Gotta Pay Before You Hike
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/30/grand-canyon-to-charge-hikers-fee-for-rim-to-rim-trek/?intcmp=latestnews There is a fee to get into the GC park which has been the norm; now there appears to be...
Forum Discussion
Francesca Knowles wrote:
Leave it to Fox to slant this story as if permits are something new and onerous. They're not, having been required for individual backcountry/overnight hikers at the GC for many years. Typical individual fee is $10.00, though annual frequent-hiker permits are also available. Link to Parks page As already noted, this new program affects only GROUPS of hikers, and is an attempt to limit their impact.
An article in a perhaps more respectable source, the Lansing State Journal, gets it right beginning with its proper headline:
Grand Canyon group trips need permit
That article further notes that groups as big as 150 people have been not uncommon in the past. Such enormous parties will now evidently not be allowed, or at least better controlled. Seems reasonable and even responsible to me.
Maybe you have some preconceived bias of the source. I read the article and headline and in no way was my take the parks were charging an onerous fees or even a bad thing. Simply there will be a permit fee for group treks.
