Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board permit visible or not at all

can anyone tell what would happen if anyone hike whitney main trail without a permit and say got stop let say a trail camp going up to whitney summit.

If you encountered a ranger, and he asked to see your permit, he would probably issue you a citation, which would carry a fine of a few hundred dollars. And he would probably direct you to descend immediately to the trail head.

Steve C,

I might add if you are uncivil to faux ranger there will be a sworn Ranger at Whitney Portal who will arrest you. I heard the brags of the person in question and I saw him arrested.

Hey what would happen if you have a valid permit but leave it in your main pack back at base camp and you get carded at somewhere like trail crest? I almost did this but luckily saw my permit while I was packing my day pack and threw it in.
( sorry I asked this same question on another thread but realized this was a better thread for this question)

All of the rangers carry radios, and can contact the ranger station on the spot to check permit validity. If they find a story "fishy", it takes only a minute to check.