Those of you who've done Whitney or anything in Inyo backcountry in the past week, how did you actually "pick up" your permit?
Hi 55! As I understand it, nobody has done Whitney at all since the permit season started. They outright cancelled all permits for May, and rolled out a one-week advance notice system starting in June. So, for example, if you have a permit for a date next week it would show as cancelled by now. If you have a date two weeks from now, you'll need to wait until next week to see if they cancel it, and so on. The best (only?) way to find out if your hike permit has been cancelled is by logging into Recreation.gov and checking on the "My Reservations" page. This is a really short window of time, especially for those who have to make travel plans, but they would rather cancel in small chunks than block out entire months at once. That way, if conditions improve, they can open ASAP. Hope this helps!
