Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board NF Lone Pine Creek Walk-in permits

So I'm hatching a plan to do the MR sometime in June or July. I was wondering if people have had any experience in getting wilderness permits for the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek by walking in to the ranger station, the day of entrance. If the reservable quota is filled, then there are 4 available, right? How are the rationed out? (Like, does a line start forming at 6am or something?) Is there much contention for the walk-in permits?

Of course, I could day hike it, but I love the Sierras and would like to be able to camp out for a day or two.

I tried searching this board for an answer, but didn't find anything obvious, so I apologize if this question gets asked frequently.

Yes, there are a few wilderness permits available each day on a walk-in basis. The number used to be 4, but it may have changed this year. It is first come/first served at the ranger station. Hard to tell you what time you need to be there - there are far fewer people climbing the MR, but there are also far fewer permits available. I've arrived around 9 am on a midweek day during the summer and got a permit, but I'm sure there are some days when there would have been others in line ahead of me.

Andrew,

The walk in quota for the NF is 4 this year. Be prepared to get to the ranger station early the day before you plan to head up because the permits tend to go quick. Last year and friend and I tried the first come first serve thing and strolled up to the satation at 8. By then there were already ~15 people waiting in line and we wound up having to day hike the MR, course that was a weekend.

Paul

Unless they have changed how they handle the early arrivals you just need to worry about getting there before they open. Last year I got their early for a weekend walk up permit and was second in line only to find out they hand out "lottery" tickets to all those waiting and draw numbers out of a hat to determine what order make the permits available in.