Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Permit exchange

The entry date is the ONLY part that is written in stone. No leeway on that.

Some people, though, go in to pick up their permits, and find there are cancellations and no-shows for entering the day they show up (one or two days before their reservation's date), so they opt to release their reservation and start hiking on that particular day.

And there are always the no-shows that become available every day of the summer. Read about that process under Wilderness Permit Options (in the Feature Topics above on the left), and see the numbers here: Unused Whitney Permits - 2010