Dennis,

So if I understand you correctly, your intention is to spend the night at Lone Pine Lake Friday evening, then "day hike" from there to the summit on Saturday (including back down to Lone Pine Lake the same day)? That would be considered an overnight (regardless of whether or not LPL is in the Whitney Zone), and you would need an overnight permit for the Main Trail, entering that trail on Friday, 8/12. That would cover everything you have mentioned, assuming my above interpretation is correct. A dayhike means no overnight camping at all anywhere on the trail.

Also, camping is allowed at Lone Pine Lake. Here is an excerpt from the "Wilderness Permit Options" on the left side of this page, under "Feature Topics":

Quote:
People are required to have an overnight permit to stay overnight in the Golden Trout, John Muir, Ansel Adams and Hoover Wildernesses. That means you need to get a Main Mt. Whitney Trail overnight permit to stay overnight at Lone Pine Lake since the lake is inside the John Muir Wilderness (the Whitney Zone is irrelevant in this case). Although most people hiking the main trail stay overnight at either Outpost Camp or Trail Camp, there are no additional restrictions when staying at Lone Pine Lake or Consultation Lake. Just camp at least 100 feet away from the lake and any established trails. Note: Camping is prohibited at Mirror Lake and Trailside Meadow.

Hope this helps.

CaT

If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)