Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Camping at Upper Boy Scout/Iceberg lake

What permit would you need to camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake/Iceberg lake in the Whitney Zone? The North Fork over night permit seems to limit camping to Lower Boy Scout Lake outside of the Whitney Zone and the Overnight Mt Whitney lottery permit is only for the Mt. Whitney Trail in the Whitney Zone.

Thanks,
Dan

Received this as a PM:

That "Day Use Mt. Whitney Zone" permit is good to climb either the Mountaineers Route or the Main Trail. But the key there is "Day Use". It is not intended to be used with any other permit.

If you want to camp at UBSL, you need the permit for the North Fork Lone Pine Creek JM34 Trail. (Please be aware, it is NOT a trail.) Quota for those is 10 per day, 6 reservable (and gone) 6 months in advance, with 4 available for walk-ins at 11 AM the day before entry. (At 11, they draw numbers out of a hat, and lowest number gets first crack at the permits available.) If there are any no-shows, they become available at 11 AM the day OF entry.

The "overnight visiting Mt Whitney" designation is required so you can even FIND the North Fork permit, and it also triggers the $15 per hiker charge for being within the Whitney Zone.

The NFLPC JM34 permit does not limit you to camping at LBSL. You can camp anywhere along that route, Lower Boy Scout Lake, Upper Boy Scout Lake, Iceberg Lake, or even the summit of Mt Whitney! The only thing you cannot do on that permit is exit via the Main Trail. That requires the "Overnight Exiting Mt Whitney" designation, which then gives you the second "Trail Crest Exit Permit" to select, which is required to use the Main Trail if you are coming in from anywhere other than the Main Trail (or outside of any Inyo National Forest trail head).

Steve,

I did not realize they did the lottery thingy for the North Fork backpacking permits. I thought it was the same as the rest of the forest...walk in at opening ask for your free pass to paradise.

You learn something new about Mt. Whitney everyday.

Oops! Don't quote me on the lottery for the North Fork walk-ins.

I think I may have assumed too much. Now that I think about it, I once got to the Lee Vining ranger station, since it is closest on my route over the Sierra, at 11 AM, and got two walk-in permits for the next day on the North Fork LPC trail.

But that may not be possible now, since it is within the Whitney Zone, and W.Z. permits are supposed to be available only at the Visitor Center s. of Lone Pine.

I should probably inquire about the current North Fork procedure.

If you have experience I would suggest beating the circus and get up there before May 1st. A friend and I are going up the last week of April, but I have done the MR and MT before and have winter alpine experience/ gear. Best of luck mate

The circus doesn't start until the end of May. If you check online, there are quite a few North Fork permits available through the first week of June. The first two weeks of May is wide open.