North Fork Lone Pine Creek

I’m looking to climb East Buttress on Whitney this season. I was hoping someone can confirm some information I saw about permits on Recreation.gov. I looked up the trail and it just has a W for the dates that I want to go. So just walk-up permits? No need to reserve in advance? I’ve asked some local climbers at my gym and they have all said they had to get permits in the past whether that was a day before or reserved ahead of time. I’ve tried calling the office (probably about 30 times this past week) and haven’t been able to get a hold of anyone. Information from someone that has done this recently would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

The "walk-up" permits will be reserved online only this year for the Inyo National Forest due to COVID (they are milking that excuse). Read the Inyo NF web page for more info.

Edit: Unless they make a change this year in the issuance of the walk-up permits, here's how it works:

Every Monday, they load the formerly known as walk-up permits for the following week.  So if you wanted a permit for say, Tuesday, you would look on Recreation.gov two Mondays prior. 

The permits are loaded online at 7 AM, so be ready to pounce like a tiger on that, at 7 AM, sharp. Because the NF of LPC is a relatively low quota, they will go quickly for the entire week. Likely within a few minutes. Good luck.

2nd edit: To be clear, my understanding is that no permits will be issued in person. Just like last year

"Inyo National Forest - Recreation Passes & Permits" https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/inyo/passes-permits/recreation

3rd edit! Looks like you may be able to pick up the permit in person this year, after reserving it online. Click on the blue link on the above-referenced web page entitled "Permit Pick Up Instructions."

I can't wait for a fourth edit!

4th edit!  According to the website, walk-up permits will be loaded onto the Recreation.gov website, every day, two weeks prior to the entry date.

Last year, a whole week's worth of reservations would be loaded on Monday, for the following week. This edit supercedes the first edit. Ha ha.

5th edit: Read it yourself! I did it last year and it wasn't difficult. Understanding it is more difficult than doing it. You still need to be prompt at 7 AM, but you may not get the day of your first choice.

Sweet! Thanks so much for the info. You’ve been very helpful! 

Question about these permits. I see two options on the site for the North Fork permit- "overnight" and "overnight exiting mt Whitney". What are the difference between those? Does the "Mt Whitney" mean exiting the summit via the hiking route, or exiting the area via Whitney Portal? 

My plan is to climb the E buttress and descend the mountaineers route, so I'm wondering which permit option to apply for. 

Brooks K wrote:

Question about these permits. I see two options on the site for the North Fork permit- "overnight" and "overnight exiting mt Whitney". What are the difference between those? Does the "Mt Whitney" mean exiting the summit via the hiking route, or exiting the area via Whitney Portal? 

My plan is to climb the E buttress and descend the mountaineers route, so I'm wondering which permit option to apply for. 

You will want a permit for the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek, with the "overnight" option.

The "exiting Mt Whitney" option is for coming down the hikers trail, mostly for backpackers starting at trailheads outside of the Whitney Zone, such as Onion Valley, High Sierra trail, etc. (although it would likely apply if you went in via the North Fork, but returned on the hikers trail)

Has anyone gotten a "walk up" overnight permit this year? I called the Ranger Station and they said that these are released the day-of at 11:00 am online only. Just wondering if this is how it works and if anyone has been able to do this.