A note about permits for those that reserved a site:
According to the rules, if you have booked a site, you're supposed to check in at the office and collect your permit in person.
The Atsion office (which is closest to Batona Camp) is closed down for the season, so that means that permits would need to be picked up at the Batsto Visitors Center, which can be found here:
https://goo.gl/maps/nZvi6dPokUWT2EDj9
Batsto is about 24 miles (about a 30 minute drive) from camp, and it's open from 9am to 4pm.
I realize that this isn't ideal, especially for anyone arriving later in the day on Friday. I'll present this 2 ways:
1.) The "Official" Statement
Technically, if you reserved a site, it's on you as the primary occupant on record to have your permit displayed during your stay. I'd say this holds true even if you're not physically hanging in your site. Chances are no one will check that closely however if the rangers do roll through camp, they would probably prefer to see a tag hanging on the post in front of each occupied site. If you can't make it to the office in time (by 4pm Friday), a good alternative would be to print out your reservation confirmation email and have it on hand (as proof if ever needed), and then you could always go collect your actual permit the next morning once the office opens.
2.) The "Alternative" Statement
In all the years we've been hanging at Batona, many people haven't bothered to collect their permits after arriving late, or just because it's a hassle, and it's never yet been a problem
to my knowledge. I don't recall ever hearing of rangers checking and comparing hung permits to who's booked, or giving anyone a hard time if there wasn't one up. However if there does happen to be an issue, it falls on the person who is on record as the primary occupant as per the reservation. Consider that as you will.
To sum up:
As organizer, I'll officially go on record to urge anyone who reserved a site to follow the rules, and take care of the proper permitting as agreed upon when you booked a site. I'll be making the drive down prior to the event on Friday to get one for the group site, at the very least. However we're all adults, and I'll leave it up to everyone attending to do what they think is best, as we won't be policing you in any way to check.
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