Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Lottery 2014

It is about two weeks before the start of the lottery process. I am surpised the subject hasn't come up yet. Steve, you have always done such a great job with providing information, any changes from last year that we should know about?

Edit:  Options for picking up a reservation:  Lottery Update, March 26


old text:
Thanks for the timely prompt! I'll try to find out....


FYI, last year's Lottery information is here: 2013 Whitney Lottery Information

I received this report:

There are no functional changes to the lottery -- it will work the same as last year.

A few minor things though: Email notifications of lottery results from the recreation.gov website apparently did not get out to everyone, so they are stressing this year that you should login after the lottery has been run to see your results.

They are trying to update some of the text on the rec.gov site to make things easier to read.

They hope to update the Inyo National Forest's lottery information page on a weekly basis throughout the lottery entry phase.


2014 Mt Whitney Lottery Timeline

Feb 1, 2014 to March 15, 2014   Applications are entered online at www.recreation.gov (closes on March 15 at midnight Eastern time)

March 16   All the lottery applications are processed in a random lottery.  New applications not accepted until April 1.

March 23   Results available on line, check your account.

April 1   All remaining space is released for web reservations
        Online opens at 7 am Pacific time- No phone reservations
        Acceptance period opens for 30 days.

April 30   Last day to accept and pay for lottery reservations.
        (closes at midnight Eastern time)

May 1   All unclaimed dates are canceled and released for web reservations (within 24 hours, at random times).

Edit: March 26 update

Steve,

If one submits several different applications (with separate six dollar payments) does the system automatically eliminate all your other requests when one request is accepted?

I have a sense that their system defaults to this when any one request from one email address is accepted.

Thanks!

> If one submits several different applications (with separate six dollar payments) does the system automatically eliminate all your other requests when one request is accepted?

Yes. (I had to review the 2013 info to make sure.)

In 2012, only one entry could be made. But last year, they opened it up to multiple applications and allowed for post-lottery acceptance or decline of a winning entry. So you can enter as many times as you have $6 entry fees (and time to fill in the info). The $6 entry fees are non-refundable.

Each entry is processed, and as soon as one (of the possible 15 start dates on that particular entry) is successful, the rest on that entry are canceled, and all the other entries made with separate $6 fees are marked as unsuccessful.

After the lottery, you must then logon and accept (and pay the $15 per hiker fee) for the slots you won. Or you can refuse the slots as well. If you never accept or refuse a won reservation, it will be canceled (by May 1 I think).

If you and your friends all get together, you can make multiple entries and maybe win multiple choices for a trip if you use separate accounts on Recreation.gov.

By the way, the 2013 Lottery information is here: 2013 Whitney Lottery Information

Thanks Steve!

I may apply for some permits this year, however I'm not sure whether or not I want to camp overnight. If I get overnight permits can I just do a dayhike on either of the two days?

Well... the Wilderness Permit Office people frown on that. They want to make all the overnight permits available to campers. But it always happens where someone intends to backpack and stay the night, but end up exiting the same day.

If you started a dayhike the second day of your overnight plans, you could technically be cited, and you might well be, if you told the ranger in the field that you had started up that day.

What I would do is enter the lottery for the overnight, and accept and pay for that (if you actually win a slot). Then if your plans change: Check online a few days before the permit date, and if you see an open slot (due to cancellations), call the Wilderness Permit Office (not Rec.gov), and they will switch your permit. If that doesn't work, walk in to the Visitor Center and try to swap the overnight for a dayhike there. That should work pretty much all the time.

On Recreation.gov, this is posted:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana.

When making your reservations, keep in mind what happened October 1, 2013.

"It" happened before, "it" can happen again..."It" being the government shutdown.

Inyo NF has posted an update today on their Mt Whitney Lottery page

4,302 applications entered as of Feb 11

There is a MS Word doc ( Lottery Progress ) showing the number of people requested for each date. This will give you an idea of which days are most heavily requested.

From the summary data in that doc:

 Lottery Progress Report

As of February 3, 2014          2,091          applications submitted.

10 Most Popular First Choice Dates   Number of people
Entry Date                Combined  Day Use  Overnight
Friday,   August 01, 2014   334       84       250
Saturday, August 16, 2014   297      186       111
Friday,   July   11, 2014   274       32       242
Saturday, July   26, 2014   272      214        58
Saturday, July   19, 2014   237      126       111
Saturday, August 02, 2014   222       25       168
Saturday, August 09, 2014   222       84       250
Saturday, July   12, 2014   213      108       105
Saturday, Sept   06, 2014   212       72       104
Saturday, August 30, 2014   199       60       139
Friday,   July   18, 2014   193       25       168

You would think July 12th would be popular with the full moon.

Also, you say that you can send in separate applications for the $6.00 fee, but Recreation.gov states; "Please submit only one application per group."

I would caution as much as you believe your friends will show up on a Whitney hike, and have them send in separate applications as a "group leader" to raise your odds, that may not end up with a happy ending, as when the date comes closer, many people who planned to hike the mountain, seem to find an excuse... and then you're out of a hike, or taking a chance on the daily lottery at the Interangency Visitors Center. Just sayin'.

Ten days left before lottery applications are closed.

Inyo has posted that they have received 7,526 applications as of March 3.

Steve:
Are there any open for daily quota? Meaning, if I go to Interagency office at 3 am and stand in queue, if there is a queue, can I get a permit (preferably with overnight camp at trail camp) for Whitney? Just curious, never did Whitney from east side!

Krishna, getting in line early does not help. When they open at 8 AM, if there is a line, they will put numbers in a hat, and everyone draws a number, which determines who gets to the counter first. And that includes ALL people looking for any permits on any trails.

There are no daily quota slots held back for walk-in requests. However, there are always going to be slots made available due to people coming in to pick up their reservations and dropping off slots due to their friends cancelling out. And then there are also no-shows who have a reservation, never cancelled online, and then don't show up to pick up a permit. The group-size reduction slots are made available as soon as the groups pick up their permits, so it is possible to pick one up soon after 8 AM, and throughout the day. The no-shows become available at 11 AM, and again, if there are lots of people looking to pick them up, a drawing of numbers is held at that time.

No-shows for overnight are made available to start same-day. No-shows for day hike are made available to start the next day. In the past, the day hike no-shows became available at 2 PM, but recently, they have been estimating no-shows and giving them out at 11 AM, even though the reservation-holders have a 12-noon deadline to pick up.

You can get a feel for how many permits are available due to cancellations, drops and no-shows by looking at the Unused Whitney Permits pages I have maintained.

Inyo NF has posted their last lottery update before the March 15 cutoff here: Mt Whitney Lottery Progress Report

8,744 applications submitted as of March 10

There is a nice chart on their page showing the first choice numbers from all the applications. Viewing that, I can see:

For Overnight permits (Quota 60 per day):
First overbooked date: Saturday May 10, and every Saturday after that.
Most requested date: Friday, Aug 1: 763 requests. (Less than 1 in 12 chance)
All requests will be satisfied after Sunday, Sept 21 (except the 154 requests on Thurs Oct 2 ...weird).


For Day Use permits (Quota 100 per day):
First overbooked date: Saturday June 7.
Most overbooked date: Saturday July 19: 541 requests.
All requests after Saturday, Sept 13 will be satisfied.

It's March 15, after 9 PM Pacific Daylight time, and the 2014 Lottery is closed to reservations. (Recreation.gov runs on Eastern time.)

They will be running the lottery sometime in the next week, with results to be available on line Sunday March 23, so check your account -- maybe as early as next Sunday after 9 PM.

Good luck to everyone who put in their entries.

The Inyo N.F "Whitney Lottery" page states that:

"March 23 - Results available on line, check your account."

Since it is already March 23 in NY where the Recreation.gov site runs, it might be possible to view your results tonight.

I went to Recreation.gov and when I went to check the status of the lottery it said that results will be posted by 4-1. So, it looks like another week of waiting.

Any insight on whats causing the delay?