Re: Bots for reserving a campsite at Yosemite

Can’t Get That Camping Spot? It Could Be Bots
By Jessica Placzek
May 11, 2017

...
Bots

Bots are software that can automatically perform routine tasks on the internet. You’ve probably used a bot online and not even realized it, like when you search the web or look for cheap flights on sites like Kayak or Expedia, instead of having to check each airline yourself,

... There’s a bot for Yosemite, too.

The code for the Yosemite bot is posted on GitHub, a code-sharing website. Anyone who finds the code and understands it can use it. It was written by Brian Hansen, another computer engineer based in San Francisco. Hansen is a rock climber and, like most climbers, he sees Yosemite as a mecca.

“Most climbers I know will set alarms early on May 15th,” wrote Hansen via email. “I personally prefer more spontaneous trips, and was told that my only recourse was to refresh the recreation.gov website repeatedly until a campsite opened up due to cancellation.”

According to Hansen’s GitHub stats, people have been copying the bot.


http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/05/11/cant-get-that-camping-spot-it-could-be-bots/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2017 12:37AM by KenS.

This can save someone the efforts of repeatedly clicking on recreation.gov, but it's not going to allow someone to hoard campsites for re-sale - the reservations are personal and non-transferable.

On a related topic, last time I camped at Crane Flat I felt lucky to snag one of the last reservations. But when I got there, empty sites abounded. Is this normal, or was that an anomaly? If it's normal, I guess it's because the sites are not that expensive, so people don't bother cancelling? But to the Park they look reserved, so the sites can't be offered to walk-ups. Curious what others' experiences have been.