I am reviewing permit rules for some upcoming trips. I am going on a solo and dropping my son and his friend at a nearby EP. We will do the same loop, just in opposite directions.

For simplicity, I reserved both permits under my account (my son doesn't have a recreation.gov account), but put my son as the alternate leader for his trip. I am listed as trip leader since it was done on my account.

In reading the fine print of rules, I am finding 2 different statements. In my reservation paperwork, it says: "Permit Holders: When the Permit Holder is not going on the trip, Permit Holder is responsible for forwarding confirmation emails to designated Alternate(s)."

But then on another site, I see it has a spot in parentheses that states the trip leader must accompany the group.
BWCAW rules and regulations

Which is it? I don't want to set them up to get in trouble.

I don't think there's a contradiction there - if you don't get go he becomes the leader, if you go you're the leader. In either case the party accompanies the leader. You are entering at two different Entry Points, albeit on the same day. I think you have two separate groups and need two permits since permits are specific to both date and entry point.

The link you provided is not to the Forest Service, but to a well-meaning outfitter who has listed their interpretation of the rules. I noticed they refer to the BWCAW as a park - twice - which I suspect the Forest Service would never do. Here is a link to a BWCAW Planning Brochure from the FS . There is some information related to permits on page 4.

It does seem funny to me that if a Group Leader had to be on the trip, what would be the purpose of even having Alternate Leaders?

Hope this helps a little. I'd not be surprised if someone comes along with more or different info. Honestly, seems half the time issues like this come up, the simplest way to get an answer is to call the issuing ranger station. Be sure to jot down the name of the person you speak to.

If an alternate who was named on the permit when it was reserved travels on a trip without the originally named trip leader present, that person may sign the permit at the time it is picked up, and becomes the trip leader. That person then is the one who has to be on the trip, or it is void. In this time of print-your-own, I guess any originally named alternate can just sign the reservation letter and away you go.

schweady: "If an alternate who was named on the permit when it was reserved travels on a trip without the originally named trip leader present, that person may sign the permit at the time it is picked up, and becomes the trip leader. That person then is the one who has to be on the trip, or it is void. In this time of print-your-own, I guess any originally named alternate can just sign the reservation letter and away you go.
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Yes, and that was why it came up since we are printing our own.

To answer the other poster, we are indeed entering on 2 different permits at 2 different EP.

Thanks for the person who caught the source of the website. I didn't look closely enough. Since I got there by following links provided by recreation.gov site, I assumed it was "official".

Thank you everyone, I feel better hearing from all of you.