Help me survive a trip out west

[Deleted member 57233]

I forgot one!
TEMPERATURE at NIGHT? - still hot as hell or what?

Depends. When you are in the desert it can get cold at night. Here in southern Idaho it was 95 yesterday, 50 this morning, and will be 95 again today.

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[Rummie]

Lots of good advice above. One other thing to consider is that you don't need to camp every night. With a wife and three young girls along consider spending a night in a hotel or airbnb. Do it somewhere in the middle of the trip. Everyone gets a good hot shower and is refreshed for the rest of the trip.

 

[Partysub]

Night temp. I've camped in moab in the summer and the nights are usually perfect for sleeping. We camped end of July once and it was 106 in the day and mid to high 80s at night and was awful. It really just depends on the temp and cloud cover. Get some battery powered fans

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

Depends. When you are in the desert it can get cold at night. Here in southern Idaho it was 95 yesterday, 50 this morning, and will be 95 again today.

very similar to here. its high 80's low 90's with rain every day here lol 60s at night.

 

[Deleted member 57233]

very similar to here. its high 80's low 90's with rain every day here lol 60s at night.

Probably a lot higher than 30% humidity though lol

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

Probably a lot higher than 30% humidity though lol

yes! :D
thank you for your help!

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

ive been tempted to put a few white vinyl wrap strips on my grey rtt just to try and combat heat just a bit more. I will probably make my own hot heads for the inside of the truck. (of course i have a black gladiator lol)

 

[BourbonRunner]

Lots of good advice above. One other thing to consider is that you don't need to camp every night. With a wife and three young girls along consider spending a night in a hotel or airbnb. Do it somewhere in the middle of the trip. Everyone gets a good hot shower and is refreshed for the rest of the trip.

QFT.

KOAs also have the mini-cabins at a lot of locations now too.

 

[Toro34]

I picked up a Garmin inReach mini a few years ago. I take it with me anytime we go on a road trip regardless if we will be in cell reception, heading off road. or just driving a few hours on the highway.

There are a few other options out there from Garmin and other companies, but when travelling with family, especially kids, a satellite communicator would be at the top of my list.

 

[smlobx]

Lots of good advise here and let me add a few as well…

Get the free app iOverlander. It has tons of places to camp and where you can find everything from water to laundry places. It’s crowd sourced and is an absolute must to have. If you see any posts from smlobx you know it’s accurate (that’s me!).

On of the neat places we camped is along the Colorado River. I believe it’s Rt 128. There are a few Forrest Service (I believe) campgrounds there.

Stay hydrated. If your pee is not almost clear you’re not drinking enough! With the low humidity you don’t realize how much you’re actually sweating. Also, use hats and stay under an awning whenever possible.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

Lots of good advise here and let me add a few as well…

Get the free app iOverlander. It has tons of places to camp and where you can find everything from water to laundry places. It’s crowd sourced and is an absolute must to have. If you see any posts from smlobx you know it’s accurate (that’s me!).

On of the neat places we camped is along the Colorado River. I believe it’s Rt 128. There are a few Forrest Service (I believe) campgrounds there.

Stay hydrated. If your pee is not almost clear you’re not drinking enough! With the low humidity you don’t realize how much you’re actually sweating. Also, use hats and stay under an awning whenever possible.

Luckily I taught my youngest kids to drink water constantly already. My oldest needs to work on it though!
I think they may have an assortment of apps and things spread out across the group. Im mostly the video guy and plan on getting the cool drone shots and astrophotography stuff.
Camping by the Colorado river sounds great! I loooooove rivers.
I was wondering about laundry, had planned to just wash everything and let it dry as I could. I cut a lot of grass here in KY and have several things to keep the sun off me. Trying to convince everyone else to do the same is another story lol

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

I picked up a Garmin inReach mini a few years ago. I take it with me anytime we go on a road trip regardless if we will be in cell reception, heading off road. or just driving a few hours on the highway.

There are a few other options out there from Garmin and other companies, but when travelling with family, especially kids, a satellite communicator would be at the top of my list.

Im interested but would it be mostly for calling "911" and knowing your coords id guess?
Luckily my wife is an ER nurse and did wound care for years, we plan on taking a full med kit with us and snake bite stuff.

 

[staying_tuned]

2 little ones (also in KY) and 50k miles worth of trips out west and further south, RTT, redundant power, pop-up stall, water etc. as well. I’d say if your goal is soaking in the scenery with a total of 5 folks, rent a 3 row SUV and bring the ground tent you still likely have. First trips to UT/MO/WY/TX was near purely for trails and off-road exploration. Our next trip will be for scenery where we beeline back to WY/UT. We’re leaving the glady home and taking our CX-9. We hipcamped our way to our locations then camped on public land mixed in with a few airbnbs to reset and recharge. If you aren’t putting the truck to use, it’s pretty terrible for scenic road trips. Probably not a popular opinion to leave the glady behind but as a father and husband to another, be ready for a grind covering that, in the timeframe, with the glady especially if you don’t plant to do some adrenaline inducing (at least) off-roading to justify it.

 

[rharr]

a few tips,
Everything is trying to kill you.

Everything is sharp or has spines, lot stuff stuff has poison, plants animal ect.. the sun has a laser beam intensity. When it rains flash flooding happens. Basically respect mother nature and don't think you will conquer it. Look twice before you go marching into dark places or dense rocks or shrubs.

in a month or so there should still be monsoon going on. if you see dark rain clouds on the horizon, don't go exploring slot canyons that day. Pay attention to local weather forecasts.

Get yourself a way to inflate your tires and a tire plug (tire worms) kit. Make sure to have some way to provide shade for yourself and family, there aren't many trees to provide cover. I have a pop up gazebo in the back of my truck.

Basically just be smart and have fun, the desert is a beautify place.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

2 little ones (also in KY) and 50k miles worth of trips out west and further south, RTT, redundant power, pop-up stall, water etc. as well. I’d say if your goal is soaking in the scenery with a total of 5 folks, rent a 3 row SUV and bring the ground tent you still likely have. First trips to UT/MO/WY/TX was near purely for trails and off-road exploration. Our next trip will be for scenery where we beeline back to WY/UT. We’re leaving the glady home and taking our CX-9. We hipcamped our way to our locations then camped on public land mixed in with a few airbnbs to reset and recharge. If you aren’t putting the truck to use, it’s pretty terrible for scenic road trips. Probably not a popular opinion to leave the glady behind but as a father and husband to another, be ready for a grind covering that, in the timeframe, with the glady especially if you don’t plant to do some off-roading to justify it.

yeah thats def not an option. We are absolutely not sticking to pavement.

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