Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Entry and Exit confusion

I have a permit for the JMT (for my son and I) entering @ Devil's Postpile on Aug. 18, 2011 and ending @ the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead on Aug.29th. We really wanted to leave our car @ Whitney Portal and finish there, but this seems impossible because of the time of year.I'm getting conflicting information about walk in permits and changing the exit location.

My question is...can I get a walk in permit or change our exit to Whitney Portal at the Mammoth lakes Ranger Station (where we are starting)the day before we leave? Or would I have to attempt to get a walk in permit or change of exit locations in Lone Pine.

If we have to stay with the permit as is, is it ok to leave a car at the Cottonwood trailhead?

Thanks.

My question is...can I get a walk in permit or change our exit to Whitney Portal at the Mammoth lakes Ranger Station (where we are starting)the day before we leave? Or would I have to attempt to get a walk in permit or change of exit locations in Lone Pine.

.can't think of any reason why you couldn't do this. It's all part of the Inyo NF, they all talk by phone.


If we have to stay with the permit as is, is it ok to leave a car at the Cottonwood trailhead?

-happens all the time. Leave any food/smellables in a box, labeled with your name and planned exit date in the provided bear boxes. (DEFINITELY if you snag one for the Portal)

Unless things have changed, you can only do the Whitney thing at the Eastern Sierra Inter-agency Visitors Center. I would call and make sure this information is correct. You would be surprised how little people know about trails outside ranger station's district.

Wherever you leave your things in a bear box. Make sure they are marked with your approximate exit date.

Call the interagency visitor center to confirm, but you should be able to get the EXIT changed fro, the office issuing your Inyo permit. The ENTRY permit for MMWT can only be issued at the VC. That does not necessarily mean that you will be able to use a Whitney permit just to descend the MMWT. Among other things, you exit at Trail Crets will be subject to the INyo permit exit quota for Trail Crest.

I would call both offices, and don't give up until (1) you get a final answer from both places and (2) the answers match. Best way to assure the second is that you both offices EXACTLY the same information and make EXACTLY the same request.

Maybe I'm confused, but I thought he was only asking about EXITING at the Whitney Zone. You mean that no matter where you start hiking, you have to get your entry permit from the VC? How can they issue permits for other ranger districts, or other juristictions? I thought you got your wilderness permits from where you begin your hikes?

Ken : No I did not mean to say that: quite the opposite. I think you are correct, and hope I didn't add to the confusion. Sorry if I did. I meant to say that It is true that you can only get the Whitney trailhead permit at the VC, but I doubt that particular permit would allow you to enter the trail at Trail Crest coming from Mammoth district.

You of course have to get your Inyo entry permit from the district/trailhead where you enter the back country -- in this case Mammoth -- and THAT permit should cover both Sequoia AND the Trail Crest exit, if the MMWT/Whitney Portal is specified as the exit.

BUT, when entering the first trailhead of the trip in Inyo NF, you are subject to the Trail Crest "exit" quota. I would call Mammoth first to apply to change the exit to MMWWT, and if they confirm that they can do that, forget what I said about confirming with VC. The only reason to call the VC would be to get a WWMT permit and ask if it is good for Trail Crest-to-Portal "exit", which I doubt, but might be worth a try if you can't do the whole deal through Mammoth.