Labor Day locations without the crowds?

[paul_wasserman]

It looks like my only chance for an outing soon will be for a long

labor day weekend. I'm looking for the best nature photo location I

can find, but away from the labor day crowds.

 

For background, I shoot scenics and wildlife - primarily birds,

butterflys and wildflowers. I checked the other threads on the forum

and had an interest in such locations as Rocky Mountain Nat. Park,

Utah, the San Juan Islands, the Badlands, the Smokies, and the Oregon

coast, but it sounds like all of these will be jammed when I can go.

 

So, I'm open to ideas off the beaten path, pretty much anywhere in

the Americas that you can do in 5 days.

[dan_smith]

Paul, if we tell you of our locations we have found & kept quiet about we will go there & find them crowded as now many more will know of them. Check your maps & look for the out of the way areas and/or places that aren't 'tourist' attractions. There are a lot of them around and on even the busiest of weekends and holidays they are nearly deserted. Just as all of California is not LA, most areas are not well known. Take a good look at state maps of places you are interested in and even near the tourist traps you can find quiet and good photo opportunities. "off the beaten path" means just that. If you go to even the tourist locations and are willing to walk a bit you can get away from most of the crowds.

[david_henderson]

Just a thought but it's not Labor Day everywhere, is it? I mean if you're prepared to travel to such a variety of places then going somewhere where it isn't Labor Day should be possible?

[chelsea]

Just a suggestion: try to get hold of a bed-and-breakfast directory, see if you can contact some of those folks in the areas you're interested in. You'd be surprised how many of them know about out-of-the-way places. Many of them have lived for years in the area they're located in, and are able to help their customers find access to places the crowds don't know about.

[jeffpolaski]

Every year, we stay home. No crowds. Macro lens for nature shots in your back yard?

One other possibility is Canada, far enough across the border to escape the Labor Day crowds from the US.

[chelsea]

<I>One other possibility is Canada, far enough across the border to escape the Labor Day crowds from the US. </I><BR>

<BR>

 

Don't count on that! Labour Day Weekend is a bigger holiday up here than many places in the U.S.!

[bob_k]

You might want to try some off-trail hiking. The Olympic Mountains here in Washington is my favorite area for that. You need to know how to use a map and compass and shouldn't bring a lot of heavy gear. You can have some of the most beautiful places imaginable all to yourself. Lots of animals, too.

[paul_wasserman]

Actually, Olympic NP and perhaps the San Juan islands were on the list.

 

Typically, what can I expect as far as rain goes on labor day?

 

Are the Orcas still around?

 

Paul Wasserman

[bob_k]

September is actually one of the best months in western Washington. The 2nd and 3rd weeks are really the best time to go. I know someone whose birthday is September 16th and it's been absolutely beautiful every day but one for about the last twenty years. I plan my hikes for around then. The students are back in school, so it's not very crowded in the backcountry. In the high-mountain areas of the Olympics, the huckleberries are ripe and their leaves are just turning red. The bears and all the other animals are too busy feeding on the berries to run away. The rains often start by the end of September and colors peak about the 2nd week of October.

<p>

If you go off-trail, you really need to know what you're doing. You should pick up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898866189/o/qid=966450317/sr=2-1/102-0577951-2139331">Robert Wood's book</a> to find out where to go in the Olympics.

<p>

I have never seen an Orca in the wild in Washington or British Columbia, although I've been on the waters quite a bit. The tour boats from Victoria or Friday Harbor are probably better at finding them. I'm pretty sure that there are a few around.

[john lehman, college alask]

In northern Canada, Kluane National Park in the Yukon (fly into Whitehorse) and Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories (fly into Fort Smith) should have great colors and not be crowded. The scenery in Kluane is better; better wildlife in Wood Buffalo.

[audubon_l._bakewell_iv]

Just about anywhere in central Alaska, except for Denali Park and its immediate environs ("Glitter Gulch"), is vacant during Labor Day, at least by Outsider (non-Alaskan) standards. Over the weekend, we may get as many as five vehicles an hour along the Denali Highway. Traffic along the Richardson Highway between Delta and Glennallen(look 'em up on a map!) will average ten an hour, and peak at less than twenty.

And what a location for the first week of September! It is the peak of our fall colors; the alpine tundra is ablaze with the crimson of bearberry, the burnished gold of willow, and the Alaska Range has snow all the way down (to wit - we had cover down to the 4,000' elevation two nights ago, i.e, 8/14). Still, there won't have been so much snow as to mute the sharp summer-definition to our glaciers, though. We'll still have sockeye salmon - as red as the bearberry leaves - spawning, and lots of bald eagles feeding on them, plus the occasional grizz. The weather is the most stable of the year in mid-Aug to late Sep, and the night sky finally is dark enough to see auroral activity. Lastly, the dark of the moon is at the end of this month, so it won't be spoiling the Northern Lights show before Labor Day.

Too bad about the United strike - it's messing up a good fraction of the flights to Alaska.

[john lehman, college alask]

Shsssh Audubon, I'm braving the hordes of moose hunters, the Alaska watercolor association, and berry-pickers with my Supergraphics on the Denali Highway over Labor Day -- the last thing we need is more crowds! Guys, don't come -- it is a poorly maintained dirt road, you can't take a rental car on it, and the lodges all serve overpriced food from restaurant suppliers in Los Anchorage. Also the weather will probably be horrible ;-)

[jeff_drew4]

Try Wasatch Mountains, Uintas etc. near SLC Utah. National Forests there are not as busy as the Tetons further north near Jackson WY. Northern WIS and Minnesota are busy but there are places that are not packed - excluding the mosquitoes! Most of the burned areas in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are hurtin for tourists! Great Deals and there are beauty spots still - but RAIN would help!

[audubon_l._bakewell_iv]

Now John, you don't think I'm going to mention my really *good* sites in open forum, do you? ;-)

 

Audie

[ron_niebrugge]

Gee, I was planning to spend two days on the Denali Highway over Labor Day, on my way to my way to Denali National Park. Sounds like I won't be alone!

 

Audubon, that was a great description of a very beautiful area. I could almost feel that crip autumn breeze!

[paul_wasserman]

Someone asked where I ended up, so here it is.<p>

 

We ended up on the San Juan islands and Vancouver Island. We left a couple of days before, and came back the day after labor day, and found travelling relatively hassle-free (even United was on time<g>).<p>

 

The weather was great. Just one morning of heavy rain, and some light showers and overcast here and there. Most of the time there were nice dramatic clouds and sunny skies. <p>

 

Neither the San Juans or Vancouver island were heavily crowded, particularly by Chicago standards. We stayed at Rosario resort on Orcas, which was wonderfully scenic, and had black-tailed deer roaming the grounds and posing. Mt. Constitution, however, was fogged in when we visited.<p>

 

We stayed on the outskirts of Victoria near a bird sanctuary and I got some bird shots and a spectacular sunrise or two.<p>

 

Victoria itself, although somewhat busy with tourists, was not unpleasantly crowded by any means. The waterfront presented a few interesting subjects, but I'm not much for cities (have all of that I want at home).<p>

 

So, from Victoria, the best bet for getting out of the city was to drive up along the West coast - a pretty full day trip. Sooke Potholes was a great spot, and China beach gave us a good feel for what the coastline is like there. The further out you get, the scenery gets better, with oldgrowth forest towering above the road.<p>

 

A quick drive along the East coast gets you to the Malahut(I think) mountains, with a few nice overlooks, and the Malahut Mountain Inn restaurant with great food and view to match.<p>

 

Whale Watching, at least where we were, was okay, but not great. We only saw one Orca off Victoria, and a few Minkes near Orcas Island. Apparently, June and July were great for seeing Orcas. On the other hand, I talked to someone who'd been kayaking around Telegraph Cove, and they had been surrounded by Orcas the day before. Sounds like thats the place to go for whale watching in Vancouver this time of year.<p>

 

In any case, the one thing to know if you visit the islands this time of year is to show up early for the ferries, because they do fill up. If you're taking a ferry from Anacortes or the San Juans to Vancouver Island, you can and should make reservations.