Are you waiting to hear about your Wonderland permits or other trip at Rainier?

Well, that keeps it simple for them doesn’t it?

Here is the news release… geez, they waited until a week after the date they started taking advanced reservations. And I spent hours on this… They say it is because their system failed… but it was my understanding that their ‘system’ was manual processing of the permit applications. Crazy. I think not many people will travel from other states on the hope that they might get a walk-up permit. Anyway, here is the news release:

Date: March 23, 2016
Contact: Randy King, Superintendent, 360-569-6501

Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Randy King reports that the park will process wilderness camping and climbing permits on a first-come, first-served basis only in 2016, including permits for hiking the Wonderland Trail. This represents a significant departure from prior years, when up to 70% of campsites could be reserved in advance. This change in procedure for 2016 comes as a result of a critical failure of the park’s existing reservation system during a recent storm event. The wilderness reservation system failure does not affect the public’s ability to reserve campsites at Ohanapecosh and Cougar Rock Campgrounds through http://www.recreation.gov.

“The ability to make a reservation for popular hikes in the park, especially the high demand backcountry campsites on the Wonderland Trail, is an important visitor service that offers certainty for those planning an overnight hike. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide that service for this summer,” said Superintendent King.

A new online Wilderness reservation system has been in development in partnership with the University of Washington Information School over the last few months. This system will be beta-tested internally during the summer of 2016 in preparation for its initial public launch in March, 2017. The online system will eliminate the existing mail-in and fax-based system that has been in place for many years, and greatly improve visitor experience with the reservation process. However, the system is not ready accept reservations for 2016. Therefore, all reservation requests submitted by mail or fax in 2016 will be returned unprocessed, and fees will be refunded. All wilderness camping and climbing permits will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis during 2016.

Established carrying capacity for wilderness camping in the park dictates the number of permits that can be accommodated annually. In a typical year, wilderness camping reservations received between March 15 and April 1 would be processed in random order starting April 1. Reservations received on or after April 1 would then be processed in the order received. Prior to 2013, the number of wilderness reservation requests received at Mount Rainier during the first two weeks of the reservation window averaged in the hundreds. In 2013, requests jumped to 1,400. In 2014, the park received 2,000 requests, and in 2015, the park received over 2,600 reservation requests as of March 31, necessitating a halt to processing Wonderland Trail reservation requests. This year, none of the ~2,000 reservation requests received since March 15 will be processed as a result of the software system failure.

First-come, first-served permits (also know as walk-up permits) will be required for all Wilderness camping in the park during 2016. Permits can be issued up to one day prior to your trip start date, or on the start date. Permits must be obtained in person at the Longmire Wilderness Information Center (7:30 am – 5:00 pm), White River Wilderness Information Center (7:30 am – 5:00 pm), or the Carbon River Ranger Station (hours vary, call in advance).

Visitors seeking a wilderness camping permit should remember to bring:

An emergency contact phone number
The license plate number of any vehicle being left behind in the park
The make, model, and color of the vehicle

There is no fee for a first-come, first-served permit.

Climbing permits for Paradise area routes require registration at the Climbing Information Center at Paradise. Emmons/Liberty Ridge route climbs require registration at the White River Wilderness Information Center at the White River Entrance. Climbs initiated from the northwest corner of the park (Carbon River & Mowich Lake) must register with staff at the Carbon River Ranger Station.

“Mount Rainier offers outstanding wilderness hiking and camping opportunities. The permit system for overnight backcountry camping is in place to ensure a quality visitor experience and protect a cherished wilderness resource. All opportunities for wilderness camping in the park will be still be available this summer, just on a walk-in basis. Visitors shouldn’t let the lack of a permit reservation system keep them home. The park employees who staff the Wilderness Information Centers work hard to help people and can generally put together a permit for those who can be flexible,” concluded Superintendent King.

-NPS-

Wonder how they are going to handle the actual process of first come?

In the old days in the Sierra it got so bad people were camped out over night at the ranger stations and there were fights in the morning over exact place in line. Finally, a few years ago the park service got smart and just said come by 8am and take a number. At 9 or 10m there will be a drawing. First numbers drawn get first choice.
Hope they learn from other parks and do something civilized like that.

billy

Something with this doesn’t make sense.  A software problem is supposedly the reason for the need to cancel advanced registrations. Seems as though there would be some effort to at least try to manually process what they could. I realize the numbers are somewhat staggering but this sounds like giving up the baby with the bathwater, as they have the faxed desired requests why not just bust ass and get some done? At least some would benefit. Its more or less a lottery the first 2 weeks anyway so everyone has the same overall chance of getting an advanced permit even if the overall number given this year was lessened by the “glitch”.

I have real reservations (pun intended) about traveling across the country with just a hope of getting our desired trip. Big investment for us.

Would be nice if the parks would combine efforts and come up with a universal system for permitting for those that reserve BC camp sights. It seems odd that I can reserve any individual camp sight throughout the country for front country camp sights in the parks simply by getting on line typing in the desired dates, clicking on a sight # and entering a credit card # but no such thing with BC permits. Maybe its the difference in private and government organization.

Oh well, just thinking out loud. I don’t blame for one minute the folks that are doing the heavy lifting in the parks. They do a wonderful job with the resources given. Management, well thats another story.

Billy Ray,

Sounds like you were waiting on permits too. Will you still be traveling in hopes for a walk up and out of curiosity how far would you be traveling?

Jimmy,

If you’re flexible on which trail head you start from, walk up permits aren’t as bad as they sound.  In addition to White River, Longmire, Sunrise, and Mowich Lake, don’t forget Box Canyon as a potential start point.  If you can add an additional day to whatever you were planning on hiking, you’ll be fine.

Ian,

Thanks for the reassuring post. Seeing that your in that area your opinion would be helpful on what  you think the lines will be like in the first week of Aug.at the BC offices considering that all permits will need to be filled on a walk up basis. I’m concerned about exactly what Billy Ray described above. I wouldn’t normally worry about walk ups. As an example last year in Glacier our trip was canceled due to the fires and we basically had walk up permits for another area and ended up with a very nice trip. But for the most part I have to believe that preregistered trips prevent huge lines. I just don’t want to spend possibly a couple days standing in lines instead of enjoying precious time hiking even if it meant going to another destination. Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

I am planing to summit Rainier via the Kautz Glacier route.  fingers crossed that we’ll get our walk up permit.  But yea, this is frustrating for people flying in.

Hmm, I wasn’t going to put in for Wonderland this year, but now I’m wondering if this is a rare window of opportunity for locals (relatively). Maybe walk-up would be that much easier this year?

Logistical consideration: any way to make use of the food resupply points if it’s all at the last minute?

Katherine,

For us locals, I think that this is good news.  I’d like to hike it again and my job is pretty cool about letting me take leave with little notice.  Most of my hiking on it has been in August and September, which are their busier seasons.  I may try a July hike this year just for kicks.  My plan is to look for a couple days of rain which is followed by a few days of sun.  I’ll show up when it’s raining and spend the first day as a zero to secure my permit and drop off my food buckets.  Spend day two hiking in the rain, and then, hopefully, finish it with bluebird skies.  We’ll see.

Jimmy and Billy,

It’s all going to be weather dependent.  Also, I’d avoid scheduling your hike during any of the holidays, like Labor Day.  If you show up and there’s a 3-5 day forecast for bluebird skies, you’ll have to be creative and consider all your options.  I’ve been one of those guys who were standing in line on a sunny day watching campsites fill up as I made my way up through the line (~70% previously reserved) and I still was able to get an acceptable reservation.

I’d suggest that you come armed with one of two weapons:

1. Come with enough time and with a schedule NPS can work with.  If you are carrying an UL pack, 10 days is more than enough. Or,
2. Be willing to put in the miles to and hike through the campsites that tend to fill up quick, like Summerland and Indian Bar.  I can’t remember the mileage and elevation but we had to hike from Sunrise to Nickel Creek in one day which is roughly 22 miles and 5-7000′ of climbing.  We left Sunrise with our headlamps on as the miles between it and White River are pretty unremarkable, and we made it to Nickel Creek with plenty of daylight.  I’m proof that if my fat @$$ can do it, anyone can do it.

I’m a few hours away and in Eastern Washington, and nowhere near Seatac, but if there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.

Jimmy… no, I doubt I will spend two days driving to WA on the ‘hope’ that I might get a permit.

billy

BTW… Ranger told me last year that last week of July and 1st week of August are the busiest time and that walk ups during that time are hard and not likely to get.

billy

BTW… Ranger told me last year that last week of July and 1st week of August are the busiest time and that walk ups during that time are hard and not likely to get.

The first couple/few weeks of September can be busy as well.  Some of the best weather I’ve experienced on the trail were in September.  The six days that we hiked it in its entirety, we didn’t see one drop of rain.

Rangers are people and are a product of their experiences.  I’ve spoken with a few and they gave me the impression that if you show up and are flexible with your schedule, they’ll help you put an acceptable itinerary together.

This year is unprecedented in terms of increasing demand and with them going 100% walk up permit, so unfortunately all we can do is speculate.  I’m interpreting all this as good news.

Thanks guys for the help and feedback….and best of luck to you all in getting permits for a great trip.

I got my rejection letter yesterday. Good to know Mt. Rainier is now a National Park for the locals. Who in their right mind would travel from the east coast in hopes of maybe getting a permit? Back to the Winds for 2016.

A member sent me a message with some questions, but I thought I’d post my responses here for those who may have the same questions.

First of all, as mentioned above, this is unprecedented.  The demand and interest in hiking the Wonderland is at an all time high and the park never had to deal with this sort of volume on a walk up only before.  We’re left to speculate.  It is a hike that draws people from all over the world.  Stands to reason that since MRNP seems to indicate that they will have this fixed by next year, a lot of out of towners will throw in the towel for 2016 and try again in 2017, thus reducing the pressure.

The questions received:

Q: Will mid August have more demand or do you think the walk up will deter people from coming in?

A: August is certainly one of their busier months.  As far as deterrence goes, Seattle isn’t too far away and there are lots of people who forgo the reservation system and just wait for a good weather window.  If you show up on a day with bluebird skies, be prepared to stand in a long line.  Mentioned above, try to show up when it’s raining but there’s a favorable forecast in the near future.  I realize this is easier said than done for people who are flying in.

Q: For resupply options, would I just drive them to the locations once I have a permit and drop off the buckets?

A: That’s what I did but realize that Longmire, White River, and Sunrise are reasonably close to each other, but Mowich Lake is a pretty substantial drive.  If it were me, I’d mail a food bucket to Mowich Lake ahead of time and then drop off the rest when you get there.  If it happens to make sense to start at Mowich (where I started) then just grab your food from the bucket and throw it in your pack on day 1.  If you go that route, make sure to stop by the Carbon River Ranger Station on the way in as that’s where they keep the food up until the last minute.  Also, make sure you call the Carbon River ranger station if you start anywhere else to confirm with them what day you’ll want to pick up your food from Mowich Lake.  The ranger station is at least 10-15 miles of washboard away and you’ll be SOL if they don’t drop it off.

I’ve mailed a couple food buckets to Rainier and was surprised as to how affordable it was via USPS.  I was expecting it to run in excess of $40 per bucket but it was less than $20.

Q: I did not see any public transportation from Seattle to MRNP. If I did get someone to drive me is there transportation to the different trailheads? I do not think so.

A: I’ve never had reason to explore this but I don’t think so.  If it were me, I’d get a rental car.

Q: My other concern is taking time off of work and not getting the permit. If they issues 2500 permit a year will that number go down. I would think so, one of the BPL members mentioned Yosemite and calling out numbers. I think Yosemite gets more traffic, but I could be wrong.

A: I’ve had good success with walk up permits, but again, this year is unprecedented and YMMV.  In my very humble opinion, I think you’ll be okay but I’d have an alternate hike on standby if they can’t provide you with an acceptable itinerary.  Again, if you put yourself in a position where you can start from Mowich, White River, Sunrise, Box Canyon, or Longmire, are willing to hike either clockwise or counterclockwise, and give yourself an extra day or two as a contingency, I’d think be you’d be fine.

Good luck

I’ve been searching but can’t find any public transportation options available between Seatac and the park (Mt. Rainier). Does anyone have any info or does the song remain the same re lack of public transport to the park or nearby?? Any info appreciated. Thanks, Mike

maybe https://seattle.craigslist.org/search/rid

uber

ask someone here

ask at http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Seattle/Mount-Rainier-National-Park