Hello from the Netherlands

[DutchHiker]

Hello everyone,

I’m new to this forum and hiking. I signed up here because next summer a friend and I go hiking in multiple NP’s while we’re in the USA. We will visit from mid july to mid august.

We plan on visiting and camping in: Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree, Zion and the Grand Canyon.

If anyone has tips on trails, camping in the NP,s or how to train for hiking (we’re both active in the gym and go most places by bicycle) please let me know! =) everything useful is much appreciated!

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Welcome to the forum, and have a great trip! Training wise I've found the best training for hiking to be hiking itself, but anything helps. Running would be a close second however, and with a month long trip there should be time for some adjustment as you go as well. 

[balzaccom]

In terms of camping in Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, and Zion, make your reservations early.  Those campgrounds fill up quickly, and it is very hard to find a spot on a first come first served basis.  Sequoia may be a little better, but still worth reserving.

If you are interested in dispersed camping nearby those parks, it's quite feasible in Sequoia and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, harder in Zion (you have to drive quite a bit more--but look at the area southeast of Cedars Breaks National Monument) and Joshua Tree is a bit crazy,  You can disperse camp just south of the park, but there is a long line of RVs doing that for miles...

[DutchHiker]

Hi!

Thank you for the replies so far! I'm going to probably ask a few stupid questions now:
- how early can you start hiking on the trails? Like are there opening hours of trails or should I ask the park rangers?
- what are good brands of easy to make food to look for (either at an wallmart or an outdoor shop)? (we will store it savely in the bear boxes at the campsite)
- Also can I ask an opinion on bringing coffee and tea along while hiking in addition to water ofcourse, or is this a really inefficient thing to do?

Thank you!