Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Wilderness Permit Options

VF: Thanks for the concise and easy-to-access info! Maybe this could be included in the top posts that never change on the board??

Very much appreciate your work on that!
-Laura

If I am correct, a permit is not required from Inyo National Forest if you start outside of the Inyo Forest. E.g., if you start on the West side, and get an entry permit there, you do not need another permit to exit at Whitney Portal.

This is probably not an option for many, however.

When we did the JMT last summer, we needed an exit permit for Whitney Portal. I believe that you need one no matter where you start if you're going over Trail Crest.

The decision tree is mainly for those trying to get a permit for the MMWT (Main Mt. Whitney Trail).

Fred J is right that you do not need a Whitney permit (either main trail OR Trail Crest exit) if your hike starts outside of Inyo National Forest. Just a reminder: A Trail Crest exit permit is required if your overnight hike starts on another trail (Example: Cottonwood Lakes or Onion Valley), and you exit via the MMWT. There is a daily quota of 25 for these, 15 reservable 6 months in advance, and 10 available at 11 am the day before your hike starts.

AlanK, where did you enter for the JMT hike? Didn't you daynike the first few legs, so your first overnight was inside Inyo NF???

The decision tree also does not cover the Mountaineers Route dayhike permit process -- it is discussed in the New for the 2007 season thread. We are still trying to find out if the Visitor Center will offer a night-box pickup of these, for the animals like Richard P and Rick K, who might drive through Lone Pine late at night and want a pre-dawn start.

Laura, we'll stick this up at the top once all the questions and comments get worked out.

VFred, you're a pro when it comes to providing information. Thanks!

Steve -- You are right. We got our exit permit at the Mammoth Ranger Station. We had dayhiked to Tuolumne Meadows and then to Mammoth, where we picked up our packs. The only place we got a permit checked was in the Sierra National Forest well south of Mammoth. We then still had to go threough Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs to get to the Inyo NF... again. But, gerrymandering being what it is, Mammoth is also in the Inyo NF.

It seems stranger now than it did then that we had to cross our fingers for an exit permit just because we happened to be standing in a piece of the Inyo NF.

Fred J, I already covered Sequoia National Park in the section Learn about the USFS Permit Reservation Process . I also wanted a way to extend the section Prepare a USFS Permit Application to reflect 2007 changes.

As for exit quotas, I do not believe that they affect any of the decision points, they only impact the completeness of your permit.

UPDATE: I added step 0 and a few more changes to the table.

In preparation for my talk in a couple of weeks, I happened to talk to Cindy at INF yesterday. I specifically asked her about the nitedrop option, and she said they'd not made a decision. Apparently, they are trying to get input on a variety of issues, from the people who are actually out in the field for the process. Problem is, those people are seasonal, and they have to go through a process of finding and communicating with them.

She mentioned another thing that was new: In the past, one could call the office to confirm that they had received the application. That will no longer be the case. Previously, they had taken all of the apps, and alphabetized them. This took a couple staff a couple of days. They are dropping this. Now, if a person desires confirmation, they should either enclose a stamped return postcard, or send by Return Receipt Requested mail.

She also mention that they will accept applications from "alternative" mail delivery companies, such as FedEx, as long as there is a date stamp on the article.

Finally, they will only accept the 2007 version of the application. I think it was last year, that someone sent one in, that was the 1973 version. The USFS kept it as a collector's item!
Apparently the use of old forms is common.

V Fred: I am not sure whether I finally got to the other post you reference, but when I was looking at the need for a permit for a West Side entry, it was not easy to find the right answer. I found the information on the Inyo web site confusing at best; ended up calling Lodgepole on the West side to have it explained over the phone.

Given all your hard work putting the permit process information together, it might be nice for people to have one post where they at least would have access to all the various permutations of the permit process in one place.

Fred J,
So what action are you proposing? Are you asking Inyo National Forest to put all the information for Sequoia National Park on their web page? Are you asking me to get more information for this topic? Are you going to be the person to provide that information? Do you have any tips to share from your trip?

As I stated in the opening paragraph, the table is not intended to be a replacement for other sources of information. Putting all the information on one page would make the page too hard to read.

I'll second that statement. I counted 15 emails between Fred and Inyo NF in the past month -- all written to help clarify the stuff in the table Fred posted above.

It takes a lot of time...

V Fred and Steve C,
Thanks for putting this information together in a nice easy to read format. It is a great overview of your options.
Adam