SN: You surprise me.
First, I have done the research, and it shows that the revenue from PCT hikers using the Whitney Zone $15 permit for resup is bupkis. That is of course, an approximation. Your assertion, that "a lot of people" were paying the $15 fee, is admittedly without research. Its speculation. As is Britonwhtny's data.
What does your "research" show, "Bupkis" is not a number. It only takes 67 PCT hikers paying the $15 to reach $1,000 for Inyo each year, year after year. There were 1,400 PCT permits last year.
Let's go with your speculation then. So the PCTA suddenly decides one morning, on their own, to stop collecting $15 from PCT hikers for potential access to the Whitney Zone. Denying them access to exit over Trail Crest singles out PCT hikers as the only people who can't exit after starting their hike outside Inyo. That's a net loss in freedom for PCT hikers. And you're saying their motivation for this policy change is to improve their Public Relations since nobody is actually going into the Whitney Zone anyway. And you're also saying Inyo was not involved in a policy change that is inconsistent with their general policy of allowing hikers to exit if they start outside Inyo.
I don't see how this gives the PCTA a PR boost or why they would need a PR boost in the first place. Lastly, its questionable whether or not the PCTA has the authority to even make this change without approval from Inyo NF. The PCTA typically works WITH the permitting agencies, not in isolation.
It seems a lot more plausible that Inyo Rangers have been encountering more PCT hikers on the Whitney trail and that brought the issue to a head. This policy change is a logical result. All PCT hikers are now effectively banned from going up or down the trail.
EDITED typos and to add the last paragraph.
