DESTINATIONS THE US | ESCORTED TOURS ACCOMMODATION
Four nights of TrekAmerica’s Western Wonder trip are spent camping. Tents are easy to put up and away using the ‘tent burrito’ method, even for those with little camping experience. Camping keeps costs down, but also helps groups create crucial camaraderie. It’s easy to get to know each other around a campfire with a few beers, making dinner together and melting s’mores. While it’s not glamping, campsites are organised, with clean facilities and hot water. Good advice for customers is that overnight temperatures in the shoulder seasons can be as low as zero, while in summer, can rise to 25C. As fun as camping is in the wilderness, a two-night hotel stay in Vegas breaks it up nicely, whether to wash your hair, sleep in a springy bed, check social media on strong Wi-Fi or reorganise a bag. The four-star Golden Nugget hotel was a slice of classic Vegas, set on Fremont Street in the city’s lively downtown area.
BOOK IT
TrekAmerica’s Western Wonder from Los Angeles to San Francisco or vice versa starts at £849, excluding international flights, with departures from April to October. Extra nights can be added in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as can tours and excursions within each city. Each client must set aside an additional $70 in cash for a food kitty and insurance is obligatory.
trekamerica.co.uk
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Pizza at the Grand Canyon; Half Dome, Yosemite National Park; Delgadillo’s Snow Cap drive-in PICTURES: Maro Hagopian/Western Wonder; Shutterstock
love of service station fried chicken. The group dynamic can play a huge role in the success of a small group tour. Long drives help – and the scenery along the way is stunning. You might think heading into the Arizona deserts
would offer little by way of sightseeing, but you’ll gaze on all manner of wonderful rock formations, giant cacti that could’ve come straight from the set of a Western film, and the Joshua Trees of the Mojave Desert. You might even spot a ‘dust devil’ – a mini sand tornado, which is commonplace in the region.
CANYON KING Reaching the Colorado River on day one of the Trek America tour, at around sunset, is a great first stop as it’s an easy camp where you can learn how to put the tents together, have a dip in the (chilly) water, relax with a few drinks and chat around a campfire. Next up, one of the seven natural wonders of the
world. The Grand Canyon needs no introduction, but the thing that’s hard to convey when telling people about the place is its sheer size. That may sound strange as it’s known for its scale, but you don’t realise quite how gigantic it is until you see layer upon layer of rock, deposited over centuries, if not millennia. And having been blindfolded for our walk from the car park to the edge, the first sight of it was even more jaw-dropping. You could spend days at the Grand Canyon and
travelweekly.co.uk
33At the end [of our trek], our guide brought pizza to our lookout spot for sunset. Other groups and self-guiders were jealous
not lose interest, but a walk around the rim and a trek down into the edge of the crater give two different perspectives. A moderate trek down the Kaibab Trail to the appropriately named Ooh Aah Point was 1.8 miles – which sounds short, until you factor in the gradient. At the end, our guide’s second surprise was bringing pizza to our lookout spot for sunset. Other groups and self-guiders were mighty jealous.
GET YOUR KICKS After a less strenuous 5.4-mile Rim Trail walk the next morning, we were on the road again. From the world’s most famous canyon you join one of its most famous roads, Route 66. Certain towns are a real throwback to 1950s automobile-mad America, with Delgadillo’s Snow Cap drive-in in the town of Seligman a great example. It does nice hamburgers and is known for its all-American milkshakes and silly jokes with customers. Old Route 66 eventually takes you to Las Vegas, via the Hoover Dam. The bright lights of The Strip are a sight in themselves, and on entry we were given a run-down ²
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