SGT Rock wrote:
As far as I am concerned there is no good way to do the new reservations system. I hate it, but have to live with it.
What I recommend you do is wait until you get to Fontana Village to make a reservation for the park. At that point you will sort of have an idea of how much you want to hike a day and then can estimate the campsites based on that mileage. Theoretically you cannot deviate from your plan. In practice I hear that you will either never meet a ranger that will check your permit to see if you are staying where you said you were, or if you do change where you are staying with a valid excuse like "I over planned for how far I could walk in a day" or "the weather got bad and I had to stop", or "That stream crossing looked dangerous so I waited here for a day to see if the stream would abate". That said, there are no bad stream crossings on the BMTin the park as far as I am concerned.
Something to consider when you plan your mileage in the park: the Lakeshore trail profile makes it look easier than it really is. For some reason I think that the Lakeshore trail should be a mostly flat stroll along the lake, but it always feels harder to me than it seems it should be. So that said, do plan to make a higher than normal mile per day while on that section. Campsites I try to avoid: 90, 86, 98, 50. Campsites I specifically try to use if I can: 47 & 38. I'll also add that since Laurel Gap shelter was remodeled it is a very nice place to camp. I generally avoid shelters, but I don't go out of my way to avoid it. And even though you are not supposed to camp outside the shelter, no one has ever hassled me for doing it.
My last full hike of the BMT through the park I did it Sobo and had a good run of campsites. This was my hit list:: 38, 47, 52 (we did a resupply stop on this day), 64, 76, 88.. Since the max fee is $20, this would have been what we would have paid for 6 nights in the park had it been under the new system.
I hope that helps.
Tomorrow I'm going up to do some more recon of the new trail to see what all has been accomplished by the Sierra Club over the past week. I think if I were you I would probably plan to do the new trail when you get up close, and go through Fontana for resupply and to get your reservation done. As far as I know the only hard part would be a 1.9 mile section that hasn't seen any maintenance yet as far as I know, but has been flagged. If things stay on schedule, I'll be up there working that section with a couple of crews 26 April and 4-7 may. I think we can have some to most of that 1.9 done by the time I expect you should hit it. Hell, you might even see me up there.
thanks sarge, that really helps.
its all good
