Originally Posted by chrism202
Found this thread extremely useful for trying to 'pick up' my permit so wanted to provide an update as of Jun 26 (e.g. post earthquake).

I spent a lot of time trying the 760-873-2483 number, probably about 3-4 hours in total over three days. I also tried the *-2400 number. Both had zero luck.

I then tried calling the "Lone Pine Area – Mt. Whitney Ranger District" number (per this link: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5144746) - the number is 760-876-6200 ... got through within an hour of trying.

The lady with whom I spoke to on the end of the line told me that as of yesterday, all Whitney permits are being cancelled, however she indicated that I should call back daily leading up to my permit date (July 4th) to check the latest status. She also added that in her personal opinion, based on the damage she has seen, it would be unlikely to open in that time frame (7 days away as of this post).

I'm lucky in that I live in the Bay so only a half day's drive away so can make my go / no go decision <24 hours before my hike. Will be calling back Mon-Thurs next week to get the latest & will update here.

2020 ... what a year!

Just wanted to provide an update to this. I have been calling the 760-873-2483 number about 10-15 times every 2-3 hours since Monday morning at 8am and eventually got through at 3pm on Tuesday.

The ranger on the phone issued me my permit for 4th July and told me that the Inyo County Facebook page was the best place to see the latest information (I don't have a Facebook account but you can view the posts without one).

She also told me that the trail apparently has a lot of snow still, but they haven't had any super recent reports to know the latest. I plan to bring microspikes either way.