Maroon Bells permits

[ballardwf04]

Hi all, was trying to get permits for Four Pass loop 7/18-7/21 when it opened at 8am this Saturday and was unable to. Apparently the wolves they reintroduced to Colorado have learned how to use recreation.gov and snapped up all the permits. I suppose I should have known better than to go hiking on a weekend in July.

Regardless, I wanted to open a space for people to connect with fellow permit-seekers. I'll start it off- any takers for the weekend of 7/18? Looking for at least two nights and flexible w the Fri/Mon on either end. Group size is 2- just me and my girlfriend whom I'm introducing to CO backpacking. PM me or reply to this message if you'd be willing to sell. Cheers

[Phill the Thrill]

Sorry that you weren't able to get the permits you wanted, but fyi the permits are not transferable, so you cannot buy them from the permit holder.

[dubsho3000]

We got skunked too - mid-week July sold out in like 2 minutes for Snowmass Lake. Maybe next year.

[JROSKA]

As Phill the Thrill pointed out, permits aren’t transferable so there really can’t be a secondary market here.

But as someone who still needs Snowmass (and has developed a little experience with recreation.gov) I’d encourage you to not give up on your original dates. Keep your desired dates and locations in mind and check recreation.gov regularly as June approaches. Especially once the 6/15 reservations for August / September come and go. They limit reservations to 2 per calendar year per person per location so you will definitely see cancellations at places like Snowmass Lake or Crater Lake etc closer to summer. For instance, if someone reserved Snowmass Lake and Capitol Lake just now, and they want to reserve the Bells in August, they’ll have to cancel one of the other reservations before they can do that. It might not happen right away. But if you keep an eye on things closer to summer, you should see an occasional “1” or “2” appear on your date / location.

[terribletigzy]

Sorry that you weren't able to get the permits you wanted, but fyi the permits are not transferable, so you cannot buy them from the permit holder.

True that you can't buy the permits from someone else, but you could possibly join someone else's group and hike with them. If I recall most of the small group permits are for up to 4 people, so a group of 2 could potentially join up with another group of 2. They allow you to change the size of your group as long as it isn't too close to the actual date (something like 24 or 72 hours, I don't remember exactly).

I got checked by some rangers about halfway up to Snowmass lake last year. They wanted to see my permit, bear container (love my Ursack), and wag-bags. They definitely patrol the area regularly.

[madmattd]

True that you can't buy the permits from someone else, but you could possibly join someone else's group and hike with them. If I recall most of the small group permits are for up to 4 people, so a group of 2 could potentially join up with another group of 2. They allow you to change the size of your group as long as it isn't too close to the actual date (something like 24 or 72 hours, I don't remember exactly).

Correct, you can change your permit dates (pending availability, so in reality only to shorten itinerary) and group size (within the size of the permit size, typically max of 4 as pointed out) as long as the permit hasn't been printed out yet. You cannot add a secondary trip leader after the permit has been purchased (which effectively eliminates secondary market permit sales, which is a good thing!). You can cancel for a refund (minus the $6 reservation fee) up to 2 days out (again, as long as you haven't printed the permit).

Definitely keep an eye on the reservation site, I got an early July Saturday night Snowmass Lake permit in 2023 on Monday of that week just by being on the site at the right time.

Rangers definitely do ID check against permits from time to time - not always, but I've been checked.