Hi All,

This year will be my first attempt at Whitney and I’m brand new to this site. I was granted four overnight permits, but only need two after losing half my group to attrition and lack of training/preparation (permit dates intentionally unpublished - for now).

So here’s my question: is there a particular etiquette or unspoken rule about posting available permits on this site? I didn’t notice any similar posts and can’t imagine I’m the one group leader that ended up with extra permits. Would it be more appropriate to simply let the USDA handle them? Obviously, I’m not going to pick-up all four unless I find someone that needs them. At the end of the day, I just want to see that they get used…could care less about the $15 cost.

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are. Perhaps even a site admin can give me some advice. I obviously don’t want to wreak havoc on the forum or flood my inbox with PMs.

Just cancel the 2 permits. They will be made available for reservations on the web site.

JKim, thanks for asking about the situation. There are lots of groups who have an extra space or two, just like you, for the same reasons. It's just that not many people write about the situation.

The easiest (and kindest) thing to do is as wazzu wrote: log into recreation.gov, and change the number of people on your permit. Those unused slots will be made available at a random time within 24 hours of their release. So someone will most likely snap them up.

If you held onto the slots, and offered them to people, you are still the group leader and responsible for the others. I'd sure not want to be in charge of a couple of unknowns.

If you did not return them via recreation.gov, but instead just walked into the Visitor Center and picked up two and dropped two, then those would be made available to people walking in.

Please, go online and release them early, so others can be sure of getting them, and can prepare for their own hike.

Thank you for the advice. I didn't realize I could change my permit reservation after I confirmed. I just freed up the two permits today and am happy to open up two slots for other hikers. I realize how challenging it can be to obtain permits, so I was just interested in making them available for others. Steve C - you make a good point about the "group leader" situation. I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for others obtaining a permit under my name.

Two weeks from now, I hope to be posting my first successful trip report to the summit.

Thanks!

JKim