Yosemite Valley is no longer issuing walkups for any trailhead that joins up with the JMT and goes over Donahue Pass. The only walkups issued will be for the many other trails in the park with the trip not leaving over Donahue Pass. It's the same process there as unclaimed permits will appear online for the next day.
If this new policy is extended to all the trailheads in the Sierra Parks, people may not be so willing to get into the area without a permit in hand. This would be especially true for hikers coming from the east coast or the heartland of the county.
I live in MN and have never been able to secure a permit online for the trailhead I want 6 months out, there all gone so quickly. But from information gathered on this board and other places, I just get there early in the week and have no issue getting one of the allotted walkup permits.
Half Dome permits were a lottery this year. And no longer did a Happy Isle permit come with the option to do Half Dome on the way up the valley.
Though Inyo's process may prove to be much more efficient as time goes by, there is one the question I wonder. Will this new policy, and if extended to all the parks, lessen tourism into the eastern side?
