Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2008 Mt. Whitney Lottery -- Good Luck To All

Today's the day -- let the processing begin.

This, from the Inyo National Forest Recreational Activities' website:

"On February 15th the applications that have been accepted to date will be thoroughly stirred to assure random order and processing will begin. Applications are drawn at random."

"Applications accepted after February 15th are mixed into the same ongoing lottery at the end of each business day."

"The process of considering every application usually takes five to six weeks."

Check those mailboxes!

opps!!

Time to send mine in.

Now where's that form . . .

PDF of permit application
Mt Whitney FAQ page

What's the earliest date someone's seen their credit card charged by Inyo National Forest? Can't be 5-6 weeks...

Last year the early birds had their credit cards dinged in late February.

Don't worry be happy...if you are a day hiker. You will get your permit.

Pray a lot and have an alternate plan if you are a backpacker. There ain't a lot of reasons you can't spend an hour or two on Mt. Whitney this summer, if you get a Dear Backpacker letter.

Well, not exactly, Trav. So that first-time day-hiker applicants aren't misled, the process truly is a lottery and not everyone is lucky enough to get a permit. Time will tell -- speaking of which, anyone get a hit on their credit card yet? Any checks been cashed?

Only four days after sending it in, my self-addressed, stamped postcard from Pacu Lane appeared through our mail slot, confirming their receipt of my application -- even got a "Good Luck!" from them written on it ... hope it helps!

I've got my fingers crossed. I've never done the lottery before, since I hardly ever venture into the WZ in the summer. But the wife wants to try the trail, so it's the lottery for us. Good luck all!

Hi all,

I put in for my first lottery also, I've been hiking for about 1 1/2 years now almost every week in the San Gabriel's. The family and I did a trip to Lone Pine Lake last summer and with some longer hikes planned between now and whenever I get in hopefully that will be good enough. I put in for 2 permits but the 2nd one is for ?? at this time, might be just me..?.. My dates were August and Sept. Wed. or Thurs. day hikes so we'll see.. If I get anything I'll post.

Has anyone received a post on their credit cards or have a check go through yet for Whitney?

BruinDave,

I'm not misleading a soul. Since the lottery has been instituted and the Inyo has posted the leftovers their are to things that are persistently consistent. There are less than a 5 total backpacking permits left between the holiday weekends and the only day hiking days sold out are the holiday weekends and a few others. This all but guarantees a day hiker a permit reservation. The only way a day hiker doesn't get a permit reservation is if they write the application enter July 4, exit July 4. Adding the North Fork this year will not have an impact on day hiking permit...in my opinion.

Let's say, someone does has a narrow focused permit application denied, there will be so many leftovers that person will be able to choose from over 170 dates in April or May when reservations become available.

wbtravis5152,

Not to be argumentative, but while you are technically correct, there are many of us for whom April and May are not an option. I am not an experienced snow hiker and would never even consider attempting to summit. With the abundance of snow this year, that narrows the window for the "perfect" permit even more.

Kandy, I think what wbtravis5152 meant was that AFTER the lottery, all the permits that remain become available to reserve in May. Sure most overnight permits will be gone but there are always day permits left throughout the summer (mainly weekdays).

Actually, Travis, your statements could be construed as misleading to others, especially those not familiar with the Lottery process. Your statement that "the only day hiking days sold out are the holiday weekends and a few others" simply isn't true. I, for one, was one of those not selected as a Lottery "winner" last year, and my requested dates for a day-hike were neither holidays nor weekends. Moreover, if you look at the posts on this topic over the past few years, you'll see that there were several others in the same boat -- applicants seeking mid-week dates that were full. At the end of the Lottery processing period, there were many days reflecting a full quota with zero availability.

Sure, over time there may be cancellations and no-shows, thus making one or more permit "available" on any given day, but there is no guarantee of this. For hikers coming from out of town, especially those making extensive travel plans (i.e., several days off from work, booking flights, car rentals, etc.), this could be a very expensive roll of the dice in hopes of securing one of the necessary no-shows the day before their intended hike.

Another factor to be considered is whether or not the cancelled permit or no-show's group size is equal to or larger than the group size of the individual seeking a permit. While permits allowing solo hikers might become available over the summer, those permits are of no use to an applicant who was originally seeking a permit for a group of 4 on a date that's already full. The only way that party's going to hike that day, or on any day, is if a permit for 4 or more hikers opens up, or if 4 individual permits for solo hikers on the same day are cancelled or are no-shows.

Plain and simple, as stated in the Inyo National Forest's website, there are a number of factors that play into whether an application is selected, including the accuracy and completeness of the application, the flexibility (or lack thereof) of the date(s) requested, the number of hikers in the party, and of course ... a good bit of luck.

Again, best of luck to all those awaiting the good word.

BruinDave

Kandy,

I can guarantee you a day hike permit this or any year between the holiday weekends. It may not be a Saturday start but there will be a permit available for you. When all the permits reservations are mailed out next month and the Inyo posts the Dates Available Page I will be vindicated.

I've studied this since the inception of the lottery. There plenty of dates available between the holidays for day hikers and there will be 5 or less backpacking permits available.

Bruin Dave,

What the Inyo does sometimes astounds me. When it comes to dates available for day hiking between the holiday weekends there will be a ton of them. They may not be the days and dates you want but there will be a ton of days available.

Personally, I would not enter the lottery as a day hiker, especially for a July date during a winter like this one. I'd wait and bang the phones in April when I have a better idea what winter has brought.

April will tell us who is right and wrong in this matter.

Hi Not taking sides , last season about 7000 permits were not used, May and Oct are a wash and may lead to non climbers attempting to summit without the needed skills. Thanks Doug

Anyone see any credit card activity yet ??

No hit on the card yet. I try to subdue my excitement and only check twice a day. At my age (49) it's like anticipating Christmas in March.