Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Permit Problem - Dont let this happen to you!!

Last weekend on my trip to Mt Whitney I had a little problem with the permit that you should know about if you are planning to go there anytime soon...

The problem is the night pickup-box to get your permit. I arrived in Lone Pine Thursday night and stopped by the night box to pickup my permit and what do you know? No permit with my name on it!!! "Ok, well nobody's perfect, they must have just made a mistake" I was thinking. My party and I camped at the portal and I came down early the next morning to get my permit from them in person. Around 10 other parties were there as well and it turns out it was not just my permit they forgot about, but 4 OTHER PARTIES AS WELL! One person in line said the same thing happened to him three weeks prior! This was not just a fluke incident that happened to me, someone in that office is just not doing their job!

So there I am at the permit office in Lone Pine waiting for an hour and half for them to open, I was first in line so I could be the first one out(makes sense right?). Well, the woman in the office comes out with a hat and bunch of numbers in it and has everyone choose a number to see who gets in first!? What? Excuse me? Nevermind the fact that we were all in line and some of us were there a long time before others and it was implied who would go in first! I, unfortunately drew #6. And guess how long it took to get through the line for #6? An hour! I felt sorry for the other guy who was there one hour early and drew #9! He had planned to be on the trail at 5am and here he was at 9am waiting in line for them to call his number. His party, as with mine, was waiting on him to come up to the trailhead with his permit. His plans had to be completely changed due to the delay, he wasnt able to do the two peaks he wanted. When anyone of us in line finally got through and asked what the problem was, NOBODY got an answer why! Not even an "oops, we made a mistake" Nothing! Some people got their permit in the night box and some didnt, but nobody knows why and nobody will offer an explanation!

Nobody is perfect and mistakes happen, but this was ridiculous! The system is setup on a permit lottery system that requires us to plan ahead 6 months in advance just to get the opportunity see the area. Apparently, they cant seem to be able to put the little paper in the night box and save us several hours of time, but we have to plan six months(or more) in advance? Houston, we have a problem!

I am not writing this to bash the rangers or to highlight their incompetencies, I believe that fact speaks for itself. And I am NOT saying this to gripe and complain about the system. I am writing to inform those who are going to Whitney to be prepared for this and plan accordingly. If I were you, I would call twice and ask them to make sure, put a Post-it on it, double check it, verify... whatever! Just make sure they do it or it will be YOU that loses out, not them! Planning ahead for six months is a long time to have your trip ruined due to someone just plain not caring. My trip was great and luckily our delay for the trailhead was only 4 hours later than I had planned, but it could potentially have been worse if we were to have a different route in mind and departure time was critical. I know of four other parties that are going to the area in the next few weeks (I am also returning this weekend) and I hope this can help them in one way or another.

Happy trails!

Amen... this is exactly why I am always climbing in Whitney area outside of quota period

I agree...what up with having to register/pay via telephone, but the mailed receipt does not include the actual pass? What a waste of time...

~Swifty

Whew. I was going to do a night P.U. on my way up to mammoth passing by. I guess I will do my permit P.U. the day before. Thanks for the info. See you on the mountain

What time does the ranger station close during the quota period? I'm planning on picking my permit up the day before, but want to make sure I'm there before they close. Thanks!

Interesting..... Just received my "confirmation letter " today. Don't quite understand why they aren't mailing the permit like they used to. Thanks for the info as I'm planning a very early departure and don't want them to miss my pass in the box. Also, why did they make you draw from the lottery when you already had a reservation? Anyway thanks for the heads up.

The Mount Whitney Ranger Station is open from 8:00 to 6 pm daily this time of year. And yes you will have to take a number and wait. It is kind of a hassle and seems like a waste of time. I suppose the purpose is so they can review the regulations with you and make sure you have a bear canister on the regular trail (or convince you to take a poop bag on the Mountaineers route). My only suggestion. Pick up your permit the day before, so you can get an early start on the start date of your permit. Otherwise it will seem even more frustrating.

Erich - The lottery gives you a reservation and you must call and confirm pickup at the night box or in person by 10am the day of your entry. If you have not picked up the permit by 10am, you are a no-show and they will give your permit away(unless you notify them for a later pickup). I know of some people that are dayhiking to the peak and it is vital they pick up their permit the night before. I dont think anyone would start a dayhike to the summit after 9am, especially this time of year.

Pickup in person is simply not possible with most work schedules, many people will drive up after work, get the permit and head to the campsite. It would be nice to have the time to pick it up in person the day before, but it sure seems like a lot less work if someone would just remember to place the little paper in the box outside.

The number system was a joke! There were some that were just about to blow a gasket when she came out and announced that we'll all draw numbers, ignoring the fact that some of us were there for an hour or more waiting to get in. The situation was very tense for many that had planned ahead for six months in advance just to jer-ed around by their beauracratic BS rules!

Mac, you didn't say whether or not you had the Reservation Confirmation for Wilderness Permit slip in hand when you went to get your true permit. If you had that, wouldn't that verify that you DID have a permit? Or would they ignore that and put you through the permit lotto anyway? I'll be taking mine just in case.

They told us they have to check your ID before they can give up the permit....got to stop those terrible scalpers who (for one reason or an other) can't use the permit they paid for.

Sherry - Yes, we all had them in hand! I had the paper they sent me in the mail in March with the confirmation # and all on it. They didnt care about that. They made you get in line and go through the actuall issuing process, not the reservation process. Its kind of confusing the way the system is setup, but basically you have to reserve in advance and then prove that you are physically there to actually get the permit. I realize why the system is setup the way it is and I completely agree that is needs to be this way due to high demand for the area, but if someone on their end doesnt do their job it wont work for the end user. And as I previously stated, its not just a one time occurance that they have messed up.

I had something extremely discouraging happen to me last year...they messed up the dates and when I got to the ranger station to pick up my permit, I discovered my permit was for 2 weeks before!!! Obviously things have changed quickly, because 2 years ago when no dates on my application worked out, they actually phoned me to discuss other options!!

Any issues transferring a reservation to a different name? The member of our party who placed the reservation and whose name the permits are under cannot make it.

Ed,
Man, this has been a learning process for me coming from the East.

During permit registration process they give you the option (strong recommendation)that your leader list alternate leaders. I think you could list 4, 5 or maybe even more alternates. So as long as your friend listed someone elses name on the registration slip you should be fine. Otherwise I would have your friend call and have your name added. Good luck!

I know it is all about proper land management, conservation, and visitor impact reduction but this is crazy. Did John Muir ever have this type of debacle trying to get out in the woods? It will be my first time climbing to the summit this year. Hope it is worth it!

I think the lottery is MUCH BETTER than calling 6 months ahead!!! Yeah, I just loved waiting for 8am PST, which was 10 am for me, during the workday, phoning for about an hour getting busy signals, praying the boss doesn't come around the corner and catch you not working and making personal calls, only to finally get a ring and they are all gone for that day you wanted. Try the next morning (because after all, always have alternate dates!)

Maria,
Yeah...as I noted in my previous post. It's been a learning process for me. I did what you said...personal calls at work...for over an hour! Knowing that there were only 60 spots left(and I wanted 4) on my date I was really excited to finally get through, but then 2 weeks later I looked online at how many spots remained...56. 4 less then when I called. Guess whos spots they were. Next time I'm waiting until the day after.

Note that this was a Friday, probably not as popular as the weekends.

When I first read about the permit drop box I could not believe my eyes. What a way to screw yourself out of a hike of your life.

I don't mind leaving my camp site at Postpile for several hours, I never leave anything more valuable than a $50 tent and a really stinky sleeping bag.

I wonder how many deprived homeless hikers rummage through the bear lockers looking for something to steal.

Even though passes to the Zone are less than the cost of a tent, I would not leave it to the permit bears. The night drop is such a horrible idea I can't believe that such a thing would be allowed. I think the LPRD should allow us up to 72 hours before entry to pick up the passes and eliminate the night drop forever.

I will pick up my permit in August in person, the day before, thank you.

I think the night pickup box is a great idea, they just have to use it correctly, thats all. Just have the ranger (or whoever works in the office) put the permit in the box like they are supposed to, thats all! Just do the job, thats it!

Does anyone know who to contact to actually have something attempt to change the situation? It really sounds like a small problem to fix, though it makes such a difference on the end user. I hate to just complain and not make an attempt to recitify the situation.

I just spoke with the reservation office, to have them leave our permits in the night box tonight.

They gave me the permit number and told me that if for some reason our permit is not in the night box, that we should leave a note in the night box with our permit number saying we were there to pick it up but the permit wasn't there.

Then you can go on and do the climb without the permit and if you get stopped on the trail by a ranger, tell them what happened and give them the permit number and you are OK. Just make sure everyone in your party has the permit number in that case since they won't have hang tags for their backpacks.

You don't need to go back in the morning and wait in the lottery to get your permit in this situation, just go, as long as everyone knows the permit number and you have left a note in the night box.

See you all on the mountain tomorrow!
Gary

I would expect the solution to a misplaced/forgotten permit to be along the lines of what is suggested in the posting by GaryM. Having to return to Lone Pine and wait in line the following day, potentially compromising a trip planned for months, is certainly not fair to climbers.
Also, although this incident was handled poorly, it seems a bit extreme to generalize all forest service personnel as "inept" or "hideous". Individuals I have talked to while making reservations by phone have been quite helpful on more than one occasion.

enjoy the mountain!