What time should I fax in the wilderness permit application?

[TigerFan]

I'm going to be applying for a wilderness permit for what I understand is a popular trailhead (Rafferty/TM) for late July. This is the first time I've applied for a Yosemite wilderness permit (first trip to Yosemite, in fact) and I've been trying to read all the how-to's out there.

The "Wilderness Permit" page on the NPS website says that application submissions by fax is preferred. It also says that fax lines are open 24/7. So, is there a specific time that I should fax it in on the first allowed day? Do I need to hit the send button at 12:01 AM their time?

Thanks!

[balzaccom]

I haven't tried to get a permit for a peak trailhead on a peak weekend, but if you have even a little bit of flexibility about dates, you really shouldn't have too much trouble. You don't need to fax it in at midnight exactly...in fact, I've been able to get permits for just about wherever I wanted, as long as I was willing to work with them to use a slightly different trailhead, or maybe move dates a day or two one way or the other.

Weekends, of course, always fill up quickly. If you want a permit for Tuesday, you usually won't have much trouble for the first few weeks that the permits are open.

[adrianhoff]

Agreed: Unless you’re hiking with a group, or starting on a holiday weekend, you shouldn’t need to do the late night application.

I do two weeks in Yosemite every year. I frequently spend my first trail night at Little Yosemite Valley [park’s tightest entry point]. The bear boxes give me an extra day before having to fit everything in a canister. But like balzaccom, I’ve always started my hikes on a weekday.

I go to the permits web page when they begin accepting applications for my start date and click on the highlighted “check availability” text to make sure my date / entry point is open. As long as their web page says it’s available, I do not list a second choice. I’ve never gotten my first choice when my application included alternative trailheads.

Include an e-mail address on the application to be safe.

[TigerFan]

My first choice start date will be a Friday (July 23, to be exact.)

So, will I get a response pretty quickly? That is, quick enough so that if I don't list an alternate and the application is denied, I have a reasonable chance of being able to call in and get an alternate trailhead?

[AlmostThere]

I've faxed in for a permit using a single trailhead and itinerary, no second choices, and gotten an email within an hour denying me a permit.

I've had better luck calling (sometimes hitting redial a few times) and just talking to someone. That way I can nail down a trailhead and itinerary on the fly without refaxing until something takes.

[hiker97]

I've also used the redial button on the phone to finally reach a live person. The Yosemite trailhead reservations staff have been extremely helpful to me in even looking at 2nd choices if my preferred trailhead is booked. Once I had a group of 6 and it was kind of tricky guessing which trailhead might have enough remaining quota capacity for us. When I've been reserving a less popular trail, then it's been easy to use the standard system and just wait some number of days for a response - I've always gotten my first choice in those cases.

[TigerFan]

You've all been really helpful -- thanks!

[TigerFan]

Thought I'd update with what happend this morning since it didn't go quite as I'd expected.

Decided to call in this morning for the permit. Started calling right before they opened (8:30 AM) and hit the redial a few times. It wasn't quite 8:40 when I got through. ALL Tuolumne Meadows trailheads going toward the Valley were completely booked for 7/23 by the time I got through. Scrambed a bit and ended up asking for the first available day (going backwards) and they had 7/18, so I took it. Spent the rest of the morning shifting our other reservations, etc. around. All worked out in the end.

By the way, the guy who I talked to wasn't exactly overly helpful, at least compared to other backcountry permit office staff/rangers I've talked to at other parks. He clearly wasn't interested in helping me find an alternative route or date. I had to call back later with a question and got a different guy who was the total opposite. Luck of the draw, I guess.