aikidjoe Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Hey all - I'm planning a trip in NCNP and have to pick up permits in person for cross country zone. Debating whether it's ok to get there a bit early before the station opens (around 630?) the day of, or if I should go out the day before. We want to be hiking by 10 or earlier. It's been a while since I've had to get permits in person, and I've heard horror stories of wait times, though maybe some of that is alleviated with the online system? I'll be picking it up mid week next week, right before July 4 weekend... Any recent experience and recommendation is helpful. thanks! Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted yesterday at 07:15 PM Posted yesterday at 07:15 PM Just saw this. You arrive and draw a number and wait your turn. Depending on how much the gods hate you that day you may be subjected to people ahead of you who have done no research about what they want to do and take up 15 min or more time chatting with the ranger on duty. My last visit was a few weeks ago to get a cross country zone permit for Arriva. We waited quite a bit, even though we got there around 9 when the 7 am crowd should have been and gone. The people in front of us wanted to "backpack somewhere" but didn't know where. The ranger walked them through options, asked questions. It was swell. 1 Quote
traildirt Posted 4 hours ago Posted 4 hours ago Sometimes it’s hard to make it to marblemount before they close. So we will drive in the evening before. You can go to the station and get your number for the next morning, even if they’re already closed. That can help expedite the morning after….because yes it can take a while even on random week days Quote
dberdinka Posted 3 hours ago Posted 3 hours ago 21 hours ago, KaskadskyjKozak said: Just saw this. You arrive and draw a number and wait your turn. Depending on how much the gods hate you that day you may be subjected to people ahead of you who have done no research about what they want to do and take up 15 min or more time chatting with the ranger on duty. My last visit was a few weeks ago to get a cross country zone permit for Arriva. We waited quite a bit, even though we got there around 9 when the 7 am crowd should have been and gone. The people in front of us wanted to "backpack somewhere" but didn't know where. The ranger walked them through options, asked questions. It was swell. "Sahale Arm please. Well if not there, can we go to a nice alpine lake, that's not to far from the car, and has lots of solitude with some amazing views?" Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago (edited) You can arrive the night before and pull a number.... but everyone knows this and more and more people do it. More and more people are now camping outside the ranger station in the parking lot, or in a turnout nearby. The NCNP should join the 21st century and allow more permits to be made on line and not need to stop in to the ranger station. The Olympic NP has their shit together - you can call in a permit request - something I recently did for camping at Lake of the Angels for an over night trip to climb Skokomish and Stone. Edited 1 hour ago by KaskadskyjKozak Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.