Re: Emergency beacon recommendations
I also switched to a number of years ago.? It is a little heavier then the Spot or mini but in my opinion well worth the extra weight; plus it has a great battery life.? In addition to the emergency beacon and two way communication, my
plan allows our grand children to track our progress.? I also agree, however, that with those aspects, I wouldn’t carry a PLB, which is what I did for the first 30 years on treks before I broke down and bought one. ???
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From: ravi_jmt2013
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2022 6:50 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [JMT-groups.io] Emergency beacon recommendations
?
I used a spot for many years before switching to InReach in 2016. I did so to have two way communication with family. My entire reason for carrying a device is to be in touch with my family since it makes them feel better about my trips. And in recent years,
I feel better about being on the trail knowing that if an emergency arises at home, I can be notified and that way I could exit as soon as possible. I use the cheapest InReach freedom plan and don’t use tracking. Unless there’s a reason to text (emergency
only), I use unlimited preset messages only.?
If I did not have a reason to keep in touch with family, I would not carry a PLB on heavily trafficked trails in peak months, such as the JMT. Or if I did see a need, like off trail or off season, I’d use one of the PLB devices with no monthly fee that has
no texting capability.?
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Re: Emergency beacon recommendations
I used a spot for many years before switching to InReach in 2016. I did so to have two way communication with family. My entire reason for carrying a device is to be in touch with my family since it makes them feel better about my trips. And in recent years, I feel better about being on the trail knowing that if an emergency arises at home, I can be notified and that way I could exit as soon as possible. I use the cheapest InReach freedom plan and don’t use tracking. Unless there’s a reason to text (emergency only), I use unlimited preset messages only.?
If I did not have a reason to keep in touch with family, I would not carry a PLB on heavily trafficked trails in peak months, such as the JMT. Or if I did see a need, like off trail or off season, I’d use one of the PLB devices with no monthly fee that has no texting capability.?
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Re: Emergency beacon recommendations
Ditto on the Globalstar network.? I had one of their sat phones for a? number of years.? Connectivity was a real problem and dropped calls were the norm.? They kept telling me that they were going to launch a bunch of new satellites and service would get much better.? Didn't happen while I had the phone.? The Iridium network isn't wonderful,? but it's significantly better.
Judy... I have the Garmin Inreach Mini...$12 month for the annual safety plan. I would stay away from SPOT, it is on Globalstar network which is just not as robust as Iridium, which Garmin uses.? A PLB is a good option if all you want is an SOS button. PLBs do not offer any two way communication and there is no ability to know if your distress message was received or not.? I think Cris does a very good job explaining the differences and how a PLB works.? Might be worth reading to help you decide:??
JP
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Re: Emergency beacon recommendations
Judy... I have the Garmin Inreach Mini...$12 month for the annual safety plan. I would stay away from SPOT, it is on Globalstar network which is just not as robust as Iridium, which Garmin uses.? A PLB is a good option if all you want is an SOS button. PLBs do not offer any two way communication and there is no ability to know if your distress message was received or not.? I think Cris does a very good job explaining the differences and how a PLB works.? Might be worth reading to help you decide:??
JP
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I had the same experience as Frank when trying right at 7am.? After a couple of tries I got through and secured my permit.? I rechecked afterwards at about 7:10 and they were all gone for Bishop Pass, which is what I got.
My experience has been that there is no need to reload the web
page to update the availability. I log in, set up the permit
parameters and then use the "next/prev 5 day" buttons to move back
and forth in days until the availability shows for the day. I also
use the filter option to identify my desired trailhead so I don't
have to scroll down the trailhead list. I'm using Chrome on a PC.
I have had notices pop up that the system is too busy. I closed
these boxes and re-selected the trailhead again and finally got
through after a couple of tries.
Frank
On 2/18/2022 7:23 AM, ravi_jmt2013
wrote:
As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year
are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I
had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits
available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when
I submitted the search query.? So I had to do so again which cost
me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of
permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of
Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for
Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I
got *something* even though I don't really want to start
northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked
overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones
permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the
Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had
planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted
to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit
(probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine
Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone,
five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular
entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is
helpful for others.? My advice is to give the system five seconds
or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be
released at 7 on the dot.? And be sure to check about 15 minutes
later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may
go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
--
Frank
|
My experience has been that there is no need to reload the web
page to update the availability. I log in, set up the permit
parameters and then use the "next/prev 5 day" buttons to move back
and forth in days until the availability shows for the day. I also
use the filter option to identify my desired trailhead so I don't
have to scroll down the trailhead list. I'm using Chrome on a PC.
I have had notices pop up that the system is too busy. I closed
these boxes and re-selected the trailhead again and finally got
through after a couple of tries.
Frank
On 2/18/2022 7:23 AM, ravi_jmt2013
wrote:
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Show quoted text
As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year
are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I
had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits
available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when
I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost
me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of
permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of
Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for
Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I
got *something* even though I don't really want to start
northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked
overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones
permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the
Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had
planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted
to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit
(probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine
Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone,
five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular
entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is
helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds
or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be
released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes
later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may
go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
--
Frank
|
Re: Emergency beacon recommendations
I agree with Frank. If you don’t want any messaging or navigation features, a bona fide PLB will do the job without the lingering user problems that go with Swiss-Army-knife devices. You want high reliability, which in my opinion, points to the single purpose PLBs.
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You can also go in multiple times to complete the campsites. No need to worry about the 15 minute time limit. Relax and enjoy the planning process.? Randy Satterfield? 704-575-6510
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On Feb 18, 2022, at 12:04 PM, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?Regarding the time limit, after you select the permit you want, you have fifteen minutes to proceed to the next step so there's quite a bit of time to specify all the necessary information. It's only after the fifteen minutes is up that the permit is lost and goes back into the pool of available permits. I have my planned overnight stops written down so it is pretty easy to get it all entered in just a few minutes.?
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Regarding the time limit, after you select the permit you want, you have fifteen minutes to proceed to the next step so there's quite a bit of time to specify all the necessary information. It's only after the fifteen minutes is up that the permit is lost and goes back into the pool of available permits. I have my planned overnight stops written down so it is pretty easy to get it all entered in just a few minutes.?
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Choosing an alternate leader is key (if you have one). You can only do that when you’re making the reservation. The rest can be filled in later.
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Steve?
Came here to say what Henning said. I entered first night trailhead, left everything else blank and chose an alternate leader.?
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On Feb 18, 2022, at 8:22 AM, Steve Perry <perry240@...> wrote:
? Thank you! Good to know.?
On Feb 18, 2022, at 11:19 AM, Henning Rech <whrech@...> wrote:
? Hi Steve,
?
>? before I could enter all my overnight locations
this is not necessary. Log in before 7 an, reload in the right moment, grab the permit, and just add an arbitrary exit trailhead and a short duration, like 3 days, plus the campsites as "unknown". And do not forget to enter a possible alternate trip leader if you want. Then you can pay, and your permit is safe.
?
All the rest is editable afterwards: exit trailhead, trip length, camp sites. If the 15 minutes for each change are not enough you can do it in multiple steps. No reason to stress.
?
Henning (who got his Cottonwood Pass permit for late July straightaway)
?
?
?
Gesendet:?Freitag, 18. Februar 2022 um 17:02 Uhr
Von:?"Steve Perry" <perry240@...>
An:[email protected]
Betreff:?Re: [JMT-groups.io] Inyo Reservations
?
Thanks Ravi! I just tried to grab two of the Cottonwood Lakes permits but the page literally expired before I could enter all my overnight locations. Now I’ve run out of time to work on it today. Arghh..
?
On Feb 18, 2022, at 10:24 AM, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?
?As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
--
|
Thank you! Good to know.?
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Show quoted text
On Feb 18, 2022, at 11:19 AM, Henning Rech <whrech@...> wrote:
? Hi Steve,
?
>? before I could enter all my overnight locations
this is not necessary. Log in before 7 an, reload in the right moment, grab the permit, and just add an arbitrary exit trailhead and a short duration, like 3 days, plus the campsites as "unknown". And do not forget to enter a possible alternate trip leader if you want. Then you can pay, and your permit is safe.
?
All the rest is editable afterwards: exit trailhead, trip length, camp sites. If the 15 minutes for each change are not enough you can do it in multiple steps. No reason to stress.
?
Henning (who got his Cottonwood Pass permit for late July straightaway)
?
?
?
Gesendet:?Freitag, 18. Februar 2022 um 17:02 Uhr
Von:?"Steve Perry" <perry240@...>
An:[email protected]
Betreff:?Re: [JMT-groups.io] Inyo Reservations
?
Thanks Ravi! I just tried to grab two of the Cottonwood Lakes permits but the page literally expired before I could enter all my overnight locations. Now I’ve run out of time to work on it today. Arghh..
?
On Feb 18, 2022, at 10:24 AM, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?
?As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
--
|
Hi Steve,
?
>? before I could enter all my overnight locations
this is not necessary. Log in before 7 an, reload in the right moment, grab the permit, and just add an arbitrary exit trailhead and a short duration, like 3 days, plus the campsites as "unknown". And do not forget to enter a possible alternate trip leader if you want. Then you can pay, and your permit is safe.
?
All the rest is editable afterwards: exit trailhead, trip length, camp sites. If the 15 minutes for each change are not enough you can do it in multiple steps. No reason to stress.
?
Henning (who got his Cottonwood Pass permit for late July straightaway)
?
?
?
Gesendet:?Freitag, 18. Februar 2022 um 17:02 Uhr
Von:?"Steve Perry" <perry240@...>
An:[email protected]
Betreff:?Re: [JMT-groups.io] Inyo Reservations
?
Thanks Ravi! I just tried to grab two of the Cottonwood Lakes permits but the page literally expired before I could enter all my overnight locations. Now I’ve run out of time to work on it today. Arghh..
?
On Feb 18, 2022, at 10:24 AM, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?
?As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
--
|
All true on ease of the hike, the plus side of entering via Cottonwood Lakes is the lakes basin which is gorgeous. ?If you want a shorter (and IMHO easier) climb, then go over Old Army, not New Army. ?Definitely a bit more intense and scary for some, bringing with it some incredible views and a quicker day.
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On Feb 18, 2022, at 8:05 AM, ravi_jmt2013 < ravi@...> wrote:
It looks like there are spotty cancellations here and there ... I've never seen anything like this.
Cottonwood Pass is definitely an easier entry than Cottonwood Lakes. In 2018, I entered at Cottonwood Lakes and went over New Army Pass and camped at Rock Creek. Even though I spent a night at the trailhead prior to starting, I had a lot of altitude issues that first day and didn't climb Mt. Langley as I had planned. ?Cottonwood Pass which I went over in 2015, in contrast, is pretty gentle and then it is smooth sailing to Rock Creek which is under 10,000 feet.
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It looks like there are spotty cancellations here and there ... I've never seen anything like this.
Cottonwood Pass is definitely an easier entry than Cottonwood Lakes. In 2018, I entered at Cottonwood Lakes and went over New Army Pass and camped at Rock Creek. Even though I spent a night at the trailhead prior to starting, I had a lot of altitude issues that first day and didn't climb Mt. Langley as I had planned. ?Cottonwood Pass which I went over in 2015, in contrast, is pretty gentle and then it is smooth sailing to Rock Creek which is under 10,000 feet.
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Thanks Ravi! I just tried to grab two of the Cottonwood Lakes permits but the page literally expired before I could enter all my overnight locations. Now I’ve run out of time to work on it today. Arghh..
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Feb 18, 2022, at 10:24 AM, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
|
Ravi, I can state the same - never seen this ! But my issue was that I wanted Cottonwood pass not lakes mid July and tried for 2 weeks - futile :( Ended getting Rush creek- didn’t really wanted go Sobo and start there …. Been looking from cancellation on 07/23-24 no luck … Karina Bezkrovnaia
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On Feb 18, 2022, at 07:34, ravi_jmt2013 <ravi@...> wrote:
?I might do that -- the trip reports I've read for Duck Pass/Lake look interesting. My goal for the first night is Virginia Lake, one of my favorite spots on the JMT. There's probably a good chance that I'll be able to switch to Duck Pass when the two week "walk up" window opens, but that might also be super-competitive unlike 2020 and 2021. ?
Of the Mammoth area southbound entry points, I think Red Cones is probably a little better than the JMT-Devil's Postpile start since the burn area south of Reds is not a very pleasant walk, and the starting trailhead is easy to get to via the Lakes Basin shuttle bus.?
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I might do that -- the trip reports I've read for Duck Pass/Lake look interesting. My goal for the first night is Virginia Lake, one of my favorite spots on the JMT. There's probably a good chance that I'll be able to switch to Duck Pass when the two week "walk up" window opens, but that might also be super-competitive unlike 2020 and 2021. ?
Of the Mammoth area southbound entry points, I think Red Cones is probably a little better than the JMT-Devil's Postpile start since the burn area south of Reds is not a very pleasant walk, and the starting trailhead is easy to get to via the Lakes Basin shuttle bus.?
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If you’re heading south from Red Cones then Duck Lake is a very short detour. ?I would probably be inclined to drop my pack close to the Duck Lake/JMT trail split and go up over Duck Pass to take in one of the all time greatest views down from Duck Pass to the valley floor.
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On Feb 18, 2022, at 7:23 AM, ravi_jmt2013 < ravi@...> wrote:
As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
|
As many others have reported, the reservations for Inyo this year are super-competitive like I have never seen before. One issue I had is that the system did not make the August 18 permits available immediately at 7:00 am pacific, which is precisely when I submitted the search query. ?So I had to do so again which cost me around 10-15 seconds. At that time, it appeared that a lot of permits were still available but when I clicked on my choice of Duck Pass, all of the permits were gone!
I didn't expect that, and there were two permits left for Cottonwood Pass, so I grabbed one since I wanted to make sure I got *something* even though I don't really want to start northbound this year.?
After completing the reservation for Cottonwood Pass, I checked overall availability around 7:10 am, and noticed that a Red Cones permit was now available so I grabbed that one and canceled the Cottonwood Pass permit. This way I can start from Mammoth as I had planned, although from a somewhat less desirable start (I wanted to see Duck Lake).
As of right now, there is still one Cottonwood Pass permit (probably the one I cancelled), two Cottonwood Lakes permits, nine Fish Creek permits, two permits for JMT South of Devil's Postpone, five River Trail permits, and that's about it for the popular entry points.
Anyway, just wanted to describe my experience in case it is helpful for others. ?My advice is to give the system five seconds or so after 7:00 am pacific since the inventory doesn't seem to be released at 7 on the dot. ?And be sure to check about 15 minutes later since some people will abandon their carts and permits may go back into the inventory.
This is way more stressful than it used to be!
|
ravi_jmt2013
John Powell
Steve Perry
Henning Rech
Karina Bezkrovnaia