Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2005 Lottery Results

Doug,
Just for clarification, the actual words used in my postings, "r-a-n-g-e-r" and "f-r-e-a-k-y", are not insulting words, nor are the words that precede or follow them. I don't quite understand why those particular words triggered the blocking mechanism. Anyhow, guess it's best not to litter the board with this side discussion.
ee

Got it! The charge hit my bank acct yesterday, so let's do it again Whitney!

Ellen,

Did you make an application for a day hike or for an overnight stay (2 day)?

Thanks
Halfdomehike

Last year I applied for 2 different permits. An overnight permit for a group and a day hike permit for 2. I got the group permit credit card charge sometime around 2/24 and didn't get the day hike permit charge until early March. I don't know if it just worked out that way or if, perhaps, they do the overnight permits before they do the day hike permits.

Lik2hik

Dear Halfdomehike,
Doing Whitney in one day does not do justice to the mountain, in my humble opinion. You can generally get a "walk on" day permit (sans lotto) if you just want to run up the trail and down it in one day, with about ten seconds to look around at the top. So, to answer your query, I applied for a 2-night stay under the stars. Cheers and good luck.

I logged on this board for the first time today, 3/1, and saw the discussion and checked my credit card and saw it was hit on 2/17. I'm a first timer and asked for most any 2 days from June 15 to Sept 15. Then I find out there could be snow and ice early. I'm concerned that I probably got an early date and will have to find a way to contend with the ice.

I'm excited to go.

Looks like the're getting a little testy over at the Inyo NFS. Check out their website!

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/whitneyavail.shtml

damn, I was hoping to find out soon when our dates were. Oh well, we're going this year for a little longer trip. Been on one days and overnights but got a three day this time around so we can spend some time and look around and enjoy the place.

drhabes: you're link must've been a dusy(?)... The Forest Service removed whatever it is that you saw. The page now says: "The file you requested is not available."

Well, if you can't get on that site, this is what it said:

"Attention!!! If you have applied for the Mount Whitney Lottery, please be aware that reservation notifications will not be received via mail until at least April 1, 2005. Please be patient as we are working as quickly as we possibly can! Do not call the Reservation Office for application status as this only slows the process down!!! Thank you for your patience and understanding."

Hope everyone is feeling OK about that last line! Good luck everyone! I hope you all get your permits sometime this year...

I just accessed the web page in question and had no problem getting to it,
www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/whitneyavail.shtml
What you didn't mention was that they put it in BIG RED LETTERS!! You're right, I think that ringing phone is getting on their nerves!

My credit card account just got charged on 3/2---so I guess I get to go this year after missing last year.
I like a leisurely walk. I asked for 4 days and 3 nights in July or August. We've had a ton of moisture in California this year, so maybe I should take along snow shoes! Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear whether they are going.

Alan

Finally got my card charged! Now i could breath and rest for a while. And now i have to start training and eating right.

Everyone, take a chillpill re the Forest Service. Either ya got it or ya didn't. If your card was charged, just wait for the mail results. I'm not stressing that I don't know which wkend in Sept I'll go. But I do know this -- whatever else is on my schedule will be trumped by Whitney. While the elusive and mysterious Inyo Nat'l Forest Service may be frustrating, the wait is worth it, cuz the mnt is great. This is me at my most patient moment, God knows why. I do want my written document from the federal agency that created Smokey the Bear. The Forest Service can't be that bad, and Smokey Bear is my fav, even though forest fires can sometimes be helpful to control undergrowth of the forest. ee

Agree with Ellen,

Here is just one of several discussion threads from last year......note the comments are about the same and the delays and duress expressed are approximately equal so give the NFS a break. I firmly believe they are trying to be fair and expeditious in their handling of the permit system. After all, I don't believe they sit around waiting for scornful or derogatory phone calls about a process which I would bet they don't like much better than we do.

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001653

Felipe, no te preocupes. Todo va estar alright. Aplique antes del quince de febrero y solo hace unos dias me quitaron la plata. Bueno, la verdad es que no se, pero no pierdas esperanza.

Just FYI, I had to call NFS to resolve another issue (they didn't charge me enough money!) and the nice lady said, among other things, that the main trail paperwork is bulk mailing from a national office rather than local (i.e. non-main trail) originating from Bishop, and they are 3 weeks behind on the main trail stuff.

I received my permit for 6 days via Cottonwood Pass, but they only charged me $5, I had to call to make sure they picked up the extra $10. I learned this via the bank account. Anyway, the $15 they charged me originally was for my day lottery permit, the $5 for the mistaken amount via Cottonwood. In mid Feb I received the overnight permit with the wrong amount. Having fixed that last Tuesday (Mar. 1), yesterday (March 5) I received the same overnight permit reservation with the right amount. I'm not planning on seeing the day hike reservation till April and I would rather find the date of that a surprise. I hope it doesn't somehow overlap with what I already have so far.

Have fun, my first day out from Horseshoe Meadow should be nice and slushy beginning June 25.

Right on! I get to hike Mt Whitney again and this will be my 3rd time. Didn't hear from the forest service so I looked on my cc statement and found that it was charged 2 weeks agao (Feb 16).

Yep, I'm sure they are very busy this time of year and not thrilled about the lottery system no more than we are.

No charges on cc yet. Is it too late? Does that mean, I can fuggedabout getting a permit this year?

Don't worry sometimes it has taken almost all of March to get my results. Just be patient.

JJJBB

For the second year in a row I have gotten " all dates full" letter. Not good.