Challenges in getting permits this year

[Richardtr6]

Thanks for everyones comments. It is reassuring that i am not alone. In the end I managed to get some permits for Pine Creek TH to head up to Granite Park. So it worked out in the end.

[mort]

I don't know if this was mentioned, I saw some complaints in another thread. When you apply for a reservation there is a part of the form to indicate each night's camp site. I noticed that only the first night is required (with a red asterisk). I suppose this is new? I have filled in a lot of bogus, but reasonable places in previous years.
Somewhat related. I see many campgrounds now have 3 day minimums for "holiday" week ends. So If I want to start hiking on Saturday I need to get a $70 reservation at, say, Mono Creek Campground. Actually, I will be dispersed.
mort

[gary c.]

. When you apply for a reservation there is a part of the form to indicate each night's camp site. I noticed that only the first night is required (with a red asterisk).

They ask for a mandatory first nights camp site to ensure that you are aware of and following regulations about camping a minimum distance from the trailhead the first night. If you go beyond I'm sure that's fine but don't get caught inside the minimum distance. The rest of your nights are more for a general idea on where to start looking for you in case someone reports you don't come home. Leaving a trip itinerary is something that should always be done but often isn't.

[a_gunslinger]

Agree with everything said! Minor question - the F5 Refresh technique. F5 reloads the entire page data doesnt it? An F5 or Refresh icon on my laptop with Chrome does a reload requiring I re-enter date and party size (losing precious time Shift-F5 what you folks are typically referring to?

[freestone]

I toggle between "NEXT WEEK" and "LAST WEEK" and that seems to do a refresh without reentering the other data.
This morning I logged in at 06:59 and there were 6 tickets for Bishop pass, I toggled as above and they were gone. I'm hoping to get a reservation for Pine Creek over the Labor Day holiday so I'm practicing to see what works and what doesn't.

[a_gunslinger]

Thanks freestone. Will try that! I know they are supposed to go off the world clock. But last week I verified my laptop BIOS and Windows time was in synch and accuarte with the World Clock before starting the refresh ritual at 9:57 am EST. At 9:58 AM I did a refresh and all 20 were gone. Checked the world clock - 9:58 EST. Its definietly not right at 7:00am. Today I finally got 4 of the 5 that I need after checking back 5 minutes later. That was after all 20 gone at 20 seconds after 10am EST. Crazy stuff.

[SierraMountainSpirit]

ERROR CREATING RESERVATION
This is a popular site and unfortunately, someone else has reserved it for the selected date(s). Please adjust your date(s).

What a mind fk when you see availability at 7:00 am, click on it, and get that awful popup , it made me livid to start my day out like that.

In the past, it has not been too hard as a solo hiker to find something available around the time I want to go in the general area west of Bishop (Lamarck, Bishop, Paiute etc). I have to be flexible when I show up and see what is there available.

But this year, I have a grand vision of creating a sacred journey for my people (not a commercial venture) I had a super powerful spiritual awakening in the high country last year that I was deeply inspired to share and hold the space with others in my spiritual community.

So this year I am trying for a group of 5. And I'm already disheartened and frustrated by the high demand, and the rec.gov reservation system. I am old school and remember being able to show up at the USFS ranger station to get issued a permit. I may have had to show up and wait in line the day before. But now it feels like with the demand, overpopulation, and private reservation contractors taking the place of USFS ranger staff, tech savvy bot script writers might be the people that get what they want. With a group, I can't just call a date and expect to get in somewhere without a messy change of itinerary. Most of the permits available at 7am require some expert level hiking to get into the deeper parts of the backcountry, where I intend to hold space for others. My companions are not expert level, so I need well graded trails.

This speaks to the sad state of affairs of overcrowding and overpopulation, and now in my 50s turning into one of those people who have remiss about the good old days of the 1980s when wilderness access was not so overburdened with reservation structures and exceedingly high demand issues. Yep, I have turned into that salty older mountain man backpacker who laments about the way things are now.

Thanks for listening to my 50-something rant from someone who has been backpacking since his teens in the Sierra Nevada.

-Sierra

[wildhiker]

@SierraMountainSpirit - "I feel your pain". In fact, I guess that most of us on this forum have had similar experiences, particularly since the Covid pandemic drastically increased the number of people wanting to get outside.

One suggestion I can make is to consider a trip from one of the west side trailheads in the Sierra National Forest. I've noticed for the past few years that they have far more availability than the Inyo Forest trailheads.

-Phil

[comfygoodness]

Hey @wildhiker is there a map of sorts showing the western side permits and some possible trailheads to look at? Or if you have any recommendations of trailheads that connect to the more popular parts of the park from the westerb side, that would be great too. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

[khamike]

One thing I've never understood about the "first night campsite" is what if your campsite is accessed from a different trailhead? To take a simple example, suppose I planned to hike the Minaret Lakes trail, pass Cecille, then drop down and camp at Ediza? Do I get a Minaret Lakes permit since that's the trailhead and trail I will be starting on or do I get an Shadow Lakes permit since that's where I'll be camping? Or is that just not allowed? Because neither seems completely appropriate and it's potentially abusable but it seems ridiculous that you wouldn't be allowed to do something so simple as hike a little farther.

As for people filing excess permits, this definitely seems like an easy trick for people with money. Reserve a permit everyday for a month then pick the best weather/convenience once the date gets closer. Still costs less than a single night at a cheap motel let alone a fancy trip. Back when Yosemite was doing entry permits, I envisioned a memorable event or wedding that someone could do by just reserving all 10,000 permits for yourself. Would require multiple different credit cards/straw buyers but you could have the entire valley to yourself for under $100,000. Way cheaper than anything comparable would normally cost and well worth it for plenty of silicon valley bros.