Poor Inyo, they got the short end of both these sticks, losing revenue at one end and gaining overflow hikers at the other end. Ed Dunleavy at YNP mentioned to me they met with Inyo and Toiyabe NF but it was near the end of the process with the decision already made. He said there would be more opportunity for regional planning during the Wilderness Management Plan update. At least YNP tried to work with the adjacent agencies, even if it was very little and very late.
I'm still shocked the PCTA made a move like this without picking up the phone and discussing it with Inyo. That just didn't sound believable to me. But on the up side, I'm glad Inyo didn't initiate this action as a result of problems with PCT hikers on the Whitney trail, as I speculated. I'm glad to be wrong about that.
