Just passed an entrance to GWJNF off of 460 that was barricaded!!
Oh Geeezzz!!Originally Posted by Dr Gadget
It's weird that each National Forest seems to have its own whim as to whether to shut down trails or not.
USFS tends to be run by the individual managers more so than NPS units if I recall.
In other words, the rules may vary from USFS to USFS unit. NPS rules tend to be more uniform.
Others may be able to chime in with more concrete info.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
Ain't that the truth... no one knows how to handle this mess!!
Dr. Gadget... keep us informed about what you see & what you are doing with ur hike. It's helpful to others planning hiking trips....
The funny thing is... This is one of the few times SNP and GSNP would be pulling a profit on entrance fees and park concessions. I hiked through SNP this time last year and all I saw was BMWs, mink coats, and people paying almost 300 dollars a night to stay in a full lodge with shared bathrooms.
All of Skyline Drive is closed. The parking area at Thornton Gap is barricaded.
On a related subject, I was at Dolly Sods today and all of the Forest Service roads are open.
That's a great place to go and not a bad drive for the dc crowd,
I ran into 2 SOBOs at Jerry Cabin on Friday the 4th. They will certainly be affected. Is GSNMP just refusing to issue permits or what?
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obstacles are found everywhere, and in taking them, we nourish ourselves.
http://astrogirl.com/blog/Backpacking
Well, let's put it this way...
To legally camp in GSMNP back country, you have to have a permit. The only way to get a permit is via the website. Because of the government shutdown, the website has been taken down.
So while I have no knowledge as to whether or not there are armed park rangers guarding the entrance of the park along the AT, I can say there is no legal way to hike the AT thru GSMNP at this time.
There was a report in the Newburyport news about very poor treatment by the park rangers to senior citizens and foreign tourists.
While not really AT related Here are articles about what is going on at Yellowstone and what happened when a jogger ran thru some multi-use trails at Valley Forge. Does not sound good. I hate talking politics, but we got to vote ALL the bums out and put some fresh new faces in there. http://www.newburyportnews.com/local...at-Yellowstone http://www.delcotimes.com/general-ne...lk-in-the-park
rangers are just doing their jobs, everyone can relate to having a bad day so imagine what having day after day of what they are doing and still try to maintain professional courteous attitude. rangers are there to protect the park. they don't make policy of course. hopefully this ends soon and they can get back to making the park a nice place to visit.
A glimmer of hope?
A political wag recently noted that the White House is the responsibility of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. He suggested the present occupants should be locked out during the duration of the shut-down.
Now don't go off on this as a political statement. It's just a comment on the absurdity and irony of it all. Just an attempt to laugh instead of crying.
AO
Some of the reasons for shutting the Parks:
http://www.parkadvocate.org/qa-do-vi...ment-shutdown/
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
just got back from grand canyon national park. had no problem starting at a TH outside the park and hiking in the back door. saw no signs or obstacles doing it this way. met 2 groups of rafters that had been on the CO river 21 days and 24 days, respectively. they had no clue the gummit had shut down. said it hadnt changed their plans any. we had a great trip.
after we went to the grand canyon, we had another day to kill. we hiked in the San Francisco Peaks area on Natl Forest lands in AZ. there were no signs of closure, etc. and we must have passed 20 people during the day. Arizonians dont seem to know the gummit is shut down
Well I had back country reservations for two in the smokies for 3 nights starting tommorw night. Then I had 2 days of front country camping in cades cove. What's going to happen to my $64 reservation that was paid in full since the park is shut down. Did the NPS just rob me?
I'm under the impression that we will get refunds (I have/had a back country permit that starts Saturday). Of course no one is there right now to issue refunds.
Worst case, I would think that if you paid via credit card, you could get the credit card company to reverse the charges since you'll receive no service for the money you paid.
Pisgah Inn is back open
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