Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Permit System Citizen Beware

I got a lesson in making sure to read the fine print on our August 1 one-day hike up the main trail. The government red tape and maddening multiple steps to get a day pass is a lesson in perseverance.
Step one: Register for the lottery.
Step two: accept your spot if you win.
Step three: pay.
Don't miss STEP FOUR: CONFIRM that you really, really want the pass you've already paid for two weeks-two days before you hike date.
Step five: pick up your pass within two days of your hike.
Miss any of these steps and you lose your spot. There HAS to be a better way...

Pick another peak that fewer of our friends and neighbors also want to hike.

Dale B. Dalrymple

REALLY nice that they sneak that in this year without telling anyone. There was no "confirm" last year. I saw no sign of it anywhere on the site this year. Then i look for the phone number to call just in case we would be late picking up the permit and there on the recreation.gov site now i see the "confirm or else" .. they really could not make that harder to find, i got very lucky. The Ranger who issued my permit also said it was a terrible system.