2020 Permit Que contest

Well I jumped in line just before 10:30 to get my 2020 permit for the 29th Oct signup. Anyone logging in before 10:30 was randomly assigned a place in line at 10:30 and then everyone after to the back of the line.

SO.....how lucky did I get? I am not sure but I either did really badly or there are litterally thousands trying to apply.

My number was 2845 in line.


In the 40 mins since the site went active I am now 2103 in line. Hmm ....that indicates I will have to wait 2 hrs 40 mins.

So who did worse than me?

I was 4688 ! But still got permit, about 2 hour wait. WAY too early (March 11), but what the heck. I did March 29 start in 2018 and got over early snow no problem. I'll be ready to pause a week or two here or there, whatever it takes.

I was ready to give up given the permit quota and my huge queue spot. But I had no idea the percentage of folks ahead would actually get a permit, given their rapidly shrinking date choice, so I'm glad I stuck with it.

4688 Ouch! There must have been a lot of folks who could not wait and bailed on the que. I processed at 1 hr 40 mins so most of the folks in between us must have left because they could not get the dates they wanted.

When I got in almost all of April was at 35 people registered for every day. I chose May 6th because I wanted to start in the middle of the week. Other wise I would have picked the 9th. I was the 18th person to register for May 6th. I always intended to shoot for a week into May anyway.

For grins I just went to the site to apply to see where the que is right now......and all of March, April and May are fully booked at 35 each day. (in Jan they open up the other 15 each) If I ran the site right they only take reservations for Mar-May and not for Feb or Jun. So that means that 3220 people are now registered. 1380 more slots come later. And then how many decide to start in Feb? Some will start in June but that makes for a hard time down south. Course Feb makes for a hard time too when up high - but lots of folks hike around the high climbs I hear. Kind of hard to hike around the desert in June though.

Yeah, the queue took over an hour to drop 1000, then it accelerated, and the last 1000 took maybe 15 minutes, just like you said, lots of folks just didn't like the available dates.

If you're not satisfied with your date and want to start earlier, start looking for open slots in January, after next queue date. Folk drop out and the responsible ones cancel their permits.

Long story short, in 2018 my wife and I were heading to the AT in late March to connect a big section for her. She developed a conflict and we bailed on those plans. So on a whim, I checked the PCT permit site and snagged a permit on March 26th for a March 29th start. Booked a flight and away I went! Only had time for campo to kennedy, but it was fantastic, hence I'm going to repeat that section.

Just for grins and chuckles I spun the wheel with three devices. I ended up getting a 172 on one of them. I immediately released them so no hikers were harmed in my entertainment. Pretty cool system. Can’t believe that all slots filled in late May. I was the latest starting finisher in 2011 with a start date of May 21st.

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Originally Posted by Malto

Just for grins and chuckles I spun the wheel with three devices. I ended up getting a 172 on one of them. I immediately released them so no hikers were harmed in my entertainment. Pretty cool system. Can’t believe that all slots filled in late May. I was the latest starting finisher in 2011 with a start date of May 21st.

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yeah, shortly after I was in the queue with my huge number I realized that the numerous device thing was the key... Rookie mistake on my part. Still, I'm learning now the multiple benefits or an early start, especially for folks with extensive snow travel experience. We'll see....

I inadvertently signed into the queue a day early, but I stayed in since I'm planning a PCT LASH next year. At 10:30 I got slot 984 and it took an hour to get up to my slot. Most of March and a good part of April were still available. April 9th only had 7 hikers registered and that's the date I took. Hopefully, I got it, but it will not be official until next January; although if you get a registration approval in November, your registration is pretty much a done deal.

I learned how things got so weird with the numbers like Colo-Rob had.

Many tech savy users used a Chrome browser extension called SessionBox and entered the que many times. I read of one guy who said he had 52 places in the que. So with the random placing he had one slot in the 30's. Used that and then bailed on the others. Clever I guess. But there is a lot of angst out there due to the very fast fill up of times.

I logged on at 10:30 PST and was assigned 3070, it took 1:45 to have my turn. Some very early March were available but all April were full. I snagged a May 7th permit and there were several dates in that period available. It is what it is, just like trying for the JMT permit you just have to keep trying .

A system with built in Gaming Abilities doesn’t even sound fair.
Right. It’s not fair.
Little Skittles and her Trail Family of 6-8 hikers made it through the Sierras this year. Most of the snow was still on the ground when they went through.
She documented her thru on YouTube.
Wayne

I too have a May 7 permit to start at Campo. I am staying at Scout and Frodo's the night before. Hope to see you on the trail. Trailname is Salesman.

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Originally Posted by Emerson Bigills

I too have a May 7 permit to start at Campo. I am staying at Scout and Frodo's the night before. Hope to see you on the trail. Trailname is Salesman.

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The last year Scout & Frodo will be hosting. Nice, enjoy and have fun.

I applied in February. The first computer I used to get in que put me at somewhere like number 15,000. I then tried with another computer which put me around number 5,000. The whole system the PCTA is using is jacked.