The Mt. Whitney permit lottery has run, but not all those who were awarded a permit claimed it. These unclaimed permits are released on May 1st at 7 AM PT.
Unfortunately, when they release, permits will likely run out within minutes. Luckily, I can tell you in advance which dates will have availabilities so you can plan ahead!
The calendar below shows the number of unclaimed permits as of May 1 at 4:13 AM. But check again on April 30 for the final numbers because that’s the deadline to claim permits awarded during the lottery.
If you check Recreation.gov before May 1st, 7 AM PT, every date shows an “L” symbol. It means that these dates are pending the results from the lottery.
However, it’s possible to intercept requests made to the Recreation.gov server. The server replies with all the availability data, so we can read that data before the website hides it. It’s how Outdoor Status’ alerts service checks for availabilities.
Hi! I’m Jordan and I create tools for busy backpackers.
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