Happy to see some FS law enforcement.

[gary c.]

A group of us did a small conditioning tri to Onion Valley over the holiday weekend. We packed to Flower Lake on Saturday and then did a day hike up to the pass on Sunday.

We stopped at little pothole for a breather just a second and out of nowhere a FS employee appeared and asked to see our permit. He initialed my permit and gave us the standard talk about LNT, 100ft from water, ect. After we got set up at Flower he showed up again on his way to Matlock Lake for the night. I don't know what all his findings were but he made a couple of different groups pull up there tents and move back from the water. As he passed us he just said hello/chatted for a second and had a pretty full trash bag that he had picked up to carry out when he went.

Late Sunday afternoon he came through again doing the same thing. On our way out Monday morning we saw him on the trail again checking permits and just letting everyone know he was around.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of rules, regulations, and law enforcement in the backcountry. But after the big influx of yahoos the last year or so and not liking what I see happening to our beloved Sierra it was kind of nice to see him working such a popular trailhead.

[Wandering Daisy]

Kearsarge Pass is an easy entry and I think a lot of beginner backpackers use it. I would not call what you saw as only enforcement - a lot was educating on best practices. As for checking permits, Kearsarge has become a standard PCT resupply point. I think the FS is getting stricter on the "24-hour off the trail limit" with thru-hikers. And with the new permit system, I am sure they are also looking for those who just go without a permit (something I have thought of because the new system is so messed up). With the number of backpackers using the trail daily, putting a ranger on that trail gets a lot of bang for the buck.

Desolation, a very small Wilderness with a lot of use, has always had a huge backcountry ranger presence. It has been the only place I get my permit checked regularly. Their permit fees are higher priced, so they have the funding to hire more summer help.

I do enjoy my every other year backpacks in the Wind Rivers, where, as of now, there are no permits, few rules, and pretty much hands off attitude from authorities. If there is a surge of use, this could change. Just north, the very popular Grand Teton National Park is even stricter with rules and enforcement than what we see in the Sierra.

[SSSdave]

Thanks gary, good to read Inyo NF is still that interested in enforcement as our wilderness areas greatly need that presence. Significant numbers of people in this era treat policies and laws as though they are options. Without enforcement or peer pressure from other backpackers, it just keeps getting worse. Trash and illegal camp fires above elevation limits are especially rampant like never before. On a 2002 trip a training group of backcountry rangers checked my permit on the Kearsarge Pass Trail.

Although camping too close to lakes is the most common offense, the NP and NF IMO are in part to blame because before those policies arose from LNT advocates, most camp spots, especially horse packer sites were invariably too close and many have remained so that sends a mixed message as visitors see those sites being regularly used. For years I've suggested they sign such too close sites to let people know they are exceptions to otherwise expected practice. Of course, LNT advocates also don't want people camping within 100 foot or whatever of trails but that is as practical and followed as the 65 mph freeway speed limit.

[dougieb]

This is good news. Like you say, no one wants to be tied down with rules but many are there for good reason in the backcountry. Glad to hear that the ranger was trying to educate people too. I know many of us more seasoned wilderness goers are very familiar with the rules and lnt principles, and it can be annoying to be talked to like a newbie but I'd rather have that than no enforcement presence at all. Ive thought about leaving little flyers with LNT reminders on people's tents because I see so many people ignoring the basics. I still remember watching people using a bar of soap in a creek last year and I haven't stopped cringing. On the same trip I talked to a family that was having repeated bear visits to their camp, and I could that they left food out all over the place. Not to mention they were also playing music on speakers in the wilderness. Ugh, come on folks!

[dave54]

Was it a regular LEO or a recreation/patrol person?

Regular LEOs are usually too busy dealing with timber theft, archeological looting, drug labs, assaults in campgrounds, etc to deal with more routine matters like checking permits.

[gary c.]

Was it a regular LEO or a recreation/patrol person?

Regular LEOs are usually too busy dealing with timber theft, archeological looting, drug labs, assaults in campgrounds, etc to deal with more routine matters like checking permits.

Young guy, just a patrol person. A very nice guy but also very serious about following regs.

[sukhoi_584th]

And with the new permit system, I am sure they are also looking for those who just go without a permit (something I have thought of because the new system is so messed up).

What's this new permit system in relation to Kearsarge? I don't recall anything unusual when booking various other Inyo entries for this summer.

[erutan]

Was it a regular LEO or a recreation/patrol person?

Regular LEOs are usually too busy dealing with timber theft, archeological looting, drug labs, assaults in campgrounds, etc to deal with more routine matters like checking permits.

I've had my permit checked by a gun ranger before (LEO) - interestingly enough off trail as he had a little extra time and was going up vogelsang peak as well. Most of the time it's fun rangers (interpretative). Lyell Canyon gets a lot, as does the Ediza/Garnet/1000 area. Some summers I get a permit checked every second or third hike, then I'll go two summers without one.

I'll occasionally inform people camping terribly about the rules, and then mention I saw a ranger behind me if it's egregious. Once at Ediza there were 4 tents of guys whose trip leader "was a few miles downstream fishing" - said tents were 50ft from the lake, 20ft from the trail, on live grass, in a restricted camping zone. I saw them packing up after I left as I was climbing to Iceberg.

Durable surface I always follow, the water rule I'll occasionally break situationally (an XC low traffic lake where there's a sandy area in a granite depression and I eat / clean away from it), the trail rule I'll break if it's late and I'm in need of a spot but that happens... very rarely and I hate camping by a trail anyways. It's pretty simple to find good sites in the Sierra.