Mt Whitney Zone Forums Thread Like Summary - If permit holder can't complete the hike

Question: If our group is hiking up and the permit holder can't go on and needs to come down, does the rest of the group need to descend too? Or can they continue the hike?

It’s best to stay together, but there is no rule requiring it. If you meet a ranger on the trail, and the leader and the permit are elsewhere, it would come down to whether the ranger believes your story. I don’t think they would issue citations unless they thought you were trying to pull a fast one.

A story that may be instructive: Many years ago, I climbed Mt. Shasta with a group of friends. Marek thought the permit/pass system was B.S., and didn’t bother getting one. Everybody else played by the rules. A ranger showed up while we were hanging out on the summit. He promptly asked Marek for his permit/pass. Marek gave the ranger some lip. The ranger gave Marek a ticket. The ranger never asked anyone else for his permit/pass. Someone asked the ranger why he didn’t ask anyone else for his permit/pass. The ranger said that Marek was the only one who looked guilty.

TDB: Everyone take a picture of the leader's permit. They used to give each member of a party a tag to hang from their day pack. I hope they are still doing that.

... and don't look guilty!