That's such a gamble though! Driving hundreds of miles just to get turned away would be suuuuch a bummer lol

I really don't like being in a hurry during my hikes, the whole point of being in the wilderness for me is to forget about everything else in my life. Ideally i would only like to do 5-10 miles a day even on flat trails lol. But yeah, if i never win the lottery I guess I'll have to do a day trip huh.

No, meat is a sustainable meat alternative. We're just doing it wrong. Regenerative agriculture should be the focus instead of gross industry meat corporations.

I like that alternative, but hate the idea of day hikes. If I'm going out into the wilderness I gotta experience the night and finding peace(sleep) for atleast a couple days. Definitely have to find my way out there at some point though, that whole region is just brimming with potential backpacking trips. Thanks for the advice! I'll shoot for late September.

Does anyone have any tips for securing a backpacking permit for the Enchantments?? Like when to select the dates for the lottery or how many people to maximize the chance of getting one.