Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Obtaining unused overnight permits

Last year (Aug 5) I took my 15 year old son up the main trail as a day hike. When picking up the permits, the Ranger told us to be off the summit by noon due to storms in the forecast. We hit the trail at 3AM and were under the gun to hit the summit as quickly as possible. It was a beautiful cloudless day when we got to the summit at 11AM. By 11:45 when we started down, clouds covered much of the sky. Just below Trail Crest, we got our first boom and 10 seconds later pelted with rain and ice. The storm lasted until we arrived in Outpost Camp. Man, I
can't believe how many unprepared people were up there. Due to the early start, (relative) quickness of our pace, and the storm, we did not get a chance to enjoy the scenery and have relatively few photos. This year I plan on taking our 10 year old son up, but this time as an overnight so we can enjoy it a bit more.

We were unable to get an overnight permit in the Lottery, so picked up permit for Bishop Pass and plan on backpacking the Chocolate Lakes area if we can't obtain a overnight Whitney
permit.

We plan on driving up next Wednesday from San Diego and hope to be in Lone Pine sometime after 11:00AM. It sounds like the unused permits are released at 11:00. Is there a line that forms. By showing up after 11:00AM does that significantly reduce our chances?

If we are successful, we will pack up to Lone Pine Lake, spend the night. Day 2, stroll and fish our way up to Trail Camp. Day 3, hit the summit. Day 4, pack back down to the Portal.

apa,

Getting an overnight permit for the current day is very likely. My experience is limited, but when I showed up at 11:00AM there was only one person ahead of me and permits galore. It could not have been easier.

To get a better feel of availability check out Steve C's link to Unused Whitney Permits. You can see where weekdays in August is a near certain bet. Also be aware that you can start as late as mid-afternoon and make Lone Pine Lake without any great effort.

Personally I think your itinerary makes a lot of sense. It is all daylight hiking, great for acclimatizing, and builds in extra time for whatever direction your enthusiasm dictates.

Good luck and let us know how the 10 year-old does.

Cool data! What about the NorthFork of LonePine? Are chances good of getting an unused overnight permit on a Saturday at 11??

The NF falls under the 60/40 rule. 40% of the permits are held for walk-ins.

I'm thinking about coming back to the Sierras later this month for a quick northbound Muir (to finish off that yo-yo we didn't complete in July). Looking at '08 unused overnight permits around the dates I have in mind seems like a sure bet.

I assume the process to obtain such a permit is to just walk into the office in Lone Pine on the day I want to start and see what's out there. Is there a particular time of day these unused permits become available, or is it all overnight permits not claimed the day before?

Anything special to consider because I am heading out over Trail Crest to the north (other than to know what to do with wag bags on the other side of the mountain)? I assume it'll be the same permit you'd get for an overnight summit.

I gotta get me another Sierra fix before winter... been back for just 5 weeks now, but looking at the trees already turning into fall colors in my yard means I better get going now or it'll be another long winter with nothing but Moosepix updates keeping me sane...

Pretty easy getting the permit. We showed up at the Visitors Center around 10:30AM on July 29th. The ranger told us we had to wait till 11:00. I asked if he could tell if there were any permits not picked up yet, but I was surprised that there was no easy way for him to find out until 11:00AM. So we waited 30 minutes looking around to see if anyone else was also waiting. It was pretty quiet.

At 10:59, I went back to the counter and got 2 of the 3 unused permits. Had lunch and was on the trail by 1:00PM.

11am - good to know. I would have been there at 8am

gives me a few more hours to sleep off the 2000 mile power drive I'll put in to get there.