Hope you don't mind Jay, I am posting your PM:
Hey Steve I know you sent me the "unused" permit info in a recent post and wanted to clarify, one of the guys I'm planning on going with doesn't think that walk up permits are still a practice? The plan is to go up on Monday 25th camp at 8k feet and then head up Tuesday early.
Would I be able to go to the lone pine office and pick up the day use permit on Monday for Tuesday hike? Could I call and reserve or first come first serve?
Thanks!
Your friend got that info from the National Forest web site statement that goes something like this:
No slots are held back for walk-in permits, all are reservable in the lottery.
However: There are ALWAYS no-shows and cancellations. And THOSE are always available for walk-ins. The Unused Permits page shows how many no-shows and cancellations are left AFTER all walk-in requests have been satisfied.
If there are more people looking for those cancellations and no-shows than are available, they hold a mini lottery -- drawing numbers out of a bucket. Lowest number gets processed first, so gets first shot, and so on. That process starts at 11 AM.
So be there Monday at 11 for the Tuesday Day Hike.
