Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Extra Permit July 26th Onion Valley- Kearsarge trail?

Hey travel wanderers,
Thought I'd post on here in hopes of finding someone that is either cancelling their permit or has extras available for an entry at Onion valley up to Kearsarge pass.

I'll be coming down the JMT and have some amazing trail angels willing to bring up a resupply over the pass Unfortunately, the passes are all booked up for July 26th.

I was hoping for some love on the forum or advice for alternatives, we're hoping they can stay up for a night and not have to hike all the way back that day.

Thanks in advance!

-Tony

Tony, so good you checked in here. Most people don't know this: The Kearsarge Pass trailhead has a daily quota of 60 hikers, and only 36 are reservable. The other 24 are held back for walk-in requests. Those walk-in permits become available at ANY Inyo ranger station (Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Bishop and Lone Pine) at 11 AM the day BEFORE the date-of-entry on the trail.

If your friends can get to a ranger station and be in line at 11 AM, they are sure to get a permit. Also, since there are so many reservable, there are bound to be no-shows on the hike day, too. The no-shows are made available on the date-of-entry at 11 AM -- a little late to start and make it over to the other side of the pass, but it is entirely possible.

And finally, a few good people will log on to recreation.gov and cancel their reserved permits if they can't go, so watch online, especially the week before the hike, and some may become available.

You can find the link to the PDF file showing the quotas on this Inyo page: Recreation Passes & Permits

Here's the rec.gov link for Kearsarge Pass for your dates. Bookmark it, check it often.

Thanks for the detailed info Steve. Unfortunately they can't get there the day before but I'll have them arrive promptly at 9am to see if there are any same and will continue to scour the website hoping for an opening. If anyone on the forums is planning on dropping one in that time frame, I'd be most appreciative if you could let me know so i can grab it.

What's the nearest permit pick up site to onion valley? Also, should they get there before 9, does a line form beforehand?

You can pick up Kearsarge Pass permits in any of the four Inyo N.F. ranger stations. From N to S: Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, Lone Pine.

BTW: just checked the Kearsarge Pass permits on the above link. There are currently 3 available July 29, and 6 on Aug 3. So keep checking!!!