JMT Permit Process

"In three cases the ranger had positioned himself at an intersection and checked everyone coming by. The intersections were
1) In Lyell Canyon near Ireland Creek right where hikes taking the Rafferty Creek TH join the JMT
2) In LeConte Canyon right where the Bishop Pass Trail meets the JMT
3) Charlotte Lake/Kearsage Pass intersection"

Manfred, each of those three locations is very close to a ranger station. I suspect that they go out to check permits whenever they don't have anything more pressing to do.

Along the Mount Whitney Trail, it is different since there aren't any ranger stations. For fifteen or twenty years, some wilderness ranger was always standing in the very same place between Long Pine Lake and Outpost Camp. They generally look for a natural choke point where trail users won't be able to avoid them easily.

–B.G.–

"Yeah, parks (and forest) service is waayyyyyy underfunded, as evidenced by the fact that a non-profit has to manage the permit process."

Couple that with the fact that there are numerous litigation agencies out there (usually shrouded by some feel good activist front) that snipe the low hanging fruit from the land management agencies through the legal fee reimbursement: i.e. – wait for the gov to not dot an i or cross a t and then file suit in the 9th circuit and win the case while getting reimbursed for their self righteous legal fees. It bleeds away millions of O&M funds every year from land managers.

NPS websites have a reputation for being horrible, and contain little real information.

For instance, when I have wanted a simple map of national forest campground before, I have had to call and ask, and they faxed it to me. Nothing is available hardly on line.
Or information on the hiking trails in them often.

You would think Yosemite would the map with the shaded no-camping areas online. If it is, I havent found it.

I still notice places that state your LYV permit comes with Halfdome automatically if you want it. A bit out of date.

When you have a convoluted website and make changes, its hard to get it all right.