After staying up until after 2 a.m. waiting for the Grand Canyon Backcountry Office fax machine to not give me a busy signal, I managed to submit my permit. A few days later, I received an e-mail that informed me that our permit was denied because they ran out of reservations.
I thought to myself, "How can that be?"
The approval process for permits is very different than what I imagined. Permits are accepted up to ten days prior to the 1st of the month... four months in advance of the month your trip is planned. I waited until after midnight on the 1st because that's what their website says to do. In the end, it doesn't matter when you submit it as long as it's turned in by close of business on the 1st. I also found out that there are only two group sizes that they look at; large (7-11) or small (1-6).
All the permits are then sorted alphabetically and shuffled. The first 200 permits for the use areas are approved and the follow-on permits are looked over and most likely denied unless they include remote-use areas, outside of established campgrounds.
The rangers at the Backcountry Office are really helpful and I now have a new request in the works.
I thought to myself, "How can that be?"
The approval process for permits is very different than what I imagined. Permits are accepted up to ten days prior to the 1st of the month... four months in advance of the month your trip is planned. I waited until after midnight on the 1st because that's what their website says to do. In the end, it doesn't matter when you submit it as long as it's turned in by close of business on the 1st. I also found out that there are only two group sizes that they look at; large (7-11) or small (1-6).
All the permits are then sorted alphabetically and shuffled. The first 200 permits for the use areas are approved and the follow-on permits are looked over and most likely denied unless they include remote-use areas, outside of established campgrounds.
The rangers at the Backcountry Office are really helpful and I now have a new request in the works.
