# Dino Cancellations



## duct tape (Aug 25, 2009)

Well, that went fast Anyone get lucky here?

Prior to 8 Mountain time, there were several Yampa available dates showing on rec.gov. When you clicked on one, it said not an option until after 8AM. So at exactly 8, according to two computers and my watch, I clicked on the date i wanted, and it, plus every other "A", were gone. Same for Lodore.

It made Southwest seat reservations seem slow. Either another rec.gov glitch or there were thousands of other folks doing the same thing.

Hope some buzzards got some good dates.

Jon


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## jimr (Sep 8, 2007)

Same here 8:00.01 and poof they gone. Yampas were still available at 8:03 


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## wshutt (Jun 20, 2013)

None for me. I thought I had one then got the check back at 10am message.
Oh well, still have Boundary-Heller 2017 in the bag so I suppose I shouldn't be greedy.

W


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## rockmonkey (May 3, 2011)

I'm living the same experience here. Wish I had been talking to the call center at 8; seems like there was misleading information about the ability to make online reservations. Also talked to the Dino River office who said they don't do anything anymore related to this. It's all handled by Recreation.gov, he said. I'm now on hold with the call center at 877 444 6777. :?


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## tjligon25 (Mar 19, 2015)

I was looking at yampa and they vanished into thin air immediately at 8, to the point that I had my date selected, Hit book permit exactly at 8 and it told me to select a date as if they were never there at all....


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## John_in_Loveland (Jun 9, 2011)

Same thing happened to me...8:00 am exactly on US Gov clock and they were ALL gone


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## MTBox (Feb 15, 2016)

I was watching the NIST atomic clock, and before 8am a number of the "A"s had turned to "R"s. Pretty frustrating.


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## duct tape (Aug 25, 2009)

Yampa's were not avail at 8:03, at least according to three clocks here. Of the at least 20 or so "Available" dates with an "A", every single one was gone at 8:00:05.

I'm hoping it was just folks with faster fingers, or maybe the gov't clock was a few seconds early, but it's hard to not think somethings wonky.


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## luciphil (Jun 8, 2011)

I too had the same experience except sometimes I would highlight the Available date and when I hit book it would say "Inventory is not available for the entire stay period. The entrance cannot be booked."


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## wshutt (Jun 20, 2013)

June 2nd flashed up a few minutes ago. I couldn't snag it but I saw it. I suspect we are all hunched like vultures around our keyboards.......

I don't suspect fishiness - just high traffic. First click on date shuts it down immediately.


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## dsrtrat (May 29, 2011)

duct tape said:


> Well, that went fast Anyone get lucky here?
> 
> Prior to 8 Mountain time, there were several Yampa available dates showing on rec.gov. When you clicked on one, it said not an option until after 8AM. So at exactly 8, according to two computers and my watch, I clicked on the date i wanted, and it, plus every other "A", were gone. Same for Lodore.
> 
> ...


 It worked ok for me, they just went fast, I was able to get an August Lodore. When you click you have 15 min to complete and pay before it goes back into the pool. So keep checking today in case someone doesn't pay or their credit card is rejected.


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## Prescott Fields (Nov 12, 2014)

What does the X (date not available mean)? When looking at reserved dates


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## jsyz (Apr 11, 2007)

BOOM! August 31. Looking forward to Labor Day 2017!!!!


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## David L (Feb 13, 2004)

I miss the good old days of hitting redial a million times, hoping for the elusive ringing sound of the river office's phone.


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## rockmonkey (May 3, 2011)

After an hour+ of listening to hold music and refreshing the webpage, I finally snagged a May launch via the website. Miracles do happen. 


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## landslide (Dec 20, 2014)

I didn't go for a Dino cancellation, but I did try for a late season Lodore back on March 1st and had the same experience: a microsecond after the appointed time of release, all the available dates had been taken, and as fast as I could reload the webpage to look for later dates, those disappeared, too. 

Interesting that a few folks got their reservations through the call center. You know how long it takes when you try to book a reservation by phone?Forever. So how could anyone call in and reserve a date in the 2/100th's of a second they had to do so? By the time they get done saying, "Hello," every available launch date would be gone. This makes absolutely no sense. If anyone has the answer, please explain it. 

To me, it sounds like people who called in early (and were able to get through to a call center operator) were able to start the reservation process before the dates were even "released" online. And that is not how the system was described by rec.gov. (Don't get me wrong... I'm not grousing about anyone who had good fortune to reserve a permit by phone, I just think rec.gov is doing a pisspoor job of the simple task they were hired to do.)


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## jgrebe (Jan 16, 2010)

I was able to snag a June 30 Yampa slot. Got lucky I think. My cell phone clock had about 10 sec before 8:00 am when I clicked by accident (nervous tick) and got through right away so maybe they released them a few seconds early? Hard to say based on a cell phone I guess But i'll take it


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## UTMIKE (Nov 25, 2013)

same frustrating experience here, was armed and ready prior to 8am. saw rght before 8 that Availability was disappearing..?...and at exacty 8am everything was gone..


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## Hooter (May 29, 2016)

Tried clicking for the entire minute before and after to no avail. Congrats to those that scored. Like magic, now you see me, now you don't. 


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## jr4826 (Apr 17, 2010)

I was denied as well. Anyone have a Dino permit in the first 3 weeks of May who would be willing to let 2 50+ year old guys with 1 boat join your party? I have a fancy fire pan and unlimited beer, rum and wine! Some good camp fire stories as well!


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## landslide (Dec 20, 2014)

Given the extreme demand for Dino permits, I think the NPS should consider a couple changes:

1) Rather than dumping all of the initial cancellations at once (i.e., what they did on Mar 6), why not release them randomly, a few at a time, the same way cancellations during the year are released? Maybe a permit might be available online for a minute!

2) For those of us who tried to score a low season permit during the Mar 1 release, the dates for all of September and October disappeared almost instantly as well. So if demand is so high, is it really the "low" season then? If the high season was expanded, there'd be two launches per day (not one) and it would be part of the lottery.

I'm sure those who scored permits will not like these ideas one bit, but it really seems like I have no chance of winning a permit the way things are now, so I'd like to see my odds improve. Heck, I wouldn't even mind a weighted-lottery like the GC. Whether you love it or hate it, you can't deny that the GC's weighted lottery allows more first-timers to win permits.


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## quinoa (Jul 5, 2009)

Some very good suggestions Landslide. I preferred it the way it was before Rec.gov got involved in the process. You had to take the time to fill out a paper application, write a check, put it in an envelope addressed to the river office, buy postage and send it in. You then waited to see if you won. If you did you got a nice brown envelope with your permit in it. If you lost you got a postcard saying so. You then had to call the river office to see about cancellations. It took a little effort to get it done, but worth it for those who wanted a permit. It's to easy now to apply with the internet. Now every desk jockey on the front range and beyond has it right at their fingertips while sipping morning coffee and checking their stocks. 


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## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

quinoa said:


> Some very good suggestions Landslide. I preferred it the way it was before Rec.gov got involved in the process. You had to take the time to fill out a paper application, write a check, put it in an envelope addressed to the river office, buy postage and send it in. You then waited to see if you won. If you did you got a nice brown envelope with your permit in it. If you lost you got a postcard saying so. You then had to call the river office to see about cancellations. It took a little effort to get it done, but worth it for those who wanted a permit. It's to easy now to apply with the internet. Now every desk jockey on the front range and beyond has it right at their fingertips while sipping morning coffee and checking their stocks.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz



Demand on all the classic river trips has grown exponentially in the last 25 years, with basically the same amount of permits (GC got easier for now anyway). Cancellations and open date spots are also much harder to get. I still get on several trips a year, but it would be nice to win one occasionally.


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