Ha! Well, thankfully, I've got great in-laws and the one time I've shared a campsite in the Sierra with them before was a breeze. Splitting the group up isn't a bad idea but I think 95% of the reason they're headed down to DV is to spend time with us, which is super cute.
Thanks for the confirmation that Marble & Echo are solid options. Fingers crossed the DVNP campsites aren't as weird as the Hole in the Wall ones with the big gravel berm and whatnot. From the pictures I've seen they look okay as long as you cross-reference them with topo maps to make sure you're not in a dumb spot right on top of the road in a canyon with no room to stretch out.
Geologist Cabin is definitely a long drive for one night. Looking at probably four hours of driving from Marble Canyon to Striped Butte ... but there's not anything in-between I can think of to camp at and break up the drive, especially since it looks like the north end of West Side Road is still closed.
Gold Valley was something I gave serious consideration to as it used to be a favorite haunt, and now I really want to check out Smith Mountain after seeing the view in Google Earth. Thanks for the info! I'll keep that one in my back pocket as a second option this trip if we get more time or things change. Would be great to revisit Kaleidoscope & Funeral Slot. So many rocks to kick, so little time.
Now to figure out what we're eating this trip! The in-laws travel with a full blown kitchen setup and do wild stuff like cook steaks and stir-fried rice in their Skottle™, which is pretty insane to me. I think they also have a small gas campfire deal so there's definitely going to be some culture shock going on.
Thanks for the confirmation that Marble & Echo are solid options. Fingers crossed the DVNP campsites aren't as weird as the Hole in the Wall ones with the big gravel berm and whatnot. From the pictures I've seen they look okay as long as you cross-reference them with topo maps to make sure you're not in a dumb spot right on top of the road in a canyon with no room to stretch out.
Geologist Cabin is definitely a long drive for one night. Looking at probably four hours of driving from Marble Canyon to Striped Butte ... but there's not anything in-between I can think of to camp at and break up the drive, especially since it looks like the north end of West Side Road is still closed.
Gold Valley was something I gave serious consideration to as it used to be a favorite haunt, and now I really want to check out Smith Mountain after seeing the view in Google Earth. Thanks for the info! I'll keep that one in my back pocket as a second option this trip if we get more time or things change. Would be great to revisit Kaleidoscope & Funeral Slot. So many rocks to kick, so little time.
Now to figure out what we're eating this trip! The in-laws travel with a full blown kitchen setup and do wild stuff like cook steaks and stir-fried rice in their Skottle™, which is pretty insane to me. I think they also have a small gas campfire deal so there's definitely going to be some culture shock going on.