[pct-l] The 2018 permits season opens on November 1, 2017. [ TODAY ]

[Brick Robbins]

On Thu, Nov 2, 2017 at 5:49 AM, Jim & Jane Moody <moodyjj at comcast.net> wrote:
> But doesn't the PCTA thru-hiking permit substitute for all the individual
> permits required by separate fed & state areas?  It's not entirely
> superfluous, even if optional.

Generally speaking, a single wilderness permit is good from the point
of entry to the point of exit.

For example a section hiker can get a permit from the USFS at Kennedy
Meadows with a listed exit point of Yosemite, and that one permit will
be good for all the forests, all the wilderness areas and all the
National Parks along the way. You don't need to get a different permit
for every one. John Muir Trail hikers don't get PCTA permits, though
they pass through 2 national parks, a National Forrest, and several
wilderness areas.

When I hiked, I got a permit from Descano Ranger District (the
starting jurisdiction that controls the land by Campo) that listed
Manning Park as the exit point.

The problem back then was the USFS Region 6 (OR/WA) would not
recognize permits issued by Region 5 (CA), though the the NPS and
State Parks would.

The way they found around this was to give the the PCTA the power to
issue permits, because Region 6 would work with the PCTA. Isn't
government infighting great?


> guess the main goal of the quota system is
> to try and spread out the bulge of hikers.

The main goal of the PCTA quota system is to limit the number of trail
users, just like any other trial head quota. However, all the other
trial head quotas have a legal basis. Since the PCTA permit isn't
really required, its quota system doesn't need legal standing.

I don't have any objection to how the PCTA is limiting their permits.
I only object to the false impression that they are fostering that a
PCTA permit is required