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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostTue May 14, 2019 9:56 pm 
The last couple years I've applied for a Saturday night at Indian bar, any Saturday night between mid July and October. Still haven't gotten one. For some years before that I tried applying those specific dates, and I moved to the blanket approach thinking it would help. No. I don't think they volunteer info about the cross-country zones because they want to make sure people really know their shi* and are going to follow the rules. If you decide to apply for this they will probably grill you on exactly where are going to find a spot, and then may make you prove you know how to navigate with a map and compass (they did this to a friend of mine relatively recently). It has always sounded to me like it can be pretty challenging to find a decent, suitable spot that is also not visible from any trail as required.

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drm
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drm
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PostWed May 15, 2019 7:22 am 
I've changed the number of people on a permit, from 2 to 3. But if I wanted to swap with somebody else who had a different day, I would probably just do it. I've had rangers check my permit a number of times, but they never asked for ID to make sure it was me. I guess the pickup would be the challenge though.

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williswall
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PostWed May 15, 2019 10:16 am 
kiliki wrote:
I don't think they volunteer info about the cross-country zones because they want to make sure people really know their shi* and are going to follow the rules. If you decide to apply for this they will probably grill you on exactly where are going to find a spot, and then may make you prove you know how to navigate with a map and compass (they did this to a friend of mine relatively recently). It has always sounded to me like it can be pretty challenging to find a decent, suitable spot that is also not visible from any trail as required.
Wonderland trail thru hikers are not allowed to use cross country zones (per the website). I've used cross country zones every year for 35 years and no ranger has ever asked for proof I knew how to navigate, that just sounds inaccurate. If you know about the zones then finding suitable spots is not difficult....there are vast areas far from the trails. Every year I mention this; 30 percent of the camp sites are reserved for walk up permits. I've always done walk ups and never had a problem. In September and October I've gone through completely empty camps like Klapatche, Summerland and Indian Bar. A few years ago someone from Australia emailed me about this subject, wondering if they should come anyway since they couldn't secure a permit in advance. They did, and I happened to run into her on the trail. She got the exact itinerary (August) she had applied for via walk up.

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Joseph
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Joseph
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PostWed May 15, 2019 6:26 pm 
williswall wrote:
kiliki wrote:
I don't think they volunteer info about the cross-country zones because they want to make sure people really know their shi* and are going to follow the rules. If you decide to apply for this they will probably grill you on exactly where are going to find a spot, and then may make you prove you know how to navigate with a map and compass (they did this to a friend of mine relatively recently). It has always sounded to me like it can be pretty challenging to find a decent, suitable spot that is also not visible from any trail as required.
Wonderland trail thru hikers are not allowed to use cross country zones (per the website). I've used cross country zones every year for 35 years and no ranger has ever asked for proof I knew how to navigate, that just sounds inaccurate. If you know about the zones then finding suitable spots is not difficult....there are vast areas far from the trails. Every year I mention this; 30 percent of the camp sites are reserved for walk up permits. I've always done walk ups and never had a problem. In September and October I've gone through completely empty camps like Klapatche, Summerland and Indian Bar. A few years ago someone from Australia emailed me about this subject, wondering if they should come anyway since they couldn't secure a permit in advance. They did, and I happened to run into her on the trail. She got the exact itinerary (August) she had applied for via walk up.
30% of the sites are reserved for walk-ins. So they say, but I am a bit skeptical because twice we got to the ranger station and were basically 1st or 2nd in line and still we did not get a workable permit (workable for us - which was 8 days, 7 nights). But we were trying in peak season in late July / early August. This time we opted for after Labor day, but got rejected again. We will go for a walk in. Only two of us so we are hoping for the best.

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drm
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drm
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PostThu May 16, 2019 10:06 am 
Empty camps don't mean no reservation of walk up spots. Could be late arrivals or no-shows. Nonetheless I might give it a try if the schedule works out. I've been itching to get an SC permit for the Windy Gap area for years.

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water
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PostFri May 17, 2019 4:36 pm 
I have camped in the dispersed out of sight off trail areas on rainier before. I had to watch a 20-30 min video clearly about 15-20 years old about the importance and fragility of the environment, none of it shot in MRNP, and with tons of segues in it clearly filmed from a helicopter, including going over a herd of running buffalo... hmmm.gif - as someone who has practiced LNT for my entire outdoor experience it was fairly patronizing and stupid.

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