Thanks for the feedback. I did actually manage to get through to the Inyo NF Wilderness Permit office at (760) 873-2483. They were very nice. Yes, the situation is a mess. Everyone is flooding them with calls for virtual "permit pickups", info requests, and alike. And it doesn't help that the ranger stations don't have anyone manning phones. So the flood of calls is hitting a single line.
The 4 hours I spent dialing did finally produce results. I now have my NFLPC (JM34) permit for Jun 12 that's been issued to me via email.
Additionally I was able to find out several things.
1) The process for actually obtaining wilderness permits is indeed the same as described on this page:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5144746 (book on recreationg.gov then call the permitting office or ranger stations until you get through and get issued the actual permit via email)
2) Reservations for permits that are not "picked up" in this way will go into the "walk-up" pool for that day and will appear on recreation.gov 24hrs before jump date.
3) Whitney Portal gate is apparently still closed as of Jun 8 but should open any day now, maybe as soon as Jun 12.
4) Snow line is at ~9500ft, apparently. Although I am skeptical of this, b/c it was at 10500ft on Dana 2 weeks ago.
I should add that this information does not pertain to the Whitney Tourist Route permit lottery. I have no idea what's going on with that. This is just for generic Inyo wilderness permits.
Hope this helps whoever. Will try to post a report on conditions when I get back.
