That's now 3 of us Georgians on this board (4 if you count my wife). I'm in Marietta and "catpappy" is in Acworth. In fact catpappy (John) plans to be out there roughly the same time you will. Hope you run into each other!
Good luck with the permit. I went out there last month empty-handed and snagged two overnight permit cancellations by calling the Inyo Forest Service office twice a day every day (760-873-2483) until two finally became available around the time I was looking for. Sure beat waiting in the line at the Lone Pine InterAgency center the day of, hoping for a no-show, and then getting a really late start up the trail. It being close to a holiday period, you still may wind up doing that, but the time spent calling in advance might save you some headaches while you're there.
