Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Lottery 2014

I am soooo bummed. So, in looking at the results, (I applied for 7/3 and supplied 14 alternatives, btw) I was unsuccessful and my girlfriend was also unsuccessful. What I don't understand is that my dates at the very end of June and early July have many available spaces. Without knowing I picked a great time, still unsuccessful.

So with that said, what is one to do in order to get an application to summit and start the JMT? Whitney is just one point on a 30 day trek for me and I don't want to do it from Yosemite. I would like to have my girlfriend meet in in Mammoth for the last 7 days, and two buddies of mine at Lake Edison a bit earlier for our annual fishing trip. The timing of it all is important. Such a bummer.

Any help or guidance with what to do next is appreciated.

Lance, don't be bummed! Permits are a logistical pain, but you can get one. Here are your options:

1. On April 1, when online registrations open up, be online and ready, grab the slots you need, and you are good to go. (I'll try to post later this week the time they are supposed to open the gates.)

2. If #1 fails, in the week before you go, keep checking recreation.gov for any cancellations. Slots do open up occasionally. If you check every hour or two, you are likely to find one. (Checking earlier than the week before is not usually that good -- the few who cancel slots do so just before their trip.)

3. #2 is a pain, so this will work: Go to Lone Pine the day before you want to start your hike. Starting about 8:30, people coming in to pick up their reserved permits will drop off slots for hikers that bailed on them. (These people should cancel those slots ahead of time, but most don't.) All you need to do is walk up to the counter and ask if there are any open slots. Keep checking during the day. I am absolutely sure you will be able to get your permits this way -- for the reason, read the Unused Whitney Permits thread.

And by the way, people using option 3 often discover that there are also slots available to start that very day, not just the next day.

4. Finally, there are also a bunch of no-show people, who have reservations to hike but don't show up at all, and don't logon and cancel online. Their slots become available at 11 AM the day of the hike start. So if you show up at 11 AM, it is very likely you will get your permit and be able to head directly to the trail head. The unused permits numbers include all of these, too.

Steve, thank you for the words of encouragement. I will just have to commit to going to any lengths to make my trip happen for ME. Which may include sitting in Lone Pine in 100 degree heat for a day or two waiting for a permit to be available. What has me sad, is others have no way to depend on this to happen, and as such, may not be able to plan to meet under those circumstances. I guess I could always go a couple of days in advance of the original start date and wait it out...

Or better yet, stop projecting, wait until 12:00 a.m. on April 1, and try to get my dates then, or when they are available.

This is just a bump in the road for a wonderful 220 mile hike right? I will be fishing the JMT from stream to stream and hanging out like Jeremaih Johnson before I know it right?

Lance... Steve is exactly right. I have gone 4 years in a row without permits (and one time my group was 5), and ALWAYS gotten permits. Last year I got permits on Labor Day Weekend. There are two lotteries, one at 11:00, and then for the no shows, one at 2:00. I have always gotten permits when I was there for the 11:00. My friend Gary flies out every year from back East, and never has permits, so you should just plan to get there the day before you want to hike, have a good breakfast in Lone Pine, and get to the Visitors Center around 10:30 or so. That way you can enjoy all the other hikers in your same position.

You guys are awesome. I had a wild hare get loose a few weeks ago, applied, and here I am, trying to figure it out again. I have been swimming a mile a day since January 8, listening to Bill Bryson's "A walk in the woods" while in the pool (AT thru hike audio book, really funny), have lost 20 pounds as of yesterday, and been hiking Mt. Woodson twice a week to get my legs in shape, 4400 elevation change and 7.8 mi RT. As a 44 year old, x-smoker of 4 months now, I have lots of energy and want to do something that I have dreamed about for the past 5 years before my body breaks down. That's why it is so important to me. And to have the support of the folks in my immediate circle is great... They think it is a wonderful adventure rather than a cuckoo castle in the clouds idea reminding us of the hobo days of the 60's. :-)

Well, if people can fly out from the East Coast and still make it on the trail to the summit, then so can I. I will just let my friends know I AM going, Hell or high water! Make plans to depend on my summiting Whitney and I will send you a photo from the top.

By the way, where can I get the biggest-waffle-to-float-in-a-pool-of-syrup breakfast in Lone Pine? Have only driven through the town on my way North possibly stopping for some expensive gas to get to Bishop. :-)

I was unsuccessful also...tried for July 12th party of two.

Lance, yours is a fantastic story! Congratulations on your accomplishments so far. You're really getting in shape, and aiming for a JMT hike is the perfect inspiration and goal.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but there are lots of good things we can share with you. Why don't you start a new topic, something like "Getting ready for the JMT", where people can share their experiences with you.

IMHO, Alabama Hills Cafe.

Also, Whitney Portal Store at the trail head has monster pancakes. Most people have to share just one.

Thanks - I'm not familiar with the system and was confused by that. I'm from the UK and already have flights booked, and keen to climb Whitney while I'm over! Fingers crossed...

Hi

Logging into my account, I just see "There are no reservations". Odd, as I phoned (from the UK) to check my application was OK and they said it was. Any ideas, or should I just phone again?

Thanks - Rob

OK, I should have looked under Lottery Applications. Awarded first choice, 30 June - yay

I still can't confirm or purchase my permit, when do you think we will be able to do that?

From what I read on here, you can't do that until April 1st.

Thanks, I thought I read that somewhere my-self.

I doubt this is realistic for most people. I wouldn't want to start this hike at 12 noon and have to complete it that very day. The complete hike is tough enough, either via the mountaineer's route or regular Whitney trail. I enjoy the toughness of the hike, but I would prefer to enjoy the day as well, take a few pictures, enjoy time at the top, etc., and not try to accomplish a mad scramble up and down.

JimC - we're starting our overnight on Aug 27 too! See you there, maybe :-)

Oldhiker: The 11 AM time is for permits for starting the current day for overnight hikers.

For Day Use hikers, the deadline to pickup a permit is noon the day before their hike, and those no-shows become available at 2 PM the day before. (Last year they were estimating and declaring no-show numbers by 11 AM. Not sure what it will be this year.)

Steve, thanks for the clarification. In your list of strategies 1 thru 4, I didn't pick up on the fact that you were responding to a question about overnight permits. I am a day hiker. I have tried the lottery on several occasions for Whitney and for the Half Dome hike. I have never been successful. Here is the situation for me. This would be a significant trip because I am travelling from out of state. I have several hiking friends that would like to come, but they also live far from California, and a couple of them live in different states than me. It would be a considerable expense for us to collaborate and make trips to Lone Pine just for a chance of getting unused permits at the forest office for a next day hike.

It seems to me that if the lottery was run correctly, all of the permits would be awarded in the lottery. The lottery computer could be programmed to pull a winning application, award it, and then check for duplicate applications by other group members, right then and there. Then procede with the next winning application. At the end of the lottery there would be no dates with 42! unawarded permits. That way, us out-of-state hopefuls would know that we were out of luck for that year, without all of this strategizing for un-awarded/unused permits. I entered the lottery with the expectation that I had a chance to win 100 available permits each day. It turns out (e.g. August 14th) that only 58 permits were awarded for that date. The lottery officials certainly didn't give me a chance to win one of the 100 available for that day. It is not right.

oldhiker: I do think there is an issue in the lottery software, but there is no way for me to verify that until next year. Next year, I'll record the numbers of open slots right after the lottery is run, before people can decline their slots. Then we will have some solid numbers. At this point, it is not worth worrying about.

In the meantime, you can try to get what you want in the April 1 rush. But also, if you and your friends all came to Lone Pine, I can guarantee that you would get permits to hike as a group in 2 or 3 days, and most likely on the first day you try.

So just plan on taking several days, and you are good to go. There are plenty of other places to day hike to get acclimated -- you would be best doing that anyway for several days before the Whitney hike.