Enchantments Lottery Now Open

"Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

But only after I get mine….

"But only after I get mine…."

Yes and I'm quite willing to battle for this year's permit Hunger Games style. Hopefully I won't strike out two years in a row.

Thanks for the reminder.

I have no idea what dates will work for me that far out, but figured I should throw my hat in the ring, so i just did.

Now be sure to remind us to check before 4/1 if we get one.

It's interesting to note that — so long as a permit lottery winner has not yet actually printed the permit out — they have up until the 7th day before their start date to change the permit by extending the exit date to add additional days and/or adding additional people under the permit (up to the maximum party size of 8).

See the following policy on changes at http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5406246 —

"Once a Permit Reservation is made, no changes may be made to the zone for which the permit is valid.

"Once a Permit Reservation is made, no changes may be made to the entry date.

"Once a permit is printed, no changes can be made to the permit. Do not print your permit until you are certain you do not want to add group members or extend the duration of your trip.

"8 days or more prior to the entry date, days may be added to the trip by changing the exit date at the rate of $5/person/day. Maximum number of days that can be reserved is 14.

"8 days or more prior to the entry date, group size may be increased, up to the limit of 8 total persons per group, at the rate of $5/person/day.

"No changes will be allowed within 7 days of the trip's start date."

Seems like someone exercising one or both of the options to change their permit 8 days or more before its start date might reduce the number of walk-up permits available due to days and/or people added to an advance permit.

Or maybe the "limit" on total folks in the Enchantments each day is flexible, and can expand as permit holders change their permit to add more folks and/or days without affecting the limited number of permits held for walk-up applicants each day.

Thanks for the update Richard. My memory is fuzzy but the process is definitely different than last year.

Ian — My memory about permits from prior trips to the Enchantments is that there were no permits required. At least I'm sure a permit wasn't required when we went there in 1976, and don't recall any permit process the next time we went sometime in the mid-90's. Now that 20 years have passed since that last trip, decided to go again, which is how I learned there's a convoluted permit process that involves navigating all sorts of rigmarole.

So I've been wading thru it recently.

Sure was a lot easier and more fun to be spontaneous. Don't recall the Enchantments being crowded back then, but times have changed & now progress is a lottery.

Good luck!

Hey all,

Last year I was unable to get a permit for the Enchantment Core in spite of (what I thought) were less sought after dates, so I'm back at it again this year. And while I'm hoping the results will be different this year, I was hoping that I could hedge my odds by looking for PNW alternatives just in case. The Wonderland is probably the first "sought after" PNW permit that comes to mind, but I'm hoping to find something a little bit more off the beaten path.

Are there any other permits that I might want to look into before too much time passes in 2015? It seems like most lotteries are held the first two weeks of March so I was hoping to get my itineraries together soon.

Thanks!

You need permits for Olympic National Park, so good to consider options there now. The High Divide is on my list.

Thanks for the tip, Katherine! After I posted my comment I realized that the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island could be a potential option as well. Might have put in application for both of those while I'm at it.

Good luck!

If the permit odds go against you this year, consider the North Cascades. I just double-checked the NPS site, backcountry permits there are first-come/first served. Someone w/more WA experience can probably speak to the ease of that.

"Are there any other permits that I might want to look into before too much time passes in 2015?"

If you want something a bit more off the beaten track, you might consider the informal circumnavigation of Glacier Peak, a PNW classic. The Downey Creek road is supposed to be open this year, after a 10 year closure, so the condition of the trails will need to be checked. Take a look at the route on the relevant maps(s), and if this trip interests you give the Darrington Ranger Station in Darrington a call(360-436-1155). They are very knowledgeable about the Glacier Peak area, and helpful. The Glacier Peak Wilderness is far less traveled and at least as beautiful as Mt. Rainier NP, IMO. AND, there is no lottery required to get a permit. There are many other trips in the area that you can put together that would also be great hikes. The trail to Canyon Lake via Image Lake is a classic. From Canyon Lake there is a boot track that leads west to the bottom of Totem Pass and the Bath Lakes High Route. A short scramble uphill will give you truly awesome views north over magnificent Dome Peak, all the way to Baker and Shuksan, and more on a clear day. Lots to do in that area, far from the madding crowd.

Thanks for the info, Tom! I thought that I had found every Wilderness Area around the Cascades but had never come across Glacier Peak. Considering the lack of foot traffic for the past decade it is definitely tempting. I did a little reading on NW Hikers and was disappointed to learn about the fate of the Kennedy Hot Springs. One of my favorite places to visit when I was living in California was the Sespe Hot Springs, and I can only imagine how nice it must have been to take a dip in 100-degree water in early October. But even without it the hiking – like everywhere else in the Cascades – sounds incredible.

A while back I remember seeing a thread discussing the "hardest wilderness permits to obtain" but can't seem to find it. Maybe it was in Chaff? Oh well, better to not have to enter a lottery at all!

What happened to Kennedy Hotsprings?

I went there maybe 20 years ago. The hot springs weren't much as I remember – a muddy pool not that hot. But everything else about that area is great.

Apparently the area received an incredible amount of rainfall back in 2003 and the resulting landslides buried the hot springs. Bummer.

"I can only imagine how nice it must have been to take a dip in 100-degree water in early October."

Kennedy Hot Springs was always overrated, IMO, but it's history now. Washed out completely, along with the White Chuck trail, in one of our increasingly infrequent heavy snow/rain seasons a few years back.

"But even without it the hiking – like everywhere else in the Cascades – sounds incredible."

It is. If you end up hiking there, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The only real fly in the ointment is whether the trails will have been cleared in time for this season. The folks at the Darrington RS will know.

If you want to swing south to Oregon, there's Bagby for rustic, non-commercial backcountry hot springs. I've only done it as a day hike. It's in (or near) Bull of the Woods Wilderness, and you could probably link up with other stuff for something longer.

I checked the ONP site last night, they start accepting faxed requests on Mar. 15

Just went to finalize my dates on Recreation.gov only to find that they had closed the lottery application early. The lottery was supposed to be open until this 11:59 tonight, but after chatting with someone online and speaking to a rep on the phone my worst fears were confirmed: the lottery is now closed. No way to open it back up again. Pretty frustrated, but I wanted to make sure all options had been exhausted. Is there no way to fax in applications or is everything done through Recreation.gov now?

Andrew — Did the rep you called at Recreation.gov provide an explanation for why they closed the lottery early?

The person I spoke to with recreation.gov didn't have an answer for me, but I did get a hold of the park office in Leavenworth and they were able to fill me in on what happened. I guess the cut-off date for submitting your application was supposed to be the 3rd of March, and the confusion surrounded around whether it closed at 12:00 AM this morning or 11:59 tonight. The way it was announced on recreation.gov indicated the lottery application would remain open until midnight tonight, but the reservation system was setup to shut off at 12:00 last night. The park ranger in Leavenworth was as nice as could be and suggested I look to see what permits go unclaimed on April 2nd, but I'm still pretty disappointed. Definitely my fault for waiting until the last minute, but still pretty frustrating for the recreation.gov website to contain that level of detail only for it to prove inaccurate.

that is so lame! I hope the rangers can make it right for you.

Thanks for the info, Andrew.

Under the heading "Enchantment Lottery Timeframes for 2015" at its website, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest states that the "Lottery Application Period End Date/Time" is "11:59 PM PST" on "March 3, 2014" (incorrectly identifying the year as "2014" rather than "2015").

See http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=fsbdev3_053607

Couldn't possibly be more clear that someone at the Forest Service and/or their contractor Recreation.gov messed up badly.

The Forest Service should come up with an accommodation for folks who have been misled by specific information put out by the Forest Service & Recreation.gov and who are contacting the Forest Service about the permit screw-up today — well before the "official" end date/time would have expired tonight at midnight.

Sure gives reason for concern about the integrity/competence of this lottery system and/or the outfit entrusted with its operation.

Addendum: Recreation.gov's website for the lottery now has this notice posted:

"Attention: The lottery is currently closed. We are aware of the date/time lottery submission discrepancy. At present we are evaluating the issue and working toward a resolution. Please check back here for updates.."

http://www.recreation.gov/permits/Enchantment_Permit_Area/r/wildernessAreaDetails.do?page=detail&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72280

Be interesting to see how they resolve this.

Maybe they'll reopen the lottery for another week or so.

That this mess was allowed to happen in the first place needs to be remedied, too.

not good, but at least they're trying to modernize. It beats hovering over a fax machine.

I'd at the very least write a letter to the Ranger for that district and let her/him know of the discrepancy so they can fix it the next time around. I will probably do the same even though I submitted the application back when I posted the OP.

These contractors get paid a lot of money to provide a service. In this case, they get my $5 regardless of whether or not I actually receive a permit. Mistakes happen but they need to make it right.

I'm thinking a prime rib dinner served to you in the Upper Enchantments sounds about right.

And to the trustafarian hipsters, save your breath. I'm fully aware that this is a first world problem.

Edit: Overlooked what Richard cited from the website:

The lottery is currently closed. We are aware of the date/time lottery submission discrepancy. At present we are evaluating the issue and working toward a resolution. Please check back here for updates.