Wouldn't it be even easier for you if you could hop online and pay for a permit before even heading out, especially for same day permits? Why can't whatever permits are released be made available to everyone and not just to the Rangers to hand out to whomever is close enough to get there before closing? This would actually help people like you, Maverick.
That would work in theory, but with all the issues that are going on with the pre-booking already, I don't have much trust in the online system, especially if all the people who were unable to reserve permits the first time, will all be now in the bidding for the same so-called "walk-ins".
I drive from the Bay Area, so I am not a local, but also not from out of state either, the pre-covid "walk-in" system has worked for the decades I have been visiting the Sierra, and I have not heard any major out cry for change to it.
Let's be fair about this, now, that its proposed to be online and suites those individuals who don't ever use it, don't care for, or just want a second chance to secure a permit for a trailhead that they couldn't the first round (on-line), the previous "walk-in" process now became suddenly a problem. Shouldn't the system be equitable to all tax payers, all of us should think about our fellow backpackers/climbers, and not only themselves.
