Take a look at the current Mt. Whitney quotas and do a daily head-count:
Permits • Wilderness permits are required for all overnight trips in the John Muir Wilderness and Sequoia National Park, and for all day trips in the Mt. Whitney Zone. • May 1 through October 31, use is limited by daily entry quotas: - Overnight hikers: 60/day - Day hikers: 100/day - Exit*: 25/day • Obtain permits at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center, located 1 mile south of Lone Pine, CA, at the junction of Highway 395 and State Route 136. During quota season, permits are available during business hours. Outside of quota season, permits may be self-issued after hours. * Exit quota applies to visitors who end a trip on the Mt. Whitney Trail, but begin it elsewhere.
Got it? That's a 100 day hikers per day, plus 60 overnighters per day. That's a heck of a lot of shit over the course of a quota season.
Until the USFS can come up with a practical waste disposal system (toilets that work), I believe the daily quotas need to be dramatically reduced (perhaps 30 day hikers per day and 15 overnighters per day). That alone will reduce the amount of human organics left in the ground. The Whitney environment needs time to adjust to the constant human traffic and their residue.
I realize that many of you would scream and yell if the quotas were reduced, but have you any better suggestions?
