Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board North Fork Permit Question

Anyone know how difficult it is to get a North Fork overnight walk-in permit? I know there are only 4 a day and that they start issuing them at 11AM for next day permits. But do people ever start lining up for them the night before? When do you have to line up to pretty much guarantee yourself a permit? Looking to go up Russell soon...

Last year I got a overnight permit the day before my entry date at the Lone Pine Ranger Station. Just show up when they say they are going to be passing them out. There will be 30-50 people there hoping to get permits for an array of hikes. One person from each party will pick a number out of a hat. Once all numbers are chosen they being calling numbers starting with #1. The person with number 1 chooses the permit that they want. Last year I was number 7 and there were 4 North Fork Permits available from the start. The guy with #4 took 2 and fortunately numbers 5&6 didn't want the North Fork. So I was able to take the last two. So we hung out in Lone Pine for the day and started out hike the next day with permits in hand. Hope that helps.

Ah...I see...So it's not a matter of "First-come first-serve" then?

Thanks.