Wilderness Permit Information

[wildhiker]

As I remember, Yosemite lets you put in second and third choices for your permit - either other days on the same trailhead, or other trailheads. I generally always put in three options, even if it looks like my first choice is available.
-Phil

[Wandering Daisy]

Happy to report that I did get a permit, third choice of the third application. I was surprised that Lyell Canyon (PCT/JMT) was available and Rafferty was not.

[wildhiker]

Happy to report that I did get a permit, third choice of the third application. I was surprised that Lyell Canyon (PCT/JMT) was available and Rafferty was not.

Lyell Canyon is a popular trailhead to start a southbound John Muir Trail thru-hike. Those are not legally possible now with the closure of the national forests, so there were probably a lot of cancellations.
-Phil

[Wandering Daisy]

Yes, that makes sense. Going in Lyell does add some creative route planning to remain in Yosemite, but having available water all along allows more first-day flexibility than Rafferty. By the way, another alternative to Rafferty would be Nelson Lake; these permits are mostly available because it is an "off-trail" route. You could to to Elizabeth Lake and then scoot over the ridge to Rafferty. My 9-day trip starts Tuesday and I will report the good, bad and ugly when I return.

[giantbrookie]

Hi Folks,

For those of you who get out more than me, I wonder if there has been an increase in Seki and Yosemite wilderness permit reservations with the USFS shutdown? I have not tried yet, because I don't plan to evolve a Plan B until late this month, but I was wondering if there has been an uptick in NP wilderness permit demand following the closure.

Anyhow I'm interested to hear what folks have observed.

[druid]

Hi Folks,

For those of you who get out more than me, I wonder if there has been an increase in Seki and Yosemite wilderness permit reservations with the USFS shutdown? I have not tried yet, because I don't plan to evolve a Plan B until late this month, but I was wondering if there has been an uptick in NP wilderness permit demand following the closure.

Anyhow I'm interested to hear what folks have observed.

I can only give you one data point, but my two-week lottery walk-up request for Yosemite was filled with my third choice (Nelson) after Rafferty and Lyell. I've entered at each of these trailheads before and would have been happy with any of them, but I was pretty sure Nelson would be the least popular of the three so I put it last.

The SEKI quota season ends September 18, so that may be your best bet for a late-season trip backup plan. Being able to check out the weather and smoke conditions at the last minute and then hop in the car and write your own permit is quite appealing.

[TurboHike]

Yesterday I reserved a permit for Bishop Pass in August 2022. The confirmation I received from recreation.gov mentions a new "print at home" feature that was not available last year. It says I can log into my recreation.gov account and look for the print permit button that will appear 7 days before the trip. Anyone else notice this? Full details are here:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/pas ... rdb5356869

[wildhiker]

Thanks for the info. When I reserved a Bishop Pass permit two weeks ago, the recreation.gov site only said that I should pick it up in person, or if I absolutely could not make it to the Visitor Center, that I should get the permit via email. Nothing about a print at home option. This must be new.
-Phil

[cjt93]

I'm planning a trip that roughly follows the North/South Loop with detours over Lamarck Col and into Ionian Basin. I'm trying to understand the permitting for continuing onto the John Muir Trail segment of the trip(Evolution Valley, Muir Pass, LeConte Canyon). It looks like if I were to do the loop clockwise, I would need the "Bishop Pass - South Lake" entry permit from Inyo National Forest. However, if I were to go counter-clockwise, would I need "Piute Pass" or would the "Lamarck Lakes" permit allow entry to Lamarck Col/John Muir Trail beyond it?

[commonloon]

I think you would want the Lamarck Lakes permit for Lamarck Col. You could also add a bit of distance and go over Alpine Col or the Keyhole via Piute Pass. Lamarck is the most straightforward of those 3. Bishop Pass sees the most traffic of all of those, so permits may be easier for the others. Hope that helps. Enjoy your hike.