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Leaving on Aug 25 Trip. Two questions
1 Is a light backpack the best solution for one's day bag to take on the bus?
2 A friend who was just at Bryce & Zion told me the parks have banned the water bottles that Tauck would typically hand out from the bus. He said you will need a regular (commercial) water bottle if you want to carry it around the parks. Does anyone know if this is true?
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Answers
I think Tauck is handing out Tauck water bottles now. We got one on our last tour, very nice but heavy.
Seems to be no longer the case:
https://www.nationofchange.org/2019/07/10/trump-reverses-water-bottle-ban-in-national-parks/
However, FWIW, I usually pack an empty refillable water bottle. Being an avid bicyclist, I have several of them. This one is my favorite, being insulated and should be available at your local bike shop: (edited to add that my amazon link didn't work.
Search for Polar-Bottle-Insulated-Water-)
The ban was on the sale of disposable bottles of water, not that you couldn't have one. An insulated one is a good idea though especially if it gets hot. One with a top the screws off so you can add ice is nice.
Yes, a day pack is fine for on the bus. My last trip I took a cheap ($10) backpack for day touring just big enough for water bottle, rain jacket, map and a toiletry bag (sunscreen, lip gloss, tissues, eye drops,etc.) It's thin and folds into a pocket when not in use.
Thank you all for your prompt responses.
We were on the tour in June and the bus driver handed out the regular plastic water bottles. Unless something changed in the past two months, I don't think you will need to do anything special. We always refill them throughout the day. There are plenty of refill stations in all of the parks.
We had received one of the metal bottles a few years ago in the Canadian Rockies. This time it was just normal plastic bottles. I assumed it was US versus Canada.
HowardMorris, how was the tour? Our family of 5 is going in June... TIA
Alicia, unfortunately, Howard may be like many first time visitors to the Tauck forums- they ask for info about a certain tour then never return. Howard has only visited 8 times and hasn't posted since Aug 2019 when made the posts, his only ones, above- he traveled on 25 Aug 2019 and hasn't posted since. You may want to start a new thread.