that can't get it through their head that the highway ain't a race-track.

If people are backing up behind you, then about 5mph slower should be about right.

If you see a little bitty sign with a picture of a truck with a red slash through it, then don't go that way. Those signs are there for a reason, i.e. little bitty antique bridge, low clearance, some kind of hole you can't fit through, etc.

[bikerforchrist]

Haystacks, when you go to Yellowstone you may want to look into a campground ouside the park between the south entance and Jackson Hole. The reason being is when you buy the pass for Yellowstone I think its good for 6 days and also covers the Grand Teton Park as well. Camping inside the park is nice but expensive and you can get around a lot better without the trailer. If you find a place close you can make as many day trips as you want to either park or to Jackson Hole. I made the trip a few years ago and parked my TT in a KOA in Victor ID.May be something to think about,also make sure you have a lot of film or a big card in the camera. The whole area is Awesome and in June you will see a lot of animals.

[overfly]

Biggest thing I've learned traveling with my 30' TT is take your time and enjoy the sights. If the roads are wet, especially in hilly, curvy terrain slow down even more because thats alot of weight behind you trying to push you off the road. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ORHunter]

The biggest problem about towing your trailer through yellowstone is traffic. There is a lot to look at but most of the small scenic pullouts have NO room for a trailer. Leaving your trailer in a campground and then exploring will be much easier.

[Haystacks]

Thanks for all the information. We plan on three nights in Yellow stone and a week at Tahoe because we used to live near there in Reno. Anyone suggest we spend more time in Yellow Stone? Thanks

[overfly]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for all the information. We plan on three nights in Yellow stone and a week at Tahoe because we used to live near there in Reno. Anyone suggest we spend more time in Yellow Stone? Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

Camped in Yellowstone for 3 weeks a couple of years ago. Lots to see and do there. I could spend a whole summer there, so 3 days would just be a teaser....

[william_04_X]

we're going back this summer because a week the first time(summer 04) wasn't enough...Yellowstone is BIG....

[kiteflyer]

There is a lot to see in Yellowstone. We have been twice. We have spent a week each time we went. Make sure you bring a camera and if digital a lap top to down load the pictures. If your have a Portable Infrared thermometer like a Raytek MiniTemp MT4 bring it also. It’s cool because you can read the temperature of the pools in the park.

We took a 5-week trip in 1999 with a 13-year-old, here are some observations:

Traveling 500 miles a day with kids is a lot. Thats about a 10-hour day based on an average speed of 50 mph. Our average trailering speed works out to be 50 mph with fuel stops, lunch breaks and bathroom breaks. We try to plan on taking breaks about every 2 hours.

If you can plan it so that you travel for a couple of days taken a break from traveling, the kids will be happier. Even after you reach Yellowstone, you will be touring the park in the truck and giving them a break may be needed. If you don’t give them a break they are likely to get cranky. Ask them what they want to do when you get there. Be flexible.

Sounds like you have not taken any long trips. I found that after several days of pulling a trailer that I need a break also. I found that traveling and touring non-stop is not fun. We now plan on days off when we travel.

I also found I you needed to make a long day, leave really early (4:00AM) in the morning. The kids will sleep in the truck while you are driving for the first several hours. Hitch the truck so you are ready to go first thing in the morning.

When we took our long trip they did not have personnel DVD players and Ipods. Those would be good investments. If you have a Laptop with a DVD player that would also work. In addition, some of the campgrounds now have WIFI Internet connections. If you don’t have the WIFI card for the laptop you might consider getting as it would allow the kids to keep in touch with their friends via email.

We use Wal-Mart parking lots to spend the night if we are just passing through. The last several years we planned our first night out in the Wall-Mart parking lot and last night before we get home. We leave later in the day so we get there at around 7:00pm and leave early in the morning. Works great saves about $25 a night. The last time I even unhitch the trailer and left the wife with the trailer to go get fuel.

Have fun on your trip.

[oldford]

JMO 3 das isnt time to even drive around the whole park I spent 1 week there and didnt have time to see half of it

[IA712]

I'm not sure which direction you're planning on going into Yosemite, from the west or from the east side of the Sierra Nevada's.
It is a much prettier drive to go from the east, especially coming from Tahoe. Drive down into Minden/Gardnerville and down 395 to Lee Vining. You may even get a wild hair to stop in Bridgeport and fish the twin lakes, stay at Doc and Al's. Great campsite...Anyways, IMHO it's an easier way out, going downhill into the park towards the west. If you come from the west side, and are coming down into Lee Vining, it's pretty steep and curvy. But then you can hit June Lake, Mammoth Lakes and Bishop. Then from Bishop you can take highway 6 back into Nevada (not nearly as many grades or as steep as 395), on your way home. Hope this helps... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[FloridaEd]

We've been to Yellowstone 10-11 times. The last three times we've stayed for a month at the Fishing Bridge Campground inside the park. You can see my rig in my sig. We like to follow the snowplows into the park from Cody, Wyoming, in the Spring and leave the park the day the fishing season starts (the tourists come like swarming hordes that day...and stay until mid-August).

IMHO, you should stay inside the park. Fishing Bridge is my favorite campground because 1) They take reservations 2) They have full hookups 3) You can walk to the store and restaurant 4)it is centrally (more or less) located. And I just like the place. There are coyotes and bears in that area, so don't let your pets out without a leash and you there to watch them. Your cell phone will work just east or west of the campground when you get out of the trees and into the open. Satellite TV works fine there, too. (You can tell my idea of camping is really taking home with me..)

You will be surprised at how big Yellowstone is and how much time it takes to drive around it. If you go in the June 15 - August 15 time frame, it will be inundated with tourists and you will often have gridlock....made worse because they start to work on the roads as soon as the ground is well-thawed.

As to 500 miles a day, I've done that a few times. With kids, I assume you're a lot younger than I am, so you may be okay. But, day after day, it's too much IMHO. My suggestion would be to buy DVD player(s) for them and give them Benadryl in the morning and hope they would sleep all day. (That's why I don't get to travel with grandkids.)

There's a truckers guide which gives info on all the mountain passes in the western U.S. (eastern, too, in another volume) You need to buy one and plan your trip using that guide. Stay off US 16 and US 14 in eastern Wymoning with the trailer. Stay off US 212 in Montana with the trailer. You can enter/depart Yellowstone by the East, West, North, or South exit without trouble with the trailer. Don't use the Northeast exit. Consider approaching Yellowstone from Casper through Thermopolis to Cody and the east entrance. That would be very nice for your family.

If you have any time left to enjoy and appreciate Yellowstone, you and your family will have the experience of a lifetime. South Lake Tahoe pales in comparison with Yellowstone. Beautiful lake, tourist town.

Your children will recall this experience long after you are gone and bless the time you took them to this magical place.

Florida Ed

[tiffany]

When driving through Yellowstone lots of people will stop right in the middle of the road and hold up traffic to take pictures of buffalo or elk or whatever else is walking around. That was what I hated most about that place. Actually it was the only thing I hated about it.