Walk in permits

[gary c.]

Do they normally just check for the permit while entering the trails? How are these enforced? I got permits for the Teton crest trail last year and we ended up not seeing any rangers and just camped where we wanted. Obviously, we were respectful and there was always plenty of space.

I have been checked for permits twice on the Kearsarge Trail, once at Cottonwood Lakes, Once at Hilton Lakes, once in the Mono Creek area, and countless times in Yosemite.

[rlown]

ditto on Yose.

[cahiker]

About three years ago there was a ranger stationed at Merhton Creek with a clipboard and a list of everyone who had a Crescent Meadows or Alta permit starting that day. As you hiked by you gave your name and were checked off. I've also seen the same thing for the Lakes Trail, where the ranger wandered around the campsites at Pear Lake.

I also hiked out over Kearsarge Pass once on Saturday of Labor Day weekend to pick up a resupply. There was a ranger on-trail checking permits and a group without permits insisting they were day hiking even though they had full packs. Others hiking in were asked to wait to show their permits while the ranger chased the yahoos up the trail. Since we were headed out we hiked on and didn't see the resolution. I'm guessing this was a job for the "new guy".

[Enigmagic]

I wonder if part of failing to get a HST permit reservation is the limit on Whitney exit permits, regardless of where you enter? I wonder what would happen if you did not call it "HST" and then exited Vacation Pass to George Creek? (not that you would do this, but just experiment to see if it makes a difference). Or exit a non-quota TH like Tuttle Creek via Tuttle Pass (again feasible, but nothing you really want to do)? What about exiting Cottonwood or New Army?

The exit quota only applies to Inyo permits:

Trail Crest exit quota limits the number of visitors allowed to descend the Mt. Whitney Trail to Whitney Portal Road. <snipped>.
Hikers that begin their trip in another park or forest are exempt from this exit quota.

[Wandering Daisy]

So do permits originating outside of Inyo NF allow you only to "walk out" or can you camp on the Inyo side on your exit?

Does anyone know if there is any document that specifies ALL the various agencies' permit regulations in the Sierra? That would be handy.

[Enigmagic]

So do permits originating outside of Inyo NF allow you only to "walk out" or can you camp on the Inyo side on your exit?

Plenty of people hiking the JMT and HST camp in the Whitney Zone, I just assume it is legal. I haven't seen anything written specifically about non-Inyo permits though, they just say permits written from the agencies below are valid in Inyo:

• Yosemite National Park
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
• Sierra National Forest
• Sequoia National Forest
• Humboldt/Toiyabe National Forest

Inyo permits seem to have three ways to camp here: an overnight permit starting at Whitney Portal, an overnight permit with a Trail Crest/Whitney Portal exit, or any Inyo permit with a "Whitney Zone" stamp ($10 fee).

Does anyone know if there is any document that specifies ALL the various agencies' permit regulations in the Sierra? That would be handy.

Hoping someone does, it's a bit of a mess trying to understand all of this.

[oleander]

There is a ranger permanently stationed at Bearpaw Meadow. Both times I've been on the HST in the past few years, that same ranger checked my permit: Once at Bearpaw Meadow, another time at Buck Creek.

Ninemile, Buck Creek, and Bearpaw are all awkward, limited, & crowded places to camp. I would not be surprised if the revocation of rights to use Alta to get to the HST is intended to restore these camps a bit, on top of preventing a Hamilton/Precipice overrun.

If the Alta restriction reduces the substantial human impact that area has taken in the last decade, I'm for it...Even though this means I may need to reroute some loops ideas I've had.

Returning to your options, OP: One other option is to get a permit to start from Rowell Meadow (Jennie Lakes Wilderness) and trek over beautiful (and quiet) Colby Pass, descending a beautiful valley to meet the HST in Kern Canyon just before the ascent up Wallace Creek. A worthy trans-Sierra that not too many people do. Twin Lakes Trailhead right out of Lodgepole would get you to that same route over Colby, with a few more walking miles, but a few less driving miles to the TH. I don't know about Rowell, but Twin Lakes is reservable in advance. That said, if you are talking about an advance reservation, rather than a walk-in, I'd probably favor Timber Gap as someone else mentioned. It's a longer drive in - adds 60 to 90 minutes compared to the drive to Lodgepole - but would get you to the backcountry faster.

Last point: I'd caution people's notion that they'll evade rangers. In the past 5 years I have been checked at all these places (and likely some others I'm forgetting):

Little Lakes Valley
Pine Creek
Sabrina Basin (Blue Lake)
Trail to Blackcap Basin
Desolation Wilderness
Glen Pass
HST x2 as mentioned above

It's nice for all of us when people honor the quota system and help keep our wild places from being irrevocably overrun

[grampy]

... I don't know about Rowell, but Twin Lakes is reservable in advance ...

If starting from Rowell Meadow trailhead (or Marvin Pass or Big Meadow) and you want to head to Roaring River and beyond, you would request a SEKI “Sugarloaf” permit - reservable on Recreation.com

[Wandering Daisy]

I would still try to get the walk-in permit, but have other plans, such as the ones Oleander suggested.

I think it is legal to reserve an alternative route, and then trade that for a walk-in for your desired HST route, if it becomes available. At least it used to be legal. I have "traded in" a reserved Whitney Zone permit to climb for a long backpack route when my partner could not make it. I instead did the yo-yo HST to Precipice Lake, dh down to Hamilton and then back to Whitney on a different route.

Or postpone until next year. A lot of the permit mess this year is the combination of transition to a new system and lingering uncertainty with COVID rules.