Just an observation. I arrived on a Friday, around 6pm. At the closure sign, there were 6 cars. I was able to park less than 100 feet from the sign. Now, fast forward to Saturday when I returned from my hike around 11am, the line of cars parked along the road, probably exceeded a half to 3/4 of a mile. These were a combination of day hikers, and overnighters hiking up.
So, arriving after the day hikers leave is a good option.....6pm.
Also, as of Saturday, there were bear boxes at the closure sign, but no porta-potty. I actually mentioned this to the rangers that having a porta-potty would be nice since hikers were doing their business where ever they decided. They looked at each other and said it was a budget problem.
Now, this is only me, but if I arrived with enough time, I would hike up to the parking lot and camp, or hike over to the family sites that are closed and camp that night for an early hike.
paul
