Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Permit for Mount Russel

I know this topic has been covered over and over, but I'm still confused!! I want to travel overnight to climb Mount Russel. So it seems I need an overnight permit for North Fork Lone Pine Creek. But on the reservation.gov page the option to enter and exit North Fork does not exist! There is Overnight NF visiting Whitney, Overnight NF exiting whitney trail, crosscountry visiting W, crosscountry exiting Whitney. None of these seem to apply to entering and exiting North Fork, and not visiting Whitney!! Grrrrrr!! Can anyone clarify? I will call the Forest Service tomorrow, but I don't want to miss any possible openings for next week!!

Thanks!

This page seems to suggest that you need the NF/Whitney permit if you are hiking up the North Fork of Lone Pine creek to get to Russell. By "visiting Whitney," maybe they mean "visiting Whitney zone."

http://www.summitpost.org/mount-russell/150515 and http://www.summitpost.org/eastern-sierra/154084

Not definitive, but there it is for what it is worth....

I believe that you want to select "Overnight NF visiting Whitney." Even though you will not be taking the NF to Mount Whitney, you will be entering the "Whitney Zone" past LBS Lake.

As for the other options, "Overnight NF exiting whitney trail" is for people who stay overnight on NF, summit, and return via the main Whitney trail. Those permits are subject to the Trail Crest Exit Quota in addition to the NF entry quota.

Cross country implies no entrance on the NF.

Thank you! Since both responders agree I tend to think you are probably right. It is not super clear on the various websites so I just want to be sure!! It would be a bummer to arrive and realize I paid for the wrong permit! BTW, there aren't any available, hoping for wednesday or thursday. We will try the morning of and hope for the best!

Tina, the info above is correct. The North Fork permit quota (trail J34) is 6 reservable, and 4 held back for walk-in requests.

The 4 walk-ins become available at 11 AM the day before the entry date at the Visitor Center south of Lone Pine. If there are any no-shows in the 6 reserved, they become available at 11 AM on THE entry date.

There just aren't many permits given out for that route for overnighters, and I doubt you will find any cancellations online.

Now, if you can't get an overnight permit, you might like to try for a day hike -- Russell should be quite doable as a day hike, if you get started just before dawn. To enter the Whitney Zone for a day hike, whether you are going up the Main Mt Whitney Trail OR the North Fork to climb Mt Russell, you need the same Mt Whitney day hike permit. There are usually plenty of no-shows available at 2 PM the day before the hike, but you might even inquire/obtain those at 11 AM or earlier.

Thankyou! I think my confusion stems from the day use pass and overnight being different zones... Anyway we were shooting for fish hook...so hoping for an overnight, it should probably work out if we are in lone pine early the day before. I haven't spent much time in whitney zone because of the whole permit thing, but it is time to do the legwork in the name of ultra classic mountain climbing! Thanks y'all, see ya in the high country!

Glad to help, Tina. Say... if you make the climb and take pictures, it would be fun to see them. If you don't want to post them, you can send them to me and I will.

Since you wrote you haven't spent much time in the Whitney area, I was going to warn you about acclimatization. But then I looked up Bridgeport, and see the elevation is about 6500'. So you live in a semi-acclimated state -- better than the Coloradans who live at 5k and waltz up to all their fourteeners there. You will have no trouble!

Every time I go through Bridgeport, I just love the scenery -- all those jagged peaks in the distance, and the surrounding green grazing country.