Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Walk-up permits. Need clarification please

So I have heard that obtaining a walk-up permit at Lone Pine Visitor Center is fairly easy to do on any given day. However, I have also heard it's a total crapshoot and the chances aren't good.

Can someone with knowledge of this matter provide some clarity on this? I guess what I am asking is, this: Would it be foolish to drive 5 hours to climb Mt. Whitney (next Tuesday) under the premise that I will obtain a walk-in permit?

Hi You are asking the odds at the race track, when to buy and sell stock and what to get your mother in law for her birthday.

If anyone needs to ask I would say wait for the lotto next year , but many will drive up on Monday to get a day permit for Tues. and if none for Tues they will try Tues for Wed. and by the end of the week will have 100% chance of getting a permit, for a day hike for 1 person.

Keep in mind last Aug. 5 we had a foot of snow on the back side.

Personally, I don't think it is foolish to make the 5-hour drive if you have a good Plan B. And a good Plan B is, Cottonwood Pass walk in permits, climb Mt. Langley instead, if you get skunked on Whitney.

But if you compulsively check recreation.gov for a week or so before your entry, several times a day, you'll probably be able to reserve a permit for your desired day of entry.

Thank you folks.

James,
Another easy option is to hike up to Meysen Lake.. trailhead is
in the campground below the Store. Easy trail.. 3 or 4 lakes and if you don't mind a bit of scree can climb either Lone Pine peak or Mt. Leconte. 13k or almost 14K.. Nice spots for
overnight camping around Meysen Lake and virtually no people..
Safe Hiking Rick

I walked into the visitor center at 2 P.M. Tuesday and asked for a day hike permit for Mt. Whitney. There were 5 people in line and 22 permit available.

The Silent Hiker

So, presumably the Meysan Lake is not considered to be part of the Whitney Zone, yes?

HJ

No, the Meysan Canyon is not in the Whitney Zone.

And it's one of the long ways to get to Whitney without a permit...as long as you're strong enough to exit on some trail other than the Main Trail...

(A couple of differt Rangers have told me you can pass thru the WZ without a permit...one even suggested you could exit via the NF of Lone Pine Creek...thus, the reason I've done Meysan to Whitney multiple times. It really isn't a whole lot of extra miles...just a s/l harder because of the nature of the terrain)

Interesting. My situation is this: Some friends of mine are exiting Whitney Portal about the same time my group is scheduled to exit at Horseshoe Meadows. They have Whitney exit stamps (I believe it's just a stamp on your entry permit, yes?). We do not.

If we were to hook up with them, we could get a ride back to our cars at Onion Valley which would greatly simplify things. We could try for a "walk in" Whitney exit stamp, but if that doesn't pan out, I was considering the Meysan Lake route as an exit from the high country to Whitney Portal.

The photo in Richins' book looks pretty gnarly as do some of the photos on your SmugMug. I bet I could do it, but a lot of the guys on my trip aren't experienced XC travellers. Downhill on loose crap in particular can be intimidating.

Probably the safer bet for us is to go over Crabtree Pass then down to Army Pass and exit Horseshoe as planned. We'll just have to suck it up and bring an extra car for shuttling purposes back to Onion Valley.

The Meysan Lake exit is tempting though.

HJ