Late April 2023 road trip suggestions.
- Thread starter Sbooker
- Start date
Hood Meadows is mostly east facing. Timberline is south facing. Look at my pics from June/July and it's obvious Timberline must get more snow than Meadows. And Meadows got 541 inches last season! I'll also mention when I hiked Mt. Fuji in late July 2009 there was a big snowfield on the south side while the northeast side had none. The largest glacier in the Alps (Aletsch) is on the south side of the Jungfrau/Monch/Eiger peaks in Switzerland. So there's something about winter storm patterns and/or wind deposition that snowfall on the south sides of some mountains ovverides the better snow preservation of other exposures in terms of how long the snowpack lasts.
In late April Bachelor is far and away the best skiing in Oregon. Hood Meadows is worth a day if you're in the area (you should probably stay in Hood River where your friend can watch the wind sport scene at the Gorge), though yes in late April you want to be there at opening bell. Timberline is probably not worth it as Palmer likely isn't open yet.
That's why I made the suggestion of flying onto Portland and out of SF. You should be able to arrange flights for that. The question is how much will the drop charge be for a one way car rental. But if you're constrained for time it's worth paying extra in order to meet your objectives efficiently.
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Thanks. One way charges for the car are eye watering but you make a good point. By the way Crater Lake looks stunning in photos. That’s a must see.
Destination trips would be so much easier and more interesting if one-way rentals weren't prohibitively expensive. Does anyone have pro tips or experiences with cities where they're affordable, especially in Europe?
I've had a few cheap or free one way rentals, but they are ancient history, notably New Zealand in 1982. You are definitely asking for trouble if they are across a national border, which will make most options in Europe a problem. ChrisC reported this in 2020 and was forced to return to Milan during Italy's initial COVID shock.
State borders in the US should not be a big deal, but the US rental car market was the one most disrupted by the pandemic. I've heard it's returning to normal, even in places like Hawaii that were exorbitant in 2021.
Awhile back I recall hearing that relocations are unbalanced in terms of flows into and out of certain cities/states. If you want to rent in the opposite directions it can be free or cheap.
I recall in 2001 a one way from Anchorage to Seward in Alaska was something like $250, pretty obnoxious for a modest distance.
State borders in the US should not be a big deal, but the US rental car market was the one most disrupted by the pandemic. I've heard it's returning to normal, even in places like Hawaii that were exorbitant in 2021.
Awhile back I recall hearing that relocations are unbalanced in terms of flows into and out of certain cities/states. If you want to rent in the opposite directions it can be free or cheap.
I recall in 2001 a one way from Anchorage to Seward in Alaska was something like $250, pretty obnoxious for a modest distance.
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EMSC
Well-known member
I tried to rent a local Uhaul to move stuff 3 hours away with plan to stay overnight and bring the truck back the next day. Uhaul won't do it. 24hours max rental for 'local' rentals returned to the same place. They are that busy... And no I wasn't/didn't rent, load, drive, unload and drive back 3 hours in one day. I found other means.
I've had Calgary to Vancouver and Vancouver to Calgary in consecutive years (2016/2017 late March to mid April) and there was very little penalty for some reason. That was when Whistler and Banff were both on Mountain Collective. Great memories in those trips.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I generally just keep searching till I find something without huge drop-off fees or high daily rates.
Often rental car companies want you to help redeploy their fleets (i.e. Florida-Northeast for summer and winter).
I have done Jackson to Sun Valley, and Jackson to Bozeman without fees. I can often find Telluride to Montrose without fees. Done Denver to Telluride without fees.
I look at the extra daily rental car cost versus the cost of an additional day/lodging/flight (or missed site) I would have to incur.
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