Managed To Secure A Mt. Whitney Permit
The process for obtaining a permit to hike Mt. Whitney is a bit convoluted, and relies on punctual form submission, proper request format, pre-payment, and pure dumb luck to come out a winner. The US Forest Service limits the amount of people allowed on the mountain each day, and because the demand for permits is extremely high a lottery system was introduced to be as fair as possible to all applicants. The lottery drawing begins on February 17th, with the winners and losers notified via mail in April.
As luck would have it, this past Friday I received an envelope in the mail containing one of these:
Awww Yeah! I actually won a spot on the mountain. Looks like my training won’t be in vain. I’ll see you up at 14,500ft in September! The plan is to run up and down Mt. Whitney Trail (22 miles) in under 8 hours. As you can see I have an extra spot open on my reservation. Want to come along?
UPDATE 9/9/09: I’ve successfully completed my Mt. Whitney run. See this post for details and photos!
Nice dude. Katahdin is like that, up in Maine (only it’s about a third the size).
I’m mailing my reservation next Tuesday so that I can secure a spot at Chimney Pond 4 months and 1 week from then. Getting permits and reservations for some national parks is a science…
Thanks man. Plan is for the wife to drive me up and back. My legs will be noodles after the run, so I don’t trust myself to drive back home…
Congratulations! You’re way out of my league. I did the Grouse Grind in Vancouver a few years back (2800 feet elevation gain) and that was about all I could handle. Good luck with the run, and don’t forget your camera.
Thanks Dan. A camera is one thing I do plan on bringing up. Pics will be posted!
What happens if you don’t get a permit, but still hike Mt. Whitney?
From what I’ve heard, rangers are stationed about a mile into the hike verifying that you have the proper permits. If you don’t have one, they’ll turn you around and/or fine you several hundred dollars. I’ve heard that the rangers are very strict and they *do* check. Guess I’ll be finding out on Thursday. Will let you know what happens.
Okay, I’ve successfully completed my run up Mt. Whitney. Check out the link in the post for details.
While up there, I asked the rangers what would happen if I decided to run up the trail without a permit. They told me they didn’t exactly know what would happen, nor how much of a fine would be charged if caught. From personal experience, on my run up the mountain, I didn’t see a single ranger. Nobody checked me for my permit. This was during a weekday, so interpret that as you will.
Still, it’s probably not worth chancing it. It’s quite easy to obtain a day pass. Just show up at the ranger station before noon on the day before your hike, and chances are you’ll get a permit. Quite a few people drop out without notifying the rangers. See my post for directions to the ranger station.