Mt Whitney Permits

Posted by: WOOKIE

Mt Whitney Permits - 04/16/10 08:08 PM

Anyone know if you can buy permits from people you won the lottery? if so anyone selling them? or a site that sells them?
Posted by: Steve C

Re: Mt Whitney Permits - 04/17/10 01:03 AM

Hi Wookie,

Buying and selling those Whitney permit reservations is strictly forbidden. People getting a permit in the lottery actually have only won a reservation for a permit. They have to follow the directions on the letter they get, and show up at the Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine and redeem their reservation for the actual permit a day or two before they hike.

People actually advertising permits for sale have been contacted by the law enforcement ranger for Inyo National Forest. And the person named on the reservation is required to show up and redeem it.

But most days, there are enough no-shows and cancellations so that everyone showing up without the reservation usually gets a permit.

I have been keeping track of the numbers of unused permits daily for the last three summers. You can see the numbers here: Unused Whitney Permits - 2009

If you would visit the WhitneyZone and ask, we'll certainly give you the info you need.


Posted by: hikerduane

Re: Mt Whitney Permits - 04/17/10 10:09 AM

Yeah, but you can't get one of the unclaimed permits until too late in the morning to make it anywhere, at least for normal FS permits. What is it, like 10 or later that they become available? I'm assuming here that people would be going Portal to Portal and not wanting to hike back down in the dark. I went Portal to Portal on my one trip, do the majority stay one night at least on the mountain?
Posted by: Trailrunner

Re: Mt Whitney Permits - 04/17/10 01:09 PM

You can obtain walk-in permits for the next day. I have done so. The best part is, they are free. The reservation fee for advance permits is 15.00/head. But of course there is no guarantee that any will be available. But historically a small party on a weekday has an excellent chance.

So......are you feeling lucky?????
Posted by: Steve C

Re: Mt Whitney Permits - 04/17/10 06:52 PM

Hikerduane, Trailrunner is correct. For day hikes, the no-show permits are declared at 2 PM the day BEFORE. For overnight hikes, the no-shows are declared at 11 AM on THE day of entry.

Please visit the WhitneyZone site and click on the Wilderness Permit Options in the feature topics box. Box 6 of the Wilderness Permit Options explains the Whitney Permit walk-in process.

But as some people come in the day before, even for the overnight permits, often times their party has fewer people than they have reservations, so those become available right away -- before the no-shows are declared.

Now for other trails in Inyo National Forest, they all have walk-in quotas held back, and those become available at 11 AM the day before. I am not sure about no-shows, but I think those are maybe declared about 10 AM on the date of entry.

And a note about WhitneyZone.com -- We created the site because the info you find there was no longer welcome at the old site. We need YOUR participation to help it grow and become an actively used site. This year is especially important, so I hope you will join and help by posting questions/answers/etc. It will be greatly appreciated.
Posted by: hikerduane

Re: Mt Whitney Permits - 04/17/10 11:25 PM

Thank you Steve for the clarification, great that openings are available when groups are short and those permits become available to first come parties for the next day.

I'm amazed at how many people climb the mountain multiple times. I may go back when I retire, see if I can still do a Portal to Portal.