About this permit
Kearsarge Pass is an Inyo National Forest wilderness permit for the Onion Valley trailhead, 13 miles west of Independence. The trail climbs 2,600 feet from 9,100 feet at the road to 11,700 feet at the pass, then drops into Kings Canyon National Park and meets the John Muir Trail near Bullfrog Lake, 6.5 miles from the car.
Inyo runs a different reservation system from Yosemite's. There is no lottery: 60% of each trail's quota is released six months in advance at 7 am Pacific, and the remaining 40% two weeks in advance on the same day of the week. A listing showing "NR" means the first 60% is gone and the second tranche has not dropped yet.
Quota season runs May 1 to November 1. Outside it, permits are unlimited and bookable up to two weeks ahead.
The route
Inyo National Forest describes the route in one sentence worth reading twice: "The Kearsarge Pass trail begins at an elevation of 9,100 ft. at Onion Valley and climbs through forests and alpine tundra past several lakes including Big and Little Pothole, Gilbert, and Flower Lakes on the way to Kearsarge Pass at 11,700 ft." That is 2,600 feet of climbing on the east side, most of it in the open.
From the pass the trail crosses into Kings Canyon National Park and drops toward the Kearsarge Lakes basin, joining the John Muir Trail near Bullfrog Lake 6.5 miles from the car. Sequoia and Kings Canyon rules take over at the boundary and they are stricter than the forest's: no camping within a quarter mile of Bullfrog Lake, and a two-night limit at Charlotte and Kearsarge Lakes and along the JMT from Woods Creek Crossing to Vidette Meadow.
From the junction most people go one of two ways. North on the JMT takes you into the Rae Lakes country and the Rae Lakes Loop. South takes you toward Forester Pass, Crabtree and eventually Whitney. If you plan to finish at Whitney Portal, Inyo requires the permit to name "Mt Whitney (Trail Crest Exit)" as the exit point, because Whitney Portal carries a separate exit quota.
Why it matters
Every JMT hiker who fails the Yosemite lottery ends up looking at this trailhead. Inyo National Forest's own description puts it plainly: the trail joins the John Muir Trail near Bullfrog Lake and is "a popular choice for going to the Rae Lakes area and this section of the John Muir Trail." It is also the standard resupply exit for southbound JMT hikers, who drop over the pass to Independence and climb back the next day.
The feeling
The road ends abruptly in a bowl at Onion Valley and the trail goes straight up the wall of it. You pass Little Pothole, then Gilbert, then Flower Lakes, each one a little smaller and colder than the last, and the trees give out somewhere around the third. At the pass the whole thing flips: the Owens Valley drops away behind you and Kings Canyon opens west in a wall of granite.
