Calling does take forever. I think they only have 3 phone lines managed by one Ranger. I was able to get through earlier this week after about 45 minutes of calling and pressing Zero. The Ranger (Tim) asked me a few questions and emailed my permit to me later that day for my Whitney hike on July 4th. However, I did receive another email today (July 2) from another Ranger with my permit again. So it looks like they are automatically emailing out the permits a few days before your date. It did also say that wag bags will be available at the trailhead.
