Parks step up permit game, so be ready

[jason]

The solution to the people-crush at America's most-loved parks is a combination of lotteries, advance registration and quotas. Now is the time to get the system wired for 2010.

Rangers at the Grand Canyon are the latest to make the move. They will go to a 100 percent online reservation system for camping permits next year with a trailhead quota for backpackers. They will stop providing permits for walk-ups, which rangers say allows locals within easy driving range to monopolize the park. That's good news for those in the Bay Area and Northern California who make the trip.
Similar forms of quotas and advance reservations are already in place for camping at Yosemite National Park, Mount Whitney, California's state park campgrounds, Mount St. Helens in Washington and several other areas.
Mount Shasta in Northern California is the one world-renown destination in the western United States where no trailhead quotas are in effect. That's why at peak use, the favorite climbing route up Avalanche Gulch can resemble a parade. That appears to be a violation of the Wilderness Act, which guarantees each visitor a pristine wilderness experience by eliminating human impact as much as possible.
Because 95 percent of the people go to 5 percent of the places, visitors to wilderness meccas must either plug into the system or join what I call the "5 Percent Club." That is the 5 percent of people who are willing to adventure to the getaways off the main grid.


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