Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Permit notification or credit card hit yet?

I have not! (Day hike for 15, any Saturday in August).

I made sure my reservation application was in by the 15th so I am sure it was stired in. This is only my third time. The other time I was successful was when I mailed in my application a few days after the process started. My reservation came back so quick it occurred to me that they may have forgotten to stir in the new mail the day mine got there.

UPDATE: Tuesday (03-26-08) I saw that my credit card was charged for the reservation I sent in. Now I will be checking the mail each day to see what which day we will be going.

Good Luck to the rest of you.

UPDATE: Friday (03-28-08) I got my reservation approval in the mail. We got the first date requested.

No luck here either. I have been religiously watching a hit on my credit card and nada.

~ mailed 'em from ventura county on feb. 14.

~ included a personal check and postcard.

~ "any day hike from mid-july to mid-august".

~ rec'd my postcard back, stamp dated feb. 16 with a handwritten "good luck" on it.

~ the check remains as yet uncashed.

no luck here either. i have been checking the credit card everyday. i was told it may not hit until early April due to the amount of entries this year. Cross our fingers.

Nothing on my card yet, this was the first year I applied.

Be patient everyone! There's a group of great people working hard to process these. It could take another couple weeks or more before you hear anything. One thing I'm sure of is they're doing their best to get it done.

Do they send out postcards to everyone? I sent in my application before the 15th and have not received anything yet? I hope it was received.

No. If you did not include a postcard with your application, don't expect anything in the mail before April. They only send self-addressed stamped mail included with an application as a courtesy (see the lottery instructions for additional information). All they do is take the postcards and and drop them in a mail box (after stamping a word of encouragement). They do not have time to acknowledge all applications before they process them.

As Kurt indicated, please be patient. Their focus is more on getting the last application processed than on notifying the first selectee. You still have not exhausted Steps 5 and 6 available in the Wilderness Permit Options.

we're excited about going, but we're not anxious or concerned that we'll be turned down. we are very flexible with the dates we provided and, if the guidelines and last year's availability are correct, we may even be able to switch dates more to our liking when all is said and done.

this thread is kind of like kids waiting for santa claus!

i know i feel that way!

Don't worry; be happy, especially you day hikers. If you happen to have a "Any Saturday in August" request turned down there will a ton of permits available to you...just not on a Saturday in August.

If you are a backpacker, just call the reservation line as soon as you get your Dear Backpacker letter and get a permit trip starting in Onion Valley, New Army Pass or Cottonwood Pass. If you are in good shape, the trips starting from the last two trailheads can be done in about time most to the MMWT, 3 days, 2 nights. Plus they are a lot more fun...you will have to take my word on that.

where is the start of the cotton woods pass? tell me more

Cottonwood starts at Horseshoe Meadows. You can find a lot of posts by clicking on the Search link and entering "Horseshoe Meadows" in the search box (in double quotes and changing the time window to 1 year).

Horseshoe Meadows road, which leaves the Mt. Whitney road going south as you are leaving the Alabama Hills...goes about 25 miles before it reaches Horseshoe Meadows. That is the start of the Cottonwood pass trail and the New Army Pass trail....which loop through rock creek, guyot pass, crabtree meadows and come up the west side of Mt. Whitney. These two trails are about 30 miles or so to the summit of Mt. Whitney. 3-4 days would be reasonable.

Independence, 16 miles north of Lone Pine, gives you assess to the Onion Valley trailhead. There are 3 trails which also loop around the west side of Mt. Whitney. University pass, Shepards pass and Kearsarge Pass will bring you to Mt. Whitney in about 30-40 miles. 4-6 days would be reasonable.

Although the require a car shuttle, they provide a less crowded and scenic way to get to Mt. Whitney on a trail.

In September a few year ago, we saw 20 odd deer and 3 people between New Army Pass and Lower Trail Crest, at which time we were joined by a couple of hundred of our nearest and dearest friends for the rest of the trip to Whitney Portal, include 16 on the summit before dawn. September has fast become my favorite summer month in the Sierra

BTW, we walked in the ranger station without reservations and picked up in Friday out Sunday permits.

Haven't heard anything yet. Man this is stressful haha. I'm sure majority of the dayhike permits will get approved.

I am also doing a summit climb at the end of this month. I saw the below posts, got me super amped for this trip. Any other info on trail conditions would be useful, please let me know. Thanks and good luck in the lottery!

Yes, most people who want to do a day hike and are able to go during the week will have no problem getting a reservation in the after lottery program. I did that last year with my son for a Friday. This year I have fourteen friends from work and church that wanted to try it. The majority of them have weekends off. Saturdays fill up fast and fifteen is a large number. There are other options for a great outing if this does not work out.

I just phoned in today and got an overnight slot on the Mountaineer's route. Actually, I changed my date from August 3rd to September 9th because I wanted to be sure the ice is off the trail. Last year I was unsuccessful in the lottery and had to phone it in. Quite a nightmare, and I wound up with a less that optimal 2 October date. So If you are up for trying the Mountaineer's Route, there are a few slots (for overnight parties of 6 or less ascending via the Mountaineer's Route) left that you can simply call in, 760 873-2483, and reserve. August 3-4 is available along with several other dates.

Senior Boyd

I wish you luck in gettting your permit for 15 people. I wish you even MORE luck if you are the person responsible for managing a group of 15 people (of probably varying skill levels) on Whitney. If you get your permit and you have success with a group of 15 people on Whitney - please send in a trip report - I would like to know your secrets!

Last year I put in a permit for eight with a Friday and Saturday night in the zone on peak July and August weekends. I got the permit for the first date on my list and had the permit notification letter at my office by February 22nd. This year I'm waiting to hear about an overnight permit for two and the suspense is killing me.

I have heard news of the lottery...

They have just finished the first phase processing all of the 5490 applications. 3,525 reservations were successful.

Today they began charging credit cards and depositing checks. Letters will start going out by the end of next week.

Coincidentally, the last successful application was for someone requesting a single permit, and he got the last available opening for his last choice.