Driving long distances

[Beendare]

I usually do a couple a year
Coffee and chew..............but the real secret is Audiobooks

These make it tolerable....so that when I finally stop and pull out the come-along to help straighten my legs- its no big deal.

 

[BroodBuster]

Several years ago I hunted all Thanksgiving day. I then drove 300 miles to dinner and after dinner drove the 300 miles back to my hunting spot. About 100 miles short of camp I pulled over for a quick nap. So I'm sitting there sound asleep when I have a big time lucid dream where I'm thinking to myself, "Hey dumbass you are still on the freeway going 70 miles an hour and here you are sitting here sound asleep and any second you are going to hit a tree and die. Wake Up-WAKE Up-WAAAAAKEUUUUUUP!!!!," at which time I awoke in a complete panic with my foot hammered down on the brake pedal and my heart racing at about a 1000 beats per minute.

Being wide awake now I continued on to camp. It was about a 10 minute nap

 

[2rocky]

Good advice here, I also say don't push it and sleep if you need to. I've done 14 hours in one day and that's about it for me. When I leave CO to hunt MN and IL I usually bail from work early, drive until dark (6 hours or so) and then do 7-8 hours the next day and get there early afternoon. It's no fun to get there and be so wiped out that you can't function.

Plus one to this...

Our Trip to Wyoming is a 2 day affair. With stock we usually plan to overnight along the way in Eastern Nevada around dark on the first day, and arrive in Western Wyoming midday the next afternoon, feeling good. Half a day of making up packs, and head 10-12 miles in the Wilderness the next morning. Any time saved on driving straight through just results in more time the day before we go in, so might as well not kill ourselves.

My fastest turn and burn on the pack horses was in and out the 24 mileRound trip the first day and pack in a second load of feed at daylight the next morning. That horse had 125 miles on him by the end of the week.

 

[Tony Trietch]

I usually do a couple a year
Coffee and chew..............but the real secret is Audiobooks

These make it tolerable....so that when I finally stop and pull out the come-along to help straighten my legs- its no big deal.

Roger that on the Audio book. I listened to Paul's (Elknut) instructional CDs probably three times.

 

[orionsbrother]

Audio books are great, but on a solo drive through the night for a wilderness canoe trip I had to bail out on the one I was listening to. It was by some FBI profiler covering a bunch of real cases. Fiction is one thing, actual events another. I got pretty creeped out by what warped things freaks will do to other people. And though I always thought it would be fulfilling to somehow benefit society by helping to stop a monster, the "getting in their head" thing is really disturbing. I don't know how profilers can have normal relations with their wives.

Be careful what audio book you choose for driving through the night.

 

[parshal]

I used to be able to drive solo for 15-16 hours. Last year two of us drove 24 hours one way. My buddy did the whole drive on the way out and we split the way back. I used to be able to drive a lot more than I can now. I try no more than 12 hours a day and plan on 10. If I get there earlier than expected great. As I've gotten older I don't try to push a schedule driving.

 

[MesaHorseCo.]

Caffeine and Copenhagen.

Alot of copenhagen.

 

[bigmoose]

We go from California to Colorado and do it in two days. The first day is long, 12 to 14 hours depending on weather and traffic. Get a motel and a early start the next day. Make it to camp by 10 or 11am and spend the rest of the day putting up the wall tents. Same thing going home. This has worked out for us for the last 30 years or so. It is about 1100 miles each way. I think the two day trip is the way to go.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

23 or so hours one way this year...a couple of times. I don't do anything special, just drive.

 

[MattB]

Eating and drinking light and chew are the best things I have found. My worst drive was SE B.C. to the bay area straight and by myself, which was about 22 hours.

 

[ltlacorn]

About a 21hr drive to Wyoming for me this September. I've done 16hrs before straight thru. We'll see what happens on this trip.

 

[Beendare]

Roger that on the Audio book. I listened to Paul's (Elknut) instructional CDs probably three times.

Yeah, do that too.... no offense to Paul, but put in a Vince Flynn novel and you might not want to hut the truck off!

 

[cormech]

I have a 32 hour drive to CO from VA this year. I normally do

 

[cormech]

2 16 hour days.