High Sierra Topix

Thought I'd revisit the gasoline price issue, given the rapid climb in prices in the last few weeks. Here in the Truckee Meadows, mid-grade gasoline (my old Jeep doesn't like the low-grade stuff) is running a cool $3.50 per gallon on average, with some name-brand places easily hitting $3.60/gallon. I've seen the usual stations raising prices on a daily basis, and I find it difficult to blame the rises on refinery accidents and what not (carefullly staying non-political).

Is the rising prices affecting your near-term plans? I've been planning a four-day trip to Yosemite over the long weekend at the end of this month now that Tioga is open (or soon to be), but by the time that day rolls around I'm confident that gas will probably be $3.75/gallon. Time to revisit your own local haunts?

If anything, my friends and I will be doing much more hiking than off-roading or boating this summer.

Yep,

I'm looking at staying on the west side of the Sierras this year. And I just LOVE the east side. But I just can't afford it this year. And I don't think we'll ever see gas cheaper again. IMHO, it's just going to get worse.

Jerry

Fishin Fool wrote:I'm looking at staying on the west side of the Sierras this year. And I just LOVE the east side.

Yep, I hear ya. Yosemite (Glacier Pt area) and SeKi are two of my favorites, but with the latest prices I just can't afford to drive from Reno to there as much as I'd like to. And I REALLY miss SeKi!! Been nearly two years since I've made it to that area!

Can't blame me for high gas prices any more, I haven't managed a convenience store for a couple years now. Usually here where I live in CA is about 20 cents higher then Nevada, but it is now only a little bit higher around 14 to 15 cents higher or less surprisingly. Must be the new competition that opened up last summer. We are around $3.39 or $3.45 gal. now for RUL. Like some small towns in Nevada that have one bar for every 80-100 residents, we have a convenience store or fueling station for every 450-500 people, money to be made in fuel here up till logging went downhill.

I drove my old pickup 20,000 miles last year between driving to work and a few bp trips. I hadn't realized that I had driven that much so I plan on driving a little less this year. Only one trip down 395 planned and I might be able to carpool on that one. Any other bp trips will be incorporated into the area between work and home, lots of options with the Tahoe, Truckee and Lakes Basin areas to take advantage of.

SteveB, with me working in Carson City maybe we should plan a trip to Yosemite or places south on 395? I have a bp trip with a couple ladies in late July though out of Horse Meadow area into SEKI.

Hasn't affected my plans yet, because I don't have any.

My wife may be starting a new job soon. If she does, asking for a couple weeks off so soon after starting is not a good career move. All plans are in limbo until we know her employment situation for sure.

So we will stay local and weekends.

But be practical about it. What is the price difference per gallon from last summer to now? How many gallons will you consume on your travels? Multiply the two and and see if you are willing to forgo your plans for that amount of money. Are going to cancel your long-time plans, that you looked forward to all year, for a hundred bucks or less?

Look on the bright side - fuel has been such an easy target for taxation over here that unleaded is currently the equivelant of about $7.40 per US gallon.

Ever since gasoline rose about $2 a gallon, its been increasingly effecting my road trip plans the last couple years. Thus I've been more selective with the long road trips. If I was still working in hi tech, I'd be making enough money that I would really not do much more than gripe a little and consider it just another symptom of inflation over time. After all its been decades since I used to put a nickel in a candy machine for a full sized chocolate bar and a dime for a soda. Like many that live in the urban land of jobs, places in the Sierra Nevada Mountains I easily can visit, are still just three to five hours drive away. However whereas a couple decades ago the gas cost for a roundtrip was more like $12, today the same cost is $50.

This last ski season of 2006/2007 was the first time since the 70s that I didn't ski a single day. Otherwise I've averaged about 20 day skiing each winter. This winter I could have bought a season pass for about $300. But the driving costs would have added another $700 of likely cost. So I decided to skip skiing until I went back to more lucrative work. Coincidently, the snowpack this year was droughty so that decision wasn't all that wasted.

In the Southern California desert wildflower spring of 2005, I added 8000 miles to my old Subarus odometer in four months. This spring I just did two trips to the Yosemite region though would have been out much more if gas wasn't so expensive. Instead the last couple months I've done a couple dozen cheaper short day trips locally within the SF Bay region. This summer I'll likely not be so quick to drive to the Eastern Sierra as in the past for the same reason. ...David

I was thinking how the price of gas and the reticence of people to go places must be affecting the economy of, say, Bishop -- or will.

Then last week on a trip up there in my Honda Insight (I thought gas prices would not get any lower in 2004 when I needed a car), I saw many, many large SUVs and Hummers. In fact my wife mentioned that almost all of the large vehicles we saw on US-395 were within a year old. The traffic, if anything, seems more congested than it did a few years ago, when gas was cheap at $2 a gallon! (I can still put two full backpacks in the car:) gas mileage goes to heck tho)

I guess to some, it matters little. Even with my car getting 60+ mpg, I'm saving max about $1500 a year in fuel costs. That will hardly offset the extra cost of the car. However, the lower insurance and some some maintenance costs, will. . There are some who pay more than $100 a month in coffee or just eating out a few times a month. So the extra cost of fuel may only be relative to what you remember you used to spend.

Other costs not associated with fuel are a lot higher too. $20 bill certainly doesn't fill up a car anymore - that's fer sure.

Supposedly we are still only paying 30-40 cents a gallon adjusted for inflation, from the 70's and 80's.

I refuse to let it affect my plans. If I can't afford to fill up my tank anymore, I'll just whip out the credit card. Seriously. There is nothing I value more than my freedom and freedm that includes driving to the mountains...3 hours to the west side and 5:30 to the east.