twoshuzz wrote:Spot on, EB. + 1.

Thanks. Additionally, if these agencies were tax supported, they would not have to hire rangers to ticket cars without the proper passes so more money would go towards resource management.

I'd rather climb mountains without maintained trails. I'd rather poop in a responsibly placed cat-hole than a toilet (they're usually freaken nasty anyway). I'd rather melt my own water, or drinking right out of a clear mountain creek. I'd rather not have rangers "protecting" me in the woods. I'd rather not have paved parking lots, or parking lots at all. I'd rather not have improved and/or maintained roads- 4x4 is fine with me.

They've totally pussified the wild- and we have to pay extra for it.

Ben B. wrote:
They've totally pussified the wild- and we have to pay extra for it.

Ben, I think you're missing the mechanism (political B.S.) on how a Federal bureaucracy operates ..

To them, it's ALWAYS the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people, whereas most common folk don't FIT into the big equation.

Within the sullen eyes of THEIR world, the LOBBYING GROUPS are the champions ...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everybody !

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrkb8D7cLc[/youtube]

Just got back from hiking up to Nesmith Point in the Columbia Gorge earlier today. The Yeon Trailhead parking lot does not require a pass. So there are at least three options at trailheads in the Gorge:
1. need a Federal pass
2. need a State pass
3. no pass is needed

What a hodgepodge! Out-of-staters must be real impressed with these clowns in Oregon and Washington! Oh, for you folks who monitor snow levels I ran into snow at approx. 3600 feet. Just patches of snow probably three feet deep at the most. My first time on this path, but I could always see where the trail reappeared after a 20 foot long snow patch. I did not make it to Yeon Mountain today, so will have to do that in the future.

I drove over the Bridge of Gods at Cascade Locks today into Washington State. I hiked Beacon Rock and Hamilton Mountain which are on State lands. I didn't have the State lands Discover Pass, and was prepared to pay $10 for their day pass. But I had a little luck. Come to find out the state allows a slug of "free days" during 2013 inlcuding:
1/21: Martin Luther King day
3/30: Washington State Peaks day
4/27,28 National Peaks week
6/1 National Trails day
6/8,9 National Get Outdoors day
8/4 Peak Season free day
11/9, 10, 11 Veterans Day Weekend
So unknowingly I showed up on Veterans Day weekend for a free day. My only question is do the above free days repeat in future years? I don't mind getting a free-bee, but are we making "Pass" use overly complex and arbitrary.