by AlmostThere » Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:37 am
Just change the permit. Don't be a jerk.
The entire reason it is so flaming difficult in the first place to get permits are jerks who ignore the rules. Too many people exceeding quotas, ignoring red tape designed to reduce damage to the wilderness, and then there are MORE restrictions because the rangers are trying to balance preservation with public access.
People get walked back to the trailhead and thrown out of the park for not having a permit - which is what you would face, having the wrong permit for wherever you go when you cheat. I think there should be a huge fine too, the one they have is far too small - it should be $5000 like the fine for not storing food in a bear canister, which people also fail to take seriously. Bears are shot when they get aggressive which only happens when they routinely get food from people.
Yes, they patrol, check permits and enforce them -- because too many people are doing just whatever, and it's pretty dire. Yosemite is what I think of as the 'sacrificial lamb' of the Sierra. It's being trampled to death, because everyone thinks they have a right to just go and ignore what the rangers have to say about quotas, permits and food storage.
Yes, I live here. Yes, I see it all the time, hear it all the time, get tired of it all the time.... You visit once and you feel like you can do whatever because it's 'just this once'. Multiply that by every frustrated hiker ever. Stop it.
rant mode off - for now.