When Flagstaff nurse John Jasper and a friend decided to backpack the Grand Canyon for their 50th birthdays, it took more than a year of planning.

First, they wanted to camp in bunkhouses at Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the canyon. Reservations must be made a year in advance, typically on the first day reservations are taken for that date.

"I got Phantom Ranch, which was insane," Jasper said. "I had two phones, with the number going back and forth on speed dial."

It took an hour of dialing and he spent another half-hour on hold to get that permit.

But the trip he wanted also had backcountry camping sites in other areas, for which he had to apply four months in advance.

He was at a Boy Scout camp on the day those permits became available and borrowed an office fax machine. The lines were jammed at the Grand Canyon's Backcountry Office.

"I was faxing, and faxing and faxing and faxing," he said, to get camping permits for the rest of the trip.

He failed at first, but succeeded after his wife continued the faxes from elsewhere.

"You really have to think ahead to just make a trip through there," he said.

NO MORE GAMING THE SYSTEM

Getting one of the roughly 11,500 permits granted each year to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon is indeed competitive, particularly on the most popular trails and in milder weather.

October and May are the most popular months for those seeking the piece of paper required to camp most places below the rim, with nearly one of every two people denied.

So some local hikers and backpacking guides beat the system and get guaranteed camping spots on the most popular trails by standing in line at the Grand Canyon reservation office four months in advance.

They line up at the backcountry office at the South Rim on the first day the permits become available — beating those applying by fax or mail.

Some compare this ritual to the opening of a blockbuster movie, with hikers bringing camp chairs to sit and wait in the morning, swapping stories.

The crowds can exceed 100 and begin forming early in the morning.

Some even fly in from out of state to get permits for their groups at popular group-sized campground sites.

GLOBAL COMPETITION

National Park Service administrators at Grand Canyon have decided that the system is unfair because it gives people with spare time or living near the canyon an advantage over all the rest.

The agency proposes to end the practice in February, making everyone in the world compete for advanced reservations by fax and mail only.

"We're trying to provide better equity between locals and international visitors," said Barclay Trimble, a deputy superintendent.

Further, the Park Service is not allowing any more individuals to establish commercial backpacking businesses until they sort out a larger plan for the backcountry.

Eventually the park also plans to move to an online reservation system.

OUTFITTERS NOT PLEASED

Some of the 26 commercial outfitters who take customers on paid, guided backpacking trips in the canyon — with paying customers accounting for fewer than 5 percent of all who hike there — are unhappy with the proposal.

"I understand why the Park Service is doing it," said Blaine Stuart, manager of Angel's Gate Tours. "It's going to cost some people some jobs. There's no doubt about it."

He and others say the park's move will cost them the ability to guarantee faraway customers their choice destinations far in advance, meaning they will lose business and sometimes be unable to obtain permits at all.

Last year, backpackers (both those with guides and a majority without) spent a total of 87,981 nights in the backcountry, with most camping along a few major trails.

Those hiring guides might not always have the gear or the wilderness know-how to feel good about doing a trip on their own. But backpacking the Grand Canyon is something many propose to do at some point before they die, said Brian Treacy, owner of Four Season Guides in Flagstaff.

"You hear 'bucket list' almost every phone call," he said, referring to a list of things people want to do before they die that was made popular in a 2007 movie by the same name.

His company takes about 700 customers per year into the Grand Canyon, departing from Flagstaff, and trips going from one rim of the canyon to the other are most popular.

The customers are often European, American or Australian, ages 35 to 55 typically, and have no children or have children old enough to hike with them, said Tom Fulcher, co-owner of Discovery Treks based in Cave Creek.

"They want to see and understand the history and nuances of the canyon, and many of them to do that prefer to go with a guide," he said.

LOCALS NO LONGER FAVORED

For those private or commercial backpackers who really, really want a spot on the most-popular Bright Angel Trail to camp during spring break, for example, there's currently a way to beat the system a little more.

These hikers can show up at the Backcountry Office days in advance of when the permits open to get a number to stand in line.

The next day, they can show up again to take another number for the next day, and thus stay among the first in line.

On the day permits open, they are the first of the pack in line, because the line is organized by this take-a-number system.

This current system is unjust, say a couple of local backpackers.

"There are those that hope for the best and just apply for hard-to-get permits," said Flagstaff backpacker Jim McCarthy, who has spent more than 200 days in the canyon. "And then there are those that know how to come in the back door. It is another example of how the park has been taken over by elites and commercial interests. This is morally wrong and should be fixed."

Wayne Ranney guides some trips commercially and backpacks the canyon in his free time, too.

"I think the old system of getting a number and waiting in line was gamed too much by certain people, but I'm not really excited about what I've heard is going to happen," Ranney said.

But he believes locals should have the best chance of hiking the canyon.

"To think of somebody from Cape Town, South Africa, having just as equal a chance as someone from Arizona or the United States — I know it sounds weird — but I don't think that's fair," he said.

PARK SERVICE UNCONCERNED

Guides must be insured, be registered with the park as commercial guides, have hiked on the trails they're working on and be certified in wilderness emergency medicine.

Trips range from day hikes to backpacking trips that last for weeks, at costs of $200 to $300 per day.

The guides supply gear, food, permits and transportation.

"We're very concerned that some of these changes will make it very difficult for operators like us to continue to be viable in offering these trips," Fulcher said.

The Park Service feels otherwise.

"This could affect them," Trimble said of backpacking guides, "although I don't think it's going to harm them in any way."

The only exception to the newly democratized sign-up system will be the Grand Canyon Field Institute, which is part of an association that raises money for the Grand Canyon. It will continue to receive first crack at backpacking permits to take the public on hikes before all other applicants.

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.

The issue in brief:

— Hikers living near the Grand Canyon now have an advantage in getting permits to backpack the most popular trails and dates at the canyon. They can show up at the Grand Canyon on the day the permits are released, beating those who fax or mail in requests.

— The Park Service proposes to change that in February by ending the walk-up requests that are now done four months in advance.

— Campers hoping for a last-minute site can still visit the backcountry office a couple days before their trip to see whether permits are available due to cancellations, as a few are reserved for such short notice.

— Winners: Backpackers from anywhere in the world will have an equal chance of winning the most-sought camping sites starting in February.

— Losers: Commercial hiking guides, some based in Flagstaff, say that will hurt their business.