Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Permit Process not good!

Last year getting a permit for the MR on Whitney was just a phone call away..

now they make you go on some website and make a huge deal out of the whole thing, what a pain.....

so I called them and they said that MR permits are first come first serve, walk up do it yourself permits...

IMO its a long drive to find out all the spots are taken!!!

this is just crazy!

thanks for Listening to my 2 cents!

Tommy B

What's the big deal? If it's day hike during the quota season, it's the same rules MMWT rules as before...lottery or left overs lottery. If it's a backpacking permit during the quota season, it's normal forest rules...60% for reservations and 40% for walk-ins.

If it's for now...there are not any quotas. Just walk up self permit and go...or if the ESIVC is open go in and have a clerk do the paperwork.

I used the website last year to get permits for the Desolation Wilderness out of Tahoe. The only problem I encountered was that I was unfamiliar with the trailheads and the maps didn't clearly show where they might be.

Otherwise, access, availability, dates of entry/exit, etc. were all easy to figure out. I'm looking forward to using it for the lottery. Although if I never get to go into the Wilderness offices again, that would be sad. Good people in there.

Wait: I usually grab walk-in permits anyway. Never mind.

> now they make you go on some website and make a huge deal out of the whole thing, what a pain.....

Welcome to the world of computerized automation. I am sure this will be allowing Inyo to hire fewer people. ...Their budget has been cut year after year.

> so I called them and they said that MR permits are first come first serve, walk up do it yourself permits...

No, they are NOT 'FCFS'. Only 4 of them are. The other six are reservable on-line through www.recreation.gov. I just went to the site and checked. Looks like most of June is wide open, but quite a few days are full in July. Get online and check it out:

http://www.recreation.gov
Where: Mt Whitney
Interested in: Permits & Wilderness
Click Search

Click Inyo National Forest - Wilderness Permits

enter these values:
Looking for: Overnight Visiting Mt Whitney
Trail: North Fork Lone Pine Creek JM34
Range (not Specific)
Start Date: Sun Jul 1 2012
End Date: Sat Jul 14 2012
Group Size: 2 (your choice)
Click Search

The screen allows you to scroll left and right through two weeks of dates at a time, and it shows you which days are available (the "A" with a number below) and which have a full quota ("R" displays).

Click on an "A" day, and you can then book the permit.

Good luck! If you can't navigate through the above steps, maybe you can pretend you don't have access to a computer, and ask them to do it over the phone.

Moose Tracks wrote:
> Although if I never get to go into the Wilderness offices again, that would be sad. Good people in there.

You STILL need to visit the permit office to pick up the actual permit!

Just for fun, I booked a trip on the North Fork exiting via Mt Whitney, and my confirmation email states,
"This is NOT your Permit. Bring this letter with you to the Permit Issue Station"

I need to try another non-Whitney-Zone permit, and see if that also requires an in-person pickup.

The permit I got for up north was something I was able to print out myself, at home. I called the ranger station up there for verification, and he backed that up. Perhaps that isn't what they're doing for the Whitney Zone? Or Non-WZ?

MooseTracks, that "up north" permit must not have been in Inyo National Forest.

I just made a one-person reservation for the "Birch Lake-JM25" trail, which is outside the Whitney Zone, but in Inyo National Forest. The charge is $5 per hiker, plus the $6 reservation processing fee. The email confirmation letter has the same message:

This is NOT your Permit. Bring this letter with you to the Permit Issue Station

Also in the confirmation email:

I just checked the process for Desolation Wilderness, and Moosetracks is right about not having to pick up the permit in person. As of March 2011, you can print your own permit within 14 days of your hike. That's a big plus for me, I like to drive to trailheads late, crash in the campershell and hit the trail early. I've usually avoided Desolation due to crowds and permit hassle, but now I'll reconsider.

I've had mixed luck with the night drop, some won't allow it (Yosemite), and sometimes they forget to put the permit in the box (Mammoth 2 times). I've gotten many a late start waiting for the Ranger to open shop or waiting in line and then having to hear the bear lecture again.

I know some people need to hear the bear and trash lecture in person, but not every single hike, year after year. A hiker should be able to get pre-approved in the system after hearing the talk once.

Anyway, I'm glad to see them using a computerized system and I hope they allow people to print their own permits as much as possible. That's my 2 cents.

Very cool. Thanks, guys!

Laura,

Did they make you go through a rules and regs awareness list before issuance?

Well, there wasn't a face to face, so no. Just printed out the permit and off I went.

Laura,

What I was trying to ask was you did not have to go through a long check list of dos and don'ts like you do at the RS/VC prior to the system allowing you to print the permit, you print it once you are allowed by date.

I honestly don't remember, sorry. There may have been a screen similar to the "terms and conditions" that you get whenever you sign up for anything nowadays, but I'm not sure.