Wilderness Permit Information

[FrankPS]

In Sierra Nat Forest very few permits were reserved in August. Same in SEKI. Except for Woods, Bubbs & HST very few permits were reserved. Even in Yosemite lots of permits are still available. I wonder if that will change as we get closer to July and August. Except for the JMT it might not be crowded this summer in the Sierras.

Not sure why you are providing updates on the availability of permits? is there something we need to know about permits that we are unaware of?

[bald tires]

I just think that it is odd that very few permits are being reserved. I have been out of backpacking for 10 years while I took care of my elder mother and got involved with a major remodel. When I was backpacking in the past it was no big deal to get a permit. Even for the JMT. I'd go to wherever I wanted hike out of and then get in line for a walk up permit. I always got the permit that I wanted. Now everything is online even the walk up permits. You'd see posts that you had to be online at exactly 7 am to have any chance of getting a permit. That doesn't seem to be the case. I will stop posting updates.

[mort]

Hi bald tires,
Please don't stop updates. Especially if you see anything peculiar.
When I was a kid the only permit you needed was a fire permit, which you got the first time you met a ranger. At first wilderness permits were easy to get, walk-up and reserved, but different for each park & wilderness area. Online was easy at first too. But then several years of making up a trip based on which trailhead is available. Taboose Pass?!
Maybe something has changed, fewer hikers or problems with the reservation system. Or maybe not...
-m

[bald tires]

It looks like SEKI is still issuing walk up permits the old fashion way. Get inline at the office and first come first serve. My hiking bucket list only includes one hike in Yosemite. Have a bunch of hikes in SNF and SEKI that will keep me busy until my tires go bald and I can hike anymore.

[dave54]

I was looking the Deschutes NF website, possibly going the Sisters Wilderness this summer.
Using cautious and diplomatic language, it basically admits they cannot enforce the permit system and asks people to follow the rules voluntarily.

[Bishop_Bob]

Permits this year are approaching the outlook one might have toward diet caffeine-free coke: why bother?

[bald tires]

I like to follow the rules and will do so for my hikes. I will not hike without a proper permit for the area that I am hiking. When I did the JMT years ago I didn't see a single ranger until I was a day out of Reds Meadows. Two guys had hiked up to Garnet lake without a permit and no bear cannister. The first ranger a lady took all of their food and all of their ID's/wallets. She was babysitting them until a LEO ranger arrived to take them into custody. They went to jail that night. I do not know what happened to them after that.

I will not take that risk. Especially this year when it seems permits are easy to come by.

[bald tires]

Mort asked me to keep posting if I saw anything odd. All of my previous reviews of available SNF permits were limited to overnight because I have no interest in exiting Mt Whitney from the SNF. Just for grins I selected overnight exiting Mt Whitney to see what permits were available. There was no difference in the number of available permits compared to overnight permits. It appears that if you can't get a JMT permit in Yosemite you could reserve an overnight exiting Mt Whitney permit for the mammoth trailhead in the SNF. Hike over to Reds Meadow and then continue south on the JMT. You would miss the portion of the JMT in Yosemite. This is easily solved by getting an overnight permit for the mammoth trailhead and hiking north on the JMT from Reds Meadow into Yosemite all the way to the valley on the JMT. Am I missing something???

[wildhiker]

... It appears that if you can't get a JMT permit in Yosemite you could reserve an overnight exiting Mt Whitney permit for the mammoth trailhead in the SNF. Hike over to Reds Meadow and then continue south on the JMT. You would miss the portion of the JMT in Yosemite. This is easily solved by getting an overnight permit for the mammoth trailhead and hiking north on the JMT from Reds Meadow into Yosemite all the way to the valley on the JMT. Am I missing something???

Well, this strategy seems valid, but the Mammoth trailhead is probably not a good one. It involves a long hike through a major burn area and a drop into and climb out of the deep canyon of the North Fork San Joaquin River. A better option for splitting the JMT into north and south sections would be Mono Creek out of Lake Edison. And there is even a shuttle service to Lake Edison from Fresno operated by the Vermilion Valley Resort.

-Phil

[bald tires]

I'll find out how bad it is next summer. I am going to take the mammoth trail over to Devils Post Pile. Then take the JMT north to Tuolumne Meadows. Then come back down through Yosemite and over Isberg pass to get back to my truck. I am figuring on 10 to 11 days. I only hike at about 1 mph and max out at about 7 to 9 miles per day. I'll do a trail report.

Mono Creek or Florence for that matter would split the JMT in half. There are lots of ways to do this. Just have to be creative and not get locked into any one scenario.