maverick wrote:Called a friend who works at the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center, they have 12 walk-in permits for the River Trail, and 12 for the Shadow Lake Trail, they said, on average they have 6-7 permits available in the morning for same day hikes available, but they also said, that their could also be only 1.
They advised that you call around 4:45pm (close at 5 pm), the day before your trip, and inquire about how many permits are left for walk-ins the next morning, and if they have enough, get there at least 30 min's before they open (8 am).
5 people really complicates things.
Another area you should consider is Matterhorn Canyon, out of Twin Lakes, hike to Crown Lake for the first night (7.2 miles), then stay at the lakes under Finger Peaks and Burro Pass, the views of the Sawtooth Ridge at sunset is spectacular, as are the view west from the lakes at Finger Peaks, but the "piece de resistance" are the views from the top of Burro Pass, looking down into Matterhorn Canyon is a Sierra classic that should not be missed!
Thank you very much for doing this for me. This gives me some hope. I also called the visitor centre although they give me more disturbing news. They said the walk-in permit for Friday is likely to be exhausted at Thursday 11am when they will have a lottery for all the people lined up (wow). I will definitely try to call them at Thursday at 4:45 like you suggested since the thousand lake trip is optimal as many said. Otherwise my hope is people get sick and don't show up so I can get their permit at 10am (omg I am a horrible person). Its good I have some backup trips around that area and one of them ( 20 lakes basin) doesn't even have quota.
So for the trip you suggested in Twin Lakes should I get the permit from the same place as the river trail? And suggested I basecamp at crown lake and go clock-wise on the loop to checkout the burro pass in the middle day? I think we can't finish the whole loop since its 50 miles long. I got my information at a post called NORTHERN YOSEMITE – HOOVER WILDERNESS 50 MILE LOOP