Every time you go to the lavatory it is very important to get a receipt.
are they reserved by race???
NOT because they are crowded.
They started the timed entry system last year and used Covid as an excuse.
“We need to have less people in the parks so they don’t get Covid “.
Of course totally ignoring all park activities are outside ,
They are simply lying.
This is something they have always wanted to do so they don’t have to work harder .
They used Covid last year as an excuse to do it.
It’s also elitist as the locals blame problems on “outsiders “.
The locals just want to have beautiful national parks just to theirselves .
It’s all about control. They want Americans to become good, little slaves that have to ask permission for everything from their masters.
If you want rooms at The Old Faithful Inn, you have to book a year in advance. It’s been that way for as long as I remember.
I drove through Grand Teton and Yellowstone last week. (Many thanks to the FReeper who recommended the Golden Geezer pass or it would have cost me $70). Packed. You book two years in advance and a room at the Old Faithful Inn runs you six bills. It ain’t what it used to be. Still drop-dead beautiful, though.
We got our tickets as soon as they became available for the Holocaust museum in DC. We went a couple weeks ago and the COVID restrictions were wonderful. We had gone several years ago and you were always fighting people at exhibits. Because of COVID, we took our time and it really gave us a better appreciation of the museum.
I went to Zion last week. Cars were parked along both sides of the road for five miles from the entrance to the main attraction, mask-requiring sardine-can shuttles only allowed. I just kept driving, went to Bryce, and then hit Kolob Canyon in the far NW part of the park - absolutely spectacular with 2,000 foot walls of sheer red sandstone.
National Parks have exceptional beauty in part because they retain the opportunity to at least feel alone with nature. Wall to wall people is no way to see the cliffs of Zion or the wonderland of Yellowstone. Crowd control is essential even if it means some passers by will have to plan in advance next time.
“Every time you go to the lavatory it is very important to get a receipt.”
Made this same joke to my wife 3 weeks ago when we saw how crowded Zion National Park was.
We stopped by at Yellowstone last July on our Lewis & Clark road trip. It was ghastly, frankly!! People stopped helter-skelter on the road to get a selfie with a buffalo. etc. It was worse than Disneyland. We got a bit of very early looking in, skipped Old Faithful and ALL the sights, and blew out of there so fast. Uck. My aunt said you go in the winter on a snow mobile tour, only. And then they have welcomed wolves and grizzlies so it is REAL - this will include, mark my words, a child getting eaten or a car being charged.
It was ghastly.
I don’t think it’s because of lock down fatigue.
They are missing the point that it’s so difficult to travel internationally, that people are going to do it here instead.