Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board JMT Permit help, please

Fish, what I am objecting to, is that you are telling people that permits for same day (if any are available), will be handed out at 11am.

They will not. They were handed out at 8am (or whenever the office opens. You are talking about the non-picked up same days that were reserved, I think.

I hope that makes sense. It IS different than Whitney, which still takes a textbook to understand.

what kind of permit is needed to kayak to Whitney??

I've read with interest the postings by Jim F, Matt L, Harvey Lankford and Ellen & want to be perfectly clear in my mind that I understand the rules for a DAY Hike from T.Meadows DOWN to Happy Isles. Harvey mentions that no permit is required for a day hike from HI to TM. Can I assume that the reverse is true, ie no permit required for a day hike TM down to HI? I can just start hiking with no hassle and no permit?

Thanks, this is one segment of the JMTrail that I lack and I figure it would be a heck of a lot easier to do it downhill. For some reason I thought I needed a permit even though I would not be overnighting anywhere en route.

Here is the current reservation availability for Yosemite trailheads.

WPS Full Trailheads Report

No reservations are available for the following trailheads and dates, effective 2/10/2011:

Cathedral Lakes

June 17 18 22 24 26 27 28 30

July 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 28

Glacier Point->Little Yosemite Valley

May 17 26 27 28 29 30 31

June 1 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Glen Aulin

July 1 2 3 15 18 22 25

Glen Aulin->Cold Canyon/Waterwheel (pass through)

June 23 27

July 2 13

Happy Isles->Illilouette

July 6 11

Happy Isles->Little Yosemite Valley

May 18 19 21 23 25 26 27 28 29 31

June 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Happy Isles->Sunrise/Merced Lake (pass through)

May 27 28

June 1 3 4 7 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Lukens Lake->Yosemite Creek

June 24

Lyell Canyon

June 11 27

July 3 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Either direction HI-TM or TM-HI as dayhike does not require permit. Don't be so sure it is easier downhill - depends on your knees.

Be aware that if you are indeed dayhiking you best not have all your overnight gear with you. There are specifications on what constitutes a dayhiker vs a backpacker needing a permit.

The chance to get a walk in permit on the day after you first can grab one of those is near zero for the weeks between mid June and late August at Happy Isles for the JMT direction.

Once those permits are awarded, only those that are not picked up will be available, and that is at 11am. Theoretically, yes, you can get a same day permit at 8 am, but don't plan on it. But it's a good idea to be there at 8 anyway, because the line for the 11am permits will form well before 8.

People who are trying to reserve permits right now are getting rejected day after day (it's about the only subject on the Muir Trail Mailing list the last two weeks) - meaning, there's a huge demand for permits this year. Many of those rejected will go for a walk in, in addition to people like me, who may on a whim try for Happy Isles, but never reserved a permit, ever.

TM to HI is not all down hill, you have to go up before you get to the down hill. Three years ago I did it in late September, there was not much water on the TM end of the trail. I took me about 8 hours, includeing some trail side talk breaks along the way. Some great views along the way.

There is one other crazy way to do it. Camp with friends in TM leave your load with them. Catch the bus down to the valley floor with a bivy. Sleep at Camp 4. Day hike back up to TM and get you permit with a TM point of entry.

The bus runs once a day. Its about a 2 hour ride.

Wow! I must have been very lucky three years ago when I got my permit for the JMT on the first try, for my first choice. If memory serves me right, i was able to phone in for a permit. I guess things have changed. Another alternative is to leave your things at TM and day hike down to valley floor. Then catch the bus back to TM and continue on your way towards Mt. Whitney. The bus leaves the valley floor at 5:00pm and arrives in TM at about 7:00pm. Just a thought.

Happy Hiking!

Scott

There are tent sites in the TM campground about a mile from the Wilderness Office and the general idea of hiking to the valley and catching the Yarts bus is viable.

However, the hike from TM to HI is about 24 miles plus another 1.5 - 2.0 over to the Wilderness Office in YV where you catch the Yarts bus. You will have very little time for sightseeing and if you miss that 5:00 PM bus, you have few options in the valley without gear.

Howdy All,

Skunked again for July 29.

Applied for HI to Sunrise pass through and listed Clouds rest junction area for first camp.

Seocnd choice -- HI to Little Yosimite Valley with Forsyth junction for first nights' camp.

Two specific questions:

1) Am I filling the permit out wrong?

2) If I go out of Lyell as suggested, can I still come out Mt. Whitney?

I'm not taking a chance on just showing up for a permit -- too much time and money invested to be shafted.

Thanks,
Ellen

1. since your time is flexible, why don't you just ask for the first available permit? don't apply for anything specific, just ask for the first available permit out of Yosemite Valley.

2. i think this board scared you a bit with the walk-in permit availability. there are walk-in permits EVERYDAY. if you get in line early enough, you WILL get a permit. maybe not the same day but the day after. what's the worse that can happen? you don't get a permit for the day you want to leave and end up camping in YOSEMITE VALLEY? there's a backpacker camp behind North Pine for you to crash. dirtbag climbers hang out in Yosemite Valley for the whole summer. surely you can deal with a day or two?

in regards to the earlier poster about "zero" chance of getting a walk in permit, how is that mathematically possible? let's say there are 20 walk-in permits available, the first 20 people in line will have 100% of getting it. the 21-whatever will have zero chance. Ellen, be the 1st 20 and you will have a 100% of getting a permit.

plus getting in line at 5 or 6 in the morning in Yosemite is kind of magical. you'll see others in line making coffee, waffle and putting away their bivy gear to avoid getting hassled by the rangers. you take a stroll and be mesmerized by the fog lingering in the meadows hiding the herd of deers munching on the grass. the photographers are getting into possition in anticipation of the day and the alpenglow on El Cap. a few hours of golden stillness before the madness that is Yosemite Valley in the summer.

just sayin'.

Jeez Kevin, you make it sound like Wonderland!
Oh wait, it's Yosemite...it is Wonderland!

Good Luck Ellen!

Stacy

Kevin said:


I didn't understand this, either. I had to really carefully read the NPS website.

They start giving out walk-ins, the day BEFORE, at 11am. If, in your example, all 20 were given out the day BEFORE, then the first 20 people in line have ZERO PERCENT chance of getting a walk-in on the day of, except for the no-show reservations that are given out at 11am for THAT DAY. (and when they start giving out reservations for the NEXT day)

I'll bet they get a lot of confused people, if us veterans have trouble.....

Two kinds of non reserved permits in Yosemite:
First are the "next day" variety - the mandated 40% slotted for next day, walk-ups only. These are the available "openings" stated on the web-sight for each trailhead. You get in line early and if a solo, you have a real great shot of nabbing one easily, (provided there are not 10 people in front of you). These are the ones given out starting at 8:00 AM.
Then there are the no-shows. At six months before (like now), wishful summer hikers send away for pre-reserved slots and usually ask for permits for a larger number of hikers than eventually show up. Somebody invariably drops out last minute (You know how that goes), and the rangers in the park have no way of knowing that the reservation for 6, out of Happy Isles, is really now only 3. They only realize the real number when the party shows up at the desk, in the park, the night before to pick up their permit... thus 3 open slots are released. These are the permits given out at 11:00.
When you do the math - 40% next day and 10 - 20% no shows...it adds up to over half of all permits are wide open.

Talking with a few YNP rangers...many permits, surprisingly, those out of desired trailheads too, are never used, yet when you call up, they announce over the phone that all are already filled. It is only the 60% reserved slots that are filled (six months previous) and even that number is invariably skewed due to the high rate of no-shows.

Bottom line: if you want to go, get to the park and get in line early. Worse thing that can happen is that you may have to waste a day in Yosemite.

1. probably not
2. you can enter the JMT anywhere along it and exit at Whitney, however, the process for Inyo is a little different because they have to comply with the Trail Crest exit quotas and Yosemite does not.

Howdy All,

Thank you so much for all of your help with applying for a JMT permit -- I finally scored a reservation to leave HI on Saturday July 30. YEEHAW!!!

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Fantastic! We need you back in one piece for another lecture!

Howdy Ken

LOL :-)



Miles of smiles,
Ellen