Originally Posted By: steelfrog
Good topic.
Question--what about the entry point? E.G., I have a Inyo permit for entering Taboose Pass (I think) and exiting the portal. What if I enter somewhere else, like up Baxter Pass or Onion Valley? What if I don't exit the Portal the day it says (i.e., earlier or later)? Or what if I enter Taboose Pass and go north, and exit somewhere else?


Your entry permit at Taboose Pass is good to enter and go wherever you want. Just tell the rangers when you pick up the permit what your final plans are.

But your permit is NOT good to enter on any other trail, or to enter on any other day. If you enter somewhere else, then you need a permit for that trail. And walk-ins for trails become available at 11 AM at any of the 4 Inyo National Forest ranger stations the day BEFORE you want to hike. (The Eastern Sierra is a very popular hiking area, easily accessible by people from the very populous So. Cal area, so all advance permits are usually taken well in advance.) See the trails and quotas here.   Availability here.

Now, if you are exiting to Whitney Portal via the MMWT (Main Mt Whitney Trail) and you are starting on an Inyo NF trail, then you also must have a Trail Crest exit permit. (See what wbtravis wrote above regarding +/- a day.) When you called for the Taboose permit, I hope they mentioned the Trail Crest exit permit (TCEP). And there is no exit permit requirement anywhere else in the Sierra -- ONLY at Trail Crest on the MMWT.

If you don't have the TCEP, call and get one now. They are probably already taken, but 40% (10) are held back for walk-ins. Since you are starting so far north, then your exit will be about a week later, so you should be one of the first to "walk in" and ask for a TCEP for that particular date.

An alternative would be to exit via Whitney Russell pass and the Whitney Mountaineers Route, leaving the JMT just before Guitar Lake, walking off-trail up past Arctic Lakes. It is a wide-open and easy valley to walk, and the only tricky part in descending is knowing where the route is past Clyde Meadow (thick willows), and the Ebersbacher Ledges. No exit permit would be required going that way.