High Sierra Topix

tim wrote:

RoguePhotonic wrote:Other then the special areas such as Whitney and Half Dome I don't know of any other areas that have limits on day hikes.

Seems that Inyo National Forest impose the same limit on group size for (non-permit) day hikes as for overnight trips:
"Groups cannot be larger than 15 people (includes day use)."
http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsint ... ek%20Trail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the general trend with national forests when I have asked about day group limits.

Interesting that the national parks are less stringent on day use of trails.

sparky wrote: Apparently they don't know what to do when your starting point is off trail.

I had the counter person at the Sierra National Forest Supervisors office in Clovis do that with a permit once. All of the entry points and destinations have code numbers they are supposed to write in the appropriate spot. Because I was going into Kings Canyon National Park(Tehipite Valley)there was no number for my destination. I told her a few times to write the destination name instead,she writes ? Kings Canyon Park........So I went off with a permit that didn't really say where I was going.

That's odd that they had no number for it. Normally the trouble I will run into is place names wont be in the computer system so they have to pull out a map broken into a grid of zones with numbers.

Those zone numbers were set up decades ago. I wonder if they're still used for planning -- hard to believe so. Even then, no one is held to being, ah, "in the zone" except on the USFS side of Whitney. The first draft of the Sequoia Kings wilderness plan had something that implied enforcement based on zones, but it seemed pretty dumb. I'm hopeful it's cut from the next stage of the proposal.

I have long advocated that once you're on the trail, you can go wherever you want.

g.

RoguePhotonic wrote:That's odd that they had no number for it. Normally the trouble I will run into is place names wont be in the computer system so they have to pull out a map broken into a grid of zones with numbers.

They only had numbers for destinations and trailheads within the Sierra National Forest. This system is fine as long as they realize that some people are going to want to camp at places that don't have a number and that means writing in the name of the place,or best description.

I'll be thinking of this thread when I don a ranger uniform and head into the woods this weekend. When you want something for nothing you get me - a volunteer who knows the woods but has no authority to enforce anything. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of rules to enforce down here.

I'll give you my take on a lot of things, e.g., burning trash is a lot better than dropping it down the crapper, as long as you realize aluminum foil doesn't burn. I may also be clueless if you ask me about one of the many trails I haven't hiked. But I can give phone numbers and web sites where you can ask somebody who knows, and I can call for a helicopter in an emergency. I have fun with it - what do you expect for nothing?

It's not always as important to be able to enforce rules on the spot as to gather data on the amount of abuse if there is any at all taking place. A general inventory of the situation can paint a picture of if there is an actual need to put resources out onto the trails you hike.

toejam, I give you the authority to serve out verbal beat downs on anyone doing silly things.

By the way, where can I get one of those uniforms?