NR on all permits for some trailheads?

[Richardtr6]

On recreation.gov, I have just noticed on the Inyo wilderness permit page, that for some popular trailheads this year (Cottonwood Pass in my case), are marked NR for the entire year. Does this mean you can only book the permits for these routes just two weeks in advance? That would make it very hard to plan and get people lined up for a trip?
Any insight into this would be appreciated
Richard

[DaveDill]

Permits are released 6 months in advance. So as of this writing they have been released through August 13th. Prior to August 13th, NR indicates that no more permits will be made available until two weeks prior to the date. NR after August 13th just indicates that permits have not yet been made available for reservation. Having said that, it has become ridiculously hard to get Inyo permits for any of the more popular trails. In fact many of the less popular trails seem to be selling out as well!

[bald tires]

My understanding of the NR is that all permits that can be reserved have been reserved and the walk up permits have not yet been released. Read this explanation somewhere on the Yosemite web site.

[paul]

From the Inyo NF website: "If you see NR displayed it means additional space will be added for short term reservations two weeks before the trip at 7am Pacific time. Example: you would look on the recreation.gov website at 7am Pacific Time on the same day of the week, two weeks before your trip entry date."
If they are using NR to indicate both dates that have actually not been released, and dates that have been released but for which only the 2 week ahead spots are left, it is possible that for the most popular trailheads, those two conditions are meeting, such that every day that gets released has its 6 month quota taken right away. IF that is the case (and of course it might be somthing else), then you could still have a shot but only at precisely 7 am on the day 6 months ahead.
And also if that is the case then they need different codes for the two situations to avoid this confusion.
I would suggest putting in a call to the NF wilderness office to see if they can clarify.

[Richardtr6]

Thanks for your responses. My recollection from past years was that if the early (i.ei 6 month in advance) permits had all been taken then the site would show 0, not NR which is confusing. I will contact the wilderness office to see if I can get more insight.

[wildhiker]

Thanks for your responses. My recollection from past years was that if the early (i.ei 6 month in advance) permits had all been taken then the site would show 0, not NR which is confusing. I will contact the wilderness office to see if I can get more insight.

I remember reading somewhere that they specifically changed from showing "0" to "NR" when all six-month advance reservations were taken to indicate that there were still some permits to be released in the future (the two-week advance ones). Otherwise, people might interpret the "0" to mean that there really are no more possible permits. They still seem to use "0" in cases where trails or areas are closed so they don't want anyone to enter. For example, all trailheads off the Tioga Road in Yosemite Park show "0" permits available for all dates before June 19, because the Park does not expect the road to be opened to the public before then.

-Phil

[Richardtr6]

I talked to a ranger at Lone Pine who confirmed that NR means "zero for now" in this case. So in theory on a popular trail at 0.5sec after 7am PST there should be availability for a fleeting moment. Will confirm tomorrow.

[jôhorn]

Hey Richard - Yeah, it's kinda confusing. There are a couple of things going on here.

Cottonwood Lakes is a popular entry point (for various reasons) and if you're booking 6 months out, the tickets may be gone in 30 seconds. You will get another shot 2 weeks out and keep an eye out for cancellations.

At rec.gov, "0" indicates the days you can't enter via Devil's Postpile trailheads because they're rebuilding the road, the road is closed. At that's what 0 seems to mean this year.

"NR" means a few things. For Cottonwood Pass, specifically, the trail description links to this page:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/re ... ecid=20812

Permit Info:
Wilderness permit required year round for overnight trips.
From the last Friday in June to September 15 quota limits visitors to 40 people per day

So if you were booking your trips a month or two ago, Cottonwood Pass was listed as NR prior to June 27 because there is no quota then, no reservations required, no reservations available. Kinda weird. So how do you get one? Pre-Covid, you could just roll into the vistor center early in the season and they would hand you one. Same for Whitney if you were heading up there before their quotas kicked in. Not sure how it works now.

There's another Inyo Non Reservable permit that still puzzles me, Saddlebag Lakes off Tioga Road, 20 Lakes Basin.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/re ... 2&actid=43

No quotas but I can't figure out how the heck to get a permit no more. The links lead nowhere. Pre-Covid, or whatever happened, you could roll into the ranger shack in TM and they would hand you one. Last time I asked, they said you gotta go online, they don't give permits no more. The joint out at Mono Lake said the same. But there's no way to get one online - correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, sorry, it's real confusing and I'm probably asking more questions than providing answers now...

[athanasius]

There's another Inyo Non Reservable permit that still puzzles me, Saddlebag Lakes off Tioga Road, 20 Lakes Basin.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/re ... 2&actid=43

No quotas but I can't figure out how the heck to get a permit no more. The links lead nowhere. Pre-Covid, or whatever happened, you could roll into the ranger shack in TM and they would hand you one. Last time I asked, they said you gotta go online, they don't give permits no more. The joint out at Mono Lake said the same. But there's no way to get one online - correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, sorry, it's real confusing and I'm probably asking more questions than providing answers now...

Hi Johorn, I just looked and it seems like they will release permits for Saddlebag Lakes 2 weeks out, as there are currently late february permits available. Since they are non-quota, it looks like they made 900000 available for each day lol! Perhaps they'll just continue that once the spring and summer come.

[dave54]

There may not be anyone patrolling or checking permits.
It is going to be the Wild West on public lands this year.