Anyone here actually snag a sold-out site off a cancellation? What's your method?
genuine question for the folks who camp the marquee spots (yosemite valley, glacier, the redfish lake stuff). the release-morning game feels rigged now. you set the alarm for 8am six months out and half the time it's all red by 8:01. planning ahead barely matters when a whole summer's inventory is gone in seconds.
so i've mostly given up on winning the release and started playing the cancellation game instead. someone always changes plans and a site quietly reappears for a few minutes. that reappearance feels like the only door left in.
what i'm trying to figure out from people who actually do this:
- do you just hand-check the calendar over and over, or is there a rhythm to when cancellations show up? (evenings before a trip? monday mornings?)
- for the popular valley sites, is there any realistic window inside a month out, or is it purely luck?
- rvers with a bigger rig, how do you deal with the fact that half the sites won't even fit you? do you filter first or just accept the chase?
i had a friend who planned a glacier trip a month too late and still pulled it off by catching a cancellation, so i know it happens. just want to hear how the people who do it consistently actually do it instead of refreshing recreation.gov like it's a part-time job. what's worked for you?