Steve and Saltydog, You are right. I was very confused. I purchased 2 non-refundable overnight permits for 2 successive nights. The agent at the office explained what the "departure date" meant. He explained that in choosing a departure date I was allowed to stay on the mountain after purchasing the single overnight permit for multiple nights. I thought I had to declare a departure date and still be responsible for having an overnight permit for each night I wanted to camp. I don't think recreation.gov explains that well in the online system. Thanks for helping me. I'm finding it frustrating that I now have double-paid and because my friend isn't listed as an alternate leader (because I didn't know she'd want to) on 7/8 she can't even use those permits. I am by nature a rule follower and law-abider but I am beginning to understand why people risk being on the mountain without proper permits. It is a laborious system, especially for those like me who are old enough to have not been raised with computers or work with them much. So, when I release the July 8th permits I purchased last week recreation.gov will then be able to resell them to their third purchaser this season. That seems like quite a profitable business model. ;-)
