We weren’t able to reserve permits for our JMT hike this summer. We are trying to start out hike August 1st or 2nd. How difficult will it be to get a walk up permit? Any advice?
maroonbear
Permits! - John Muir Trail
system
#2
they reserve 40% of the permits for walk-up. i got a walk-up permit for Aug 15th in 2005. all you have to do is show up the day before you want the permit for and be the first in line. i got there about 30 minutes before the permit office opened, was the second or third in line. the people in front of me were not requesting JMT permits, so i got the permit i needed: happy isles/sunrise pass thru…according to the NPS wepsite there are 4 reserved for walk up each day, but if you were flexible, they reserve 12 for happy isles/ little yosemite valley.
jerm
system
#3
Jerm is right, but if you get there late in the day, or in the afternoon, stop by the office and ask then too. We showed up at 2pm just to check it out, and it turned out they had walk-in permits for THAT day. So unexpectedly, we hiked to Little Yosemite Valley from about 4pm till 6 or 7pm. It made a nice short day to start the trip.
markv
system
#4
In 03 we walked into the office in Yosemite Valley at 5 PM August 4 and got a permit for the next day. We were told if you don’t want to start at Happy Isles there are always permits available. A ranger at Whitney Portal complained that the folks in Yosemite did not put the Whitney Zone stamp on the permit.
Paparazzi
system
#5
I was aware of 8 people that started from happy isles on the JMT the same day we started, then met another two on the last day. So a total of 10, which is the days quota for the trailhead. like the others have said, if for some reason you don’t get one, just be flexible in you starting trailhead. there are other options: staying your first night in little yosemite valley, starting from glacier point, or even from tuolumne.
jerm
system
#6
Thanks you guys, this is really helpful. I think we may to try again with getting permits starting at Little Yosemite, but if not, it seems like we shouldn’t be too stressed about getting walk-up permits- we’ll just get up early!
maroonbear