Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board JMT Hike

We completed our Onion Valley to Whitney hike last week. All in all a great hike. The only negatives occurred with initial ranger contact in Lone Pine. This was only because of policy differences between the Bishop office and the Lone Pine office. After a few minutes of "discussion", the ranger retracted her initial stand and fulfilled her duty in processing our permit.
There was no bears seen at Kearsarge Lakes and the fish are eager to be caught. The second day took us to just below Forrester Pass. Hiking it in the early morning is a much more enjoyable prospect than in the afternoon sun. From the top of the pass, we could see the small forest fire in Kern Canyon. From here we proceeded to Wallace Creek. Day four was a short day to above Guitar Lake. I was surprised by the number of people on the trail midweek in september. Day five was the hike to the junction and then sans pack to the top. Once again there were a number of people on the trail for this popular hike. One interesting side note: The people coming up from the front side are generally sucking more air than those from the west. Those nights at altitude really do make a difference.
Hiked out to Doug's burger deal with great enjoyment. We had the privilege of meeting Doug and crew and found them to be as advertised. This was as fun as the first Whitney hike.

Cool, and congrats! Now GIVE ME PHOTOS, OR GIVE ME DEATH!

What was the controversy with the permits?

Steve,
I signed up for my permit with a ranger named Mike. He was not knowledgeable and could only answer a few questions. I asked him if our exit visa at Trail Crest on the 16th would allow us to exit a day earlier or later to give us options in case of weather or other events. He said absolutely not. It was the 16th or turn around. At his point another ranger (woman) came on the line and said it was, in fact, flexible and the 16th was for planning purposes. I then gave them my address and visa number and hung up.
I never received a confirmation but had my permit number so I was not too concerned.
Two days before leaving I called Bishop to see if we could pick up our permit there. Mike had earlier told me I could pick it up at ANY California USFS station. Aleithia (sp? very friendly and helpful) said "Certainly" and gave me their hours.
The next day I called Lone Pine about the weather and someone named Carol (a real b***ch) who almost angrily said, "Absolutely not! I do not care what Bishop says. You have to get your permit here or nothing."
Too make a long story short, we did not make it to Lone Pine in time saturday to pick it up. (Our fault) Sunday morning we went in to pick it up and Janice Tull, another less than friendly ranger, said, "Your permit is cancelled." That was that. There was no attempt to find another alternative or option. I then pointed out that we had an exit permit for TC on the 16th. Since our starting point of Onion Valley was probably not full, why could she not issue it that day. At this point, she said nothing, sat down at her computer and wrote out the permit, had me sign it, and gave me my copy. We left but had a bad taste in our mouth about JT and the LP ranger station. The scenery of OV certainly changed this quickly and it was not thought of again until we returned our bear cannisters to LP.
I freely admit I walked into the LP station ready for another situation. However, neither Carol nor Janice Tull were there. I dealt with a ranger named Dave Kirk. He was both very pleasant and helpful. It was great to end a fine hike by dealing with a fine ranger.
My hats off to Aleithia (sp?)of Bishop and Dave Kirk of LP. To Carol and Janice Tull, get a better attitude or get a non-human contact job.
Joe

P.S. If anyone in the USFS office wishes to discuss this in detail, email me, and I will give out my phone number. If your USFS people were more like Doug and the people of WPS, you would create a much more positive experience for all.

What fun! The exit quota and those "Exit Permits" are about the most beaurocratic and control-phreak thing I have ever heard of. I think they need to get a reality check. I'd like to see one challenged in court.

When I hiked from Onion Valley this summer, we had double permits: one to hike from Onion Valley to Cottonwood Lakes. The other was my son's JMT permit issued in Yosemite. He put 4 people on the permit so we could exit with him via Whitney Portal -- Anyone coming from a national park doesn't apply to their exit quota. Go figure...

I have a coworker who was camping in the Little Lakes / Mono Pass area, and a novice ranger gave several (newbies) in their party a ticket for hanging food on the juniper trees to keep it away from squirrels while they napped at mid-day. (The experienced hikers they were with were day-hiking to Mono Pass.) Granted, it may have been an unwise thing to do, but ALL the regulations on the permits say is that a bear-proof container must be carried. If they ever get a response from the Forest Service, I think they plan to take it to court.