Thanks.......
Every year I would take the Trail Pass route down to the Kern and loop back around. Sometimes I take this route 3 or 4 times.
I would drive up from Santa Clarita, arrive at the Visitor's Center before closing and get my permit, never having to worry about quotas.
Oh how things have changed.
This is my 56th year of hiking in the Sierras.
So, I now have to watch for a release of permits for Trail Pass in order to get one.
Pul
If they don't show up in the next few days due to recreation.gov system problems, you could just grab a "Cottonwood Pass" Permit (quota permit). You can even put south bound PCT campsites in your permit when I tried it. Then take the "magic" shortcut straight up the Trail Pass if you don't want to actually go up Cottonwood Pass and loop back south on the PCT.
