A thought came to me today as I was looking over (potential) backcountry campsites for next year.
During our trip Scott mentioned more than once that the campsite designations were confusing/did not make sense.
While my thoughts on the matter are certainly not definite and don't always fit there does seem to be a pattern.
In general the first digits may suggest where you are in the park North to South. Lower numbers (1, 2, etc.) are generally farther North and the higher numbers (8, 9) are farther South. I'm not sure how the "O" campsites fit in here -- at first I thought those were campsites closer to civilization but OE1 at Summit Lake does not support that.
A lot of times the second letter can be associated with a feature near the campsite. Many 9"B" campsites are in Bechler Canyon. 8"H" campsites are around Heart Lake. 3"L" campsites are along the Lamar River. 4"W" Campsites are near Wapiti Lake, etc. Again, this does not always work out. I'm still trying to think of what the 9"D" campsites refer to. . . Douglas Knob? And the 8"Q" campsites around Shoshone Lake? I'm open to suggestions. Maybe all the other letters were already taken. I'm seeing some Rs, Ss, and Ts, in there so maybe someone went alphabetical.
Lastly the last number is simply a sequential counting of the campsites. . . simple enough.
I know, I have too much time on my hands. Just wanted to post my thoughts here as I could hear Scott's voice in my ear as he was trying to understand how the park service designated the sites the way they did.