I think I know what part you’re talking about. We went out just a bit past the end of the main trail (kind of keeping the same elevation), but it was so slick we didn’t go down further. I’m not great with heights, so that was enough for us. We did see one guy lower on the really narrow and slick part. I was taking pictures out there and praying I didn’t drop the phone.
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Muir Woods in CA requires reservations. The last time we went there was years ago, shortly before they started requiring reservations. I love the area but understand why they needed reservations to preserve the beauty and serenity.
Rocky Mountain National Park requires reservations too. We are hoping to get those for one very specific date in August. Relative in CO will be doing this!
At least Acadia gave up on charging for reservations for the Loop Road. We have a Golden Age pass, with “free” admission to national parks, but paying $6 for a reservation to drive on the Loop Road seems extreme. Some web company would be making a fortune if that were to pass.
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What fries me is that all these national park reservations cost money—AFTER paying the admission fees, or using your Golden Age pass.
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Wow, so glad I went everywhere decades ago when you could just drive/hike wherever and whenever you wanted LOL.
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I’m glad we went to Glacier with friends where reservations were only needed for lodging and dining. It was great but I find it sometimes hard to plan too far in the distance—then and even more now. So many variables—health, weather, etc.
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It is still quite a deal to enter the National Parks. I don’t mind supporting them and I certainly would rather see some things without huge crowds.
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Agreed. I think Yosemite has come up with a good compromise this summer: if you enter before 6am then you don’t need a reservation. A similar system has been used for nearby Devils Postpile for many years (in that case allowing you to avoid the mandatory shuttle bus if you enter early in the morning).
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Cruises. We like active vacations – hiking in the Canadian Rockies, bicycling in Vermont, but also traipsing through Italy – but I don’t think I would consider a cruise until we have many waves of Covid out and things have really diminished. I may be biased as I don’t love the idea of cruises but I just fear everybody being cooped up together, especially when they stop testing but even if they don’t, is an outbreak waiting to happen.
We have organized the trips ourselves (except for a bike trip in China in 1982) and a trip to Guilin and Longsheng in China (hiking, biking, and a boat) about three years ago. There would have been no way to do the latter and it would not have been legal to do the former without guides.
We have not taken a Backroads bicycling trip, but I can see doing that as we get a bit older. ShawWife and her mother and sister took a Butterfield & Robinson bike trip in India – super luxurious and basically one staff member per bicyclist. But, India is not an obvious place for a bike trip.
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I am going on a Silverseas cruise this fall with my extended family. They have a Covid policy which would refund the fare if we were to have Covid or we couldn’t travel due to shut down. If we were to get Covid onboard they would cover all medical care, quarantine costs onshore and our flight back home.
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Just popping in with a travel report. D23 and I went to the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana) over spring break. I think all of the wait staff at the resort was masked but I am not sure about others - like at the front desk or the bell man? I honestly don’t remember but I didn’t feel like I was at any risk the whole time we were in DR. (It was beautiful! Beautiful beach, nice people, we were the ugly Americans who never left the resort but honestly - there was a ton to do there and I was really there for BEACH. And I got it.) So the trip was quite nice but the flying was awful. The flight down was uneventful but our flight home was delayed 9 hours and we were stuck at the airport the whole time because they delayed us in increments. And then the plane was packed with gross sneezing, coughing (maskless) people. We don’t seem to have caught anything but I don’t get the impression that the airlines are really back yet. I have to fly to Arizona in two weeks, so we will see how that goes. I just think the airlines are understaffed and underequipped.
Speaking of reservations, a family member went to Peru and Colombia over spring break. They needed to reserve timed entry tickets in advance at Machu Picchu, especially with the current reduced capacity.
As for Covid restrictions, Lima was very strict (vaccine cards/masks indoors) and felt safe with lots of warm weather outdoor options. Colombia (Cartagena and Medillin) didn’t seem to care about proof of vaccination or masks indoors, but most of the time was spent outdoors anyways. The entire group (20 grad students) had received booster shots prior to the trip and to my knowledge no one tested positive upon their return.
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@Poochie21 - would you mind sharing the resort you stayed? DR is a place I only got to visit while on a cruise, and it’s been my desire to revisit - my D did a 5 day in DR and loved every moment.
Having a reservation to a national park or even a state park may seem insane, but wouldn’t you rather know that you are getting in - or not getting in- without spending 6 hours in line and then be turned away?
They started the reservations at Rocky Mtn national park after just that happened. At the beginning of covid, when no one could fly anywhere, the ‘locals’ (from as far away as Texas) did Staycations and the lines to get into RMNP were miles and miles long, and usually about 10 am they started telling people they couldn’t enter until after 3. Everyone who knows Colorado weather knows that there could be thunderstorms at 3 and hiking is no longer safe. The small towns between Boulder and Estes Park became overrun with cars and people picnicking in the parks, leaving their trash, not being nice.
State parks were just as bad with parking lots overflowing and people parking and blocking fire lanes, walking off the trail and hurting the native grasses and plants, littering, POOPING on the trails.
If you have a reservation,at least you know you’ll get in. No reservation? Stay home.
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BUT----if you are charged for admission to the park, you also have to pay ANOTHER fee for a reservation?
If you have a pass that allows FREE admission to national parks, it’s not free anymore if you’re charged for a reservation.
At $6 per reservation for Acadia for example, someone somewhere is making a TON of money. Is NPS getting any of that??
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You have the option of getting there before 6 am (but you may still be waiting in a line of cars waiting to get in, even though the booth is not manned until 6). If they didn’t charge for the reservation, some people would make all the reservations they could and then just not show up.
My daughter likes to hike 14ers. She’s arrived at 5:30 am to full parking lots. She’d be happy to pay $6 for a reserved spot for her free hike.
Let’s not forget that our taxes pay for the NPS. I thought so that all of us could enjoy and protect our national parks.
I understand that our parks are becoming more popular, especially when people are traveling more domestically and trying to be socially distant. But I’m not sure what the answer is. I guess I’d be happy for increased park fees than a reservation fee.
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There are fees for doing some things in national parks - camping, wilderness area hiking, tours. There are fees for other government owned lands; most ski areas are on public land, but leased to private businesses. There are rules about the museums in Washington DC. Free, but you can’t just go in whenever you want because you are a taxpayer. They may meet entrance limits early in the day and then too bad, you can’t go in, even if you have a pass from your congressman, even if you came all the way from Arizona.