Well i'm starting feb. 1st and will just have to get the miles behind me............ see ya Mr Ranger.
Well i'm starting feb. 1st and will just have to get the miles behind me............ see ya Mr Ranger.
Scratch my previous comment (#16) - you do have to guesstimate your ETA to the park. You can buy the permit up to 30 days before your ETA date.
If at all possible, print your ticket with a laser printer. Ink jet ink runs when wet, so you'd have to take pains to keep it dry. Although, smired ink might work to your advantage...
Humm, say if for some reason when you go to get your permit all the shelters are full? Does that mean you can't get a permit at all? Hopefully, the system will have a "thru-hiker" option which gives more flexability, since unless they changed the rules, your allowed to tent if there is a full shelter. They had to have addressed that issue.
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It's a little after 3am and I'm checking in before heading off to work.
That is true. That also brings up something I thought of last night as I was drifting off to sleep: most hiker service places that have public computers don't have a printer for those computers. Up till now it hasn't been an issue at all. So if you wait until you get on the trail there is a chance that you may find a computer in ever town, but not a printer.
Your right on the time frame. Even if you take about twice as long as the normal person, if you have scheduled your entry into the park two weeks out from your start date and you take four weeks, that still leaves you lots of time to get there and get through. Luckily GSMNP is relativity early in a hike. If you have never hiked a long distance hike before it may seem a long way off, but once you do it it will seem pretty quick.
The National Forests are a great place to hike.
Agreed. One reason I am continuing to push to hopefully get the rules tweaked. If the original plan were implemented it would have been a little easier.
The Park is only going to get more annoying to hike in. I foresee the back country use going down. They (the people at GSMNP implementing this) think it will stay about the same. I could get into how even this estimate creates a paradox in the fee plan that will likely end up costing the park more money than it is going to make, but this isn't the thread for that. Anyhow what Laurie said about a week ago, get a permit before you leave home is the best option I can see.
Yes, the thru-hiker will only need to forecast an entry date to the park which he/she will not be held to. The section hiker will need reservations. But the on-line system will actually show you how many spaces are available at each location as you are making them.
You will have to hoof it to be through the park before the 13th. Unfortunately the system will also not be available before the 13th either, so you are going to be in a zone where you could foreseeable enter the park before you can make a permit, but be in the park when you do need one. I highly doubt anyone will be checking at that point yet though. My guess is if you have the old permit with an entry date prior to Feb 13 you should be fine.
The rules for thru-hikers tenting at full shelters will remain in place. I don't know if they are going to reserve three spots at each shelter during thru-hiker season, but when the system goes on-line the 13th it will be easy to check and see if they are.
Section hikers will need to know where they plan to be each night.
And a final note, as far as I know, the $20 is non-refundable. So if you bail for whatever reason before you enter the park, your forfeit the $20. On a cynical note, I believe the rush to get the plan in place at this time of year was to make sure they got as many thru-hikers as they could. Lets face it, this is going to be like Christmas shopping season is to retailers. They get 2,000 aspiring thu hikers to give up money before they even start their hike so it gets them good bump in revenue to start the year. The system makes the most reasonable option to get your permit before you even start hiking, so that means even people who are likely to bail out before the Smokies will still have paid a non-refundable fee. If they made it convenient to wait to pay until you got close to the park, that could mean about 30% less (a made up percentage) fees from thru-hikers. They may not make all their funds of thru-hikers, but it will be a chunk.
Last edited by SGT Rock; 01-29-2013 at 04:36.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
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NO SNIVELING
Thanks for the info Sarge and I will look at getting one well before GSMNP but am I wrong in thinking this is the kind of issue where the ATC should be liaising at upper level of National Parks Service to have a sensible approach available for thru hikers.
It is clearly an issue of awkwardness for a hiker to comply with, and if they expect to have everyone pay with a minimum of fuss they shouldn't make the process anything but simple.
I wonder if in this modern age, if it is possible to download the paid permit to ones smart phone and hold it there?? That type action is used all the time, would allow a hiker to pay only a day or two before they enter the park, seems like an easy sollution. Then again I may be underthinking all this since we are dealing with an agency of the federal government.
"You have brains in your head/You have feet in your shoes/You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss
I know that's an option, but my point is that you can see the change happening, not just with this system, but because they are so ubiquitous it seems to becoming conventional wisdom that they're needed. I just like watching the process of evolution.
I though I heard this was just walkin'.
Sailor
WHOA!!!! John folks were looking for a sollution I tossed an idea into the fire, didn't think threw gas on it. No one has to carry any technology with them. It was an idea to solve a problem not a mandate. At one time a compass was considered technology, even magic. Just print it out and carry in a baggie if you want. I wasn't looking to start a "techno-war", just trying to help.
"You have brains in your head/You have feet in your shoes/You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss
wonder how many folks will stealth camp from now on
Conquest: It is not the Mountain we conquer but Ourselves
I don't own one either and don't intend to buy one (hopefully in my lifetime).
Wouldn't it make more sense for the patrol ranger to have the smart phone already downloaded with the names of the people who called in for permits (and where they propose to stay)? It would take a huge burden off the hikers. For example, I currently don't have a printer (I believe in paperless transactions), so I'll have to try and find a business (Mountain Crossings, NOC, or Fontana Village) that can print a reservation out for me.
sgt Rock you rock thank you for the info ypu are a good person to help us nuwebies out T H A N K YOU
I'm sure I can come up with a paper copy somewhere. The NPS just spent a ton of money on reservation software and another bunch of money beta testing it. You'd think it would be a minor deal to add an application to download the data to an officer supplied smartphone. That part would be very cheap in comparison and would solve the problem of illegible hiker paper permits carried for a couple of weeks. Plus.. they could issue electronic violations right on the spot, call in for emergencies, and even video the illegal stealth campers... lol
I think they use Blackberries so funtional apps might be a problem.Originally Posted by jbwood5:1404798