How to manage WMNF

dailey7779 said:

I have to disagree with there needs to be a reservation system for certain trailheads. We are talking about 30 days tops out of 365 that it is a zoo, Weekends between late June and Columbus Day Weekend. The rest of the time there is no problem getting a spot. Last Friday I stopped by Lincoln Woods around 10AM and there were still spots open. Same goes for Falling Waters / Old Bridle Path TH.

Everyone on this forum knows getting to popular trailheads early is the name of the game, if FW / OBP is full you can go park at Cannon Tramway lot and hike from there. How difficult is an extra couple of easy miles along the rec path or the Pemi Trail at the beginning or end of hike depending if you choose to ascend or descend Greenleaf Trail from the tram lot?

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I totally see where your coming from as I’ve played your strategy for decades. Although a permit/reservation system is not just about making sure you get a spot it’s also about limiting environmental impact. Yes you can go to another trailhead if OBP/FW path lot is full but when you do OBP/FW is still getting the crap kicked out of it. Same goes with Guyot. Maybe it’s only 30 nights a year but people are still camped in the overflow creating unnecessary impact. Limiting numbers in these areas goes further than just parking your vehicle.

I have backpacked in California a few times, including a trip to Yosemite last year. All of these trips were planned months in advance, so the reservations were not a huge obstacle but they sure can take spontaneity out of the equation. Perhaps this is easier to accept with California weather where the biggest question may be a forest fire but in the Whites weather is likely a much bigger factor in go / no go decisions. I can see how someone could be pondering a presidential traverse because they had a permit for a given date even if the weather forecast looked questionable.

iAmKrzys said:

I have backpacked in California a few times, including a trip to Yosemite last year. All of these trips were planned months in advance, so the reservations were not a huge obstacle but they sure can take spontaneity out of the equation. Perhaps this is easier to accept with California weather where the biggest question may be a forest fire but in the Whites weather is likely a much bigger factor in go / no go decisions. I can see how someone could be pondering a presidential traverse because they had a permit for a given date even if the weather forecast looked questionable.

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Having done Kephart and Leconte during Tropical Storm Dennis, I understand the idea of hiking in poor weather to fit into the schedule.

(I had a week in TN and if I had picked a different day, I would have missed Dollywood with my in-laws and kids who were five and two. We certainly weren't going to the Dollywood in a Tropical Storm. Dennis hit the coast as a Hurricane but the day I hiked, it was a TS. Eye passed to the west of GSMNP so I was in rain and wind bands on the eastern side.)

When you are local, you can cherry pick days. Local is somewhat of a relative term? (Factors include, price of gas, love of driving, how determined someone is, vacation time, etc) I know when in CT and more determined to hike, if the weather looked bad in NH but looked okay in the Catskills, I was driving NW not north. A front that impacts the Catskills around 2:00 may not get to NH or ME until evening when I would get off the trail.

I've parked at Cannon before and bicycled to the more popular trailheads in the Notch and then hiked back to the car.

iAmKrzys said:

I have backpacked in California a few times, including a trip to Yosemite last year. All of these trips were planned months in advance, so the reservations were not a huge obstacle but they sure can take spontaneity out of the equation. Perhaps this is easier to accept with California weather where the biggest question may be a forest fire but in the Whites weather is likely a much bigger factor in go / no go decisions. I can see how someone could be pondering a presidential traverse because they had a permit for a given date even if the weather forecast looked questionable.

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Permits or not one needs to take responsibility for their own behavior. In other words, knowing when to back down from a hike or a climb because of weather permits or not.