Permit Pickup

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TriHard
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Permit Pickup

Post by TriHard »

I'm brand new to the High Sierra Topix forums so... Greetings to all!

I started backpacking last year after many years away. I fell in love with the Mineral King area and spent all of my trips last year exploring that area. I want to move over to the other side of the Sierras and am planning to weekend trek in the Meysan Lake area. I've been reading about the permit process and am wondering if I can get my permit the morning of my trip rather than the day before. Do any of you have any experience with this?
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TehipiteTom
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Re: Permit Pickup

Post by TehipiteTom »

TriHard wrote:I'm brand new to the High Sierra Topix forums so... Greetings to all!

I started backpacking last year after many years away. I fell in love with the Mineral King area and spent all of my trips last year exploring that area. I want to move over to the other side of the Sierras and am planning to weekend trek in the Meysan Lake area. I've been reading about the permit process and am wondering if I can get my permit the morning of my trip rather than the day before. Do any of you have any experience with this?
I have limited experience with the east side (I leave it mostly to the SoCalistas ;) ), but as a general matter, if you have a permit reservation you can pick it up the morning of the hike (they typically release permits at noon, I think). If you don't have a reservation, then the trailhead quota could be full by the morning of your hike.
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langenbacher
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Post by langenbacher »

how to get a permit for Inyo NF: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation ... owto.shtml

Walk-in permits are available starting at 11am on the day before your entry date.
Reserved permits that have not been claimed by the deadline will be cancelled and made available to other parties.
Demand for walk-in wilderness permits is high on weekends, holidays and during the months of July and August.

You may pick up your reserved permit as early as two days before you enter the wilderness. If you have not confirmed or picked up your permit by the deadline, your reservation will be canceled. If your trip travels to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park your permit will not be available in the night-drop box, you will have to pick up the permit in person during open hours.

Mt. Whitney day hike permits must be confirmed or picked up by noon on the day before the trip. Overnight Mt. Whitney permits and reservations for all other trails must be picked up or confirmed by 10am on the trip entry date.
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EricJLee
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Post by EricJLee »

So Langenbacher has provided you lots of good information. Here is my opinion on your situation. If you are planning a trip in July or August try and reserve your permit ahead of time, as there are quotas(limits) for all trailheads and July and August are the busiest months. If you plan on trying to get a walkin permit(no reservation) then have a contingency plan or alternate trail/route. The Eastern Sierras are a wonderful place, lots of huge mountains and high alpine lakes, enjoy.
Eric Lee
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TriHard
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Post by TriHard »

Thanks for the great info and advice. I faxed my permit application this morning.
Starting over, half way through!
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Morse
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Wilderness Permit info from last week

Post by Morse »

I’m new here too but since I just took a 3-day trip up to the Cottonwood Lakes area this past weekend I thought I’d add my 2 cents on wilderness permits while it’s all fresh.

I was at the Ranger Station just south of Lone Pine when it opened at 8 am last Thursday. I obtained a walk-in permit. They tell you the rules and you have to initial and sign a form indicating you understand each item. Mostly it’s about Leave No Trace, fires, etc. You also have to either tell them you have an approved Bear Canister or else they will rent one to you.

Here’s an interesting aside regarding Bear Canisters – I happen to own a Bear Vault 350 which I think is approved everywhere in the Sierras at this time. The earlier Bear Vault 200 and 250 are now not approved everywhere. If you have a 200 or 250 with you you can exchange it (for free) for a brand new Bear Vault 400 (while supplies last) at the Lone Pine Ranger Station. They appeared to have quite a stack of the new 400s last Thursday when I was there.

FYI, you can see a list of currently approved Bear Canisters at the following URL:

http://www.sierrawildbear.gov/foodstora ... ainers.htm

Pretty much everything you need to know about permits and trip planning is explained in the 11 page “Inyo National Forest Wilderness Areas Trip Planning Guideâ€
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