Did anyone else get a E-mail cancellation notice from recreation.gov today? I got a email saying that Mt. Whitney portal would be closed from July15-October 31 due to safety reasons. I am having wishful thinking that it’s just referring to the camping grounds and not the actual day pass. Does anyone have any further information on this? I tried calling Inyo forest services but can’t the line is busy.

If it is cancelled, do I cancel it myself for a refund or just hold on to it myself and they’ll do it for me? Not sure how that works out either

Did you have a reservation at the group campground?

Inyo National Forest has a new Forest Order closing all group campgrounds and a few remote campgrounds: https://www.sierrawave.net/inyo-national-forest-closes-group-camps-under-forest-order/

They are closing all group campgrounds on the Forest, Grandview in the White Mountains, and Kennedy Meadows out of Pearsonville.

Yeah, I had a reservation for the campground for July 26-27th. Also had a reservation for the day hike on July 27th. Will we still be able to do the day hike? Is there somewhere else we can camp? And I was wondering if we would be able to just sleep in our car the night before in the parking lot? Thanks!!

Whitney hiking permits are still valid. Individual sites at Whitney Portal are still open if you can reserve a spot, it appears that just the Group sites that are not going to be available this year.

I know people do sleep in their cars. Here is a thread:http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/38789/all

Other options include Individual sites at Whitney Portal or free camping anywhere in the Alabama Hills off Whitney Portal Road.

I have a permit for the 15th and received a confirmation reminder today, so I'm sure it is only regarding the campground.

That’s awesome to hear, thanks for the update

We were just talking about sleeping in the cars, the only problem is it’ll be 13 people in the group so going to be a challenge to plan. But where there’s a will there’s a way

Look at the little-used Ravine Campground area, with ~7 walk-in sites. Unfortunately they may be more heavily used this year due to the earthquake damage to the regular walk-in sites near the Trail head.

Here's a picture, and a link.

Horseshoe meadows is a great option if you want to do some acclimation.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recarea/?recid=20700

Would we need a permit for the ravine? I like that idea.

Also having a idea, not sure how it'll work, but possibly showing up to Whitney Portal and hiking and staying at Lone Pine Lake the day before and starting early on the permit day? Has anyone done that, or does that sound like a feasible idea?

Thank you everyone for the response...takes the stress out of trying to make the adjustments to enjoy the day hike!

Horseshoe Meadows AND the walk-ins at Whitney Portal are all first-come first-serve.

You need an overnight Wilderness Permit to camp overnight at Lone Pine lake. Those are the same as you need to camp anywhere on the Main Mt Whitney Trail.

Gotcha, I'll check and see if there are any available that I can get, thanks Steve

You need one permit per person for Wilderness Permits. You won't get 13. You need to use a walk-in campsite at Whitney Portal or Horseshoe Meadows.

Roger that!