I got an update yesterday. What is currently in testing is the on-line access to all OTHER Inyo trails. Those are also going to on-line registration, likely in December, so people can start signing up 6 months in advance for their backpacking trips.

Once that area is working, focus will go to lottery registrations. Seems to me like a short window before February, but they already have lotteries for Boundary Waters and Salmon River, so the Whitney lottery will be similar to those.

I was assured that the Half Dome permit debacle will not be allowed here, where scalpers are scooping up many of the permits and selling them on Craigslist. For Inyo permits, they MUST be picked up in person, BY the person (or alternate) shown on the permit.

ReserveAmerica Boundary Waters Details page:  Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN

A commercial site's info page on Boundary Waters and the lottery:  BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) Reservation and Permit Information

Salmon-Challis National Forest lottery info:  Floating 4 Western Rivers

The cool thing with these other lotteries is that the registration period is Dec 1 to Jan 31, so we can explore those sites and become familiar, so the Whitney lottery will not be so unusual come Feb 1.