Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Permit rules

Question: In reading over the rules for group permits, all I see is reference that the group must enter and exit on the same day as the permit date. Can we start at different times? We have 4 ppl and we might start an hour earlier (2am as opposed to 3 am) than the other two.

We had a group of four that had two people get to the trailhead really late, so we split off into two groups. My buddy and I had the permit with us, so when the other two, who started later, got asked to see their permit, they of course didn't have it. They explained the situation to the guy though, and he either believed them, or figured that since they were staying at Trail Camp, they'd probably be asked again, so he allowed them to continue up the trail.

If I was going to do that again, I'd probably make a copy of the permit so that both parties had one to show.

A ranger told me that they were going to start issuing hang tags for packs again. They weren't doing this is June.

If you're going to split up and they're not doing tags, I would recommend making a copy of the permit.

If they see tags, will back off on the Wag Bag Stop & Frisk program?

I had a hang tag for my 6/9-11 trip. In my case, I was coming up from the west side, so mine was blue. I noticed others had manilla tags, so I figured that was the color code for the MMTW trail. Did you spend the night or day hike? I wonder what manilla indicated.

BTW, after reading the various interpretations of the WAG bag statutory effect, I asked the permitting ranger about the zone. I already knew this, but for some reason hadn't really processed it, but WAG bags are only required (per FS 'opinion' - may not really be legally valid) within the Whitney zone.

Guess what's not inside the zone? Yeah, not only Guitar/JMT, but the JMT/MMTW trail after the junction:

I had a manilla hang tag for my June 20 hike.

The Whitney Zone is strictly an Inyo National Forest area. Once you cross the Whitney crest, you're in Sequoia National Park, and no longer in the zone.

Overnight, 6/3-6/4.


Prob depends on the 'frisker.' I've never been asked to show my WAG bag, just my permit. maybe he was doing the sniff test, instead of the squish test.

Guess what else is not in the zone? The last couple of miles of trail, and the summit!

Clever tag, though: eight rhymes with eight!! Who knew??

When I did my day hike on June 12, it was a manilla tag. I wasn't stopped and questioned at anytime, but I'm sure enforcement activity increases with the busy season.

Steve,

I have always wondered about the SEKI portion of the zone. Every map I have seen of the zone includes SEKI ground.

Also, in '09 there was a basket of WAG Bags at the junction to Upper Crabtree Meadow as we head towards Guitar Lake from Forester Pass.

Here you go: The Inyo N.F map of the zone.
Note the zone boundary is the Whitney crest. So the trail between Trail Crest and the summit is in SEKI, not the W.Z.

The trail is drawn incorrectly just south of the summit, where it appears to be on the east side of the crest.

SEKI cooperates with Inyo on the WAG bags. Inyo NF sends the wag bags over to SEKI so hikers exiting via Trail Crest will have one to carry. With the numbers of people camping at Guitar Lake, I am sure they would appreciate people packing it out of there.

The PCT association has PCT permits, and they charge an extra $15 for hikers who say they want to hike in "the Whitney Zone". (I believe the fee is passed along to Inyo NF.) I wonder if they realize the hikers can summit Whitney and never enter the zone.

The PCTA does recognize this, and so no longer collects this fee nor issues any additional permit for summiting Whitney.

They DO issue permits for people entering the Whitney Zone:

http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/permits/

"Mt. Whitney Zone permit

There is a $15-per-person fee to enter the Whitney Zone in Inyo National Forest. The Whitney Zone stretches from the summit eastward. If you plan to visit Whitney Portal or Lone Pine, CA from the summit of Mount Whitney, you'll need to pay the Mt. Whitney fee. Holders of the Whitney Zone Permit should re-enter the wilderness within 48 hours of when they exit to resupply. No permits will be issued for trips originating from Whitney Portal."