Originally Posted By: Kllrsqrls
Thanks saltydog, that is awesome! That might work out perfectly for us then, and we would have much more control over the dates since it seems like it is pretty easy to get permits from Road's End. Plus we'd get a chance to acclimate before we attempted Whitney, and also will have lighter packs than we would if we started a long trek from there.

We'd just have to convince a kind and trusting soul to meet us up there, possibly coming from another direction.. smile Might be hard to coordinate a meet-up precisely - we would probably have to try to find someone who was planning to hike up on the same day already to make it realistic. Or, ask(bribe) a random stranger on the top to do the 5-min online process to get ordained right on the spot (I think I read there is some cell phone coverage up there?) smile


Jennifer, it is NOT easy to get a permit at Roads End. That area is heavily used by hikers too. It is the entry point from the west for a very nice 40-mile loop that travels a popular section of the JMT (Rae Lakes). I think you should stick to the east side. It is a long driving distance to the other side (7 hours!), and coordinating with someone coming in on the other just complicates things way too much. And you won't find a random ranger -- they are far and few between, and cover a large territory.