Just realized the permit lottery for the JMT is worth skipping, I got a walk-up out of Tuolumne Meadows instead
Everyone in my hiking group kept saying you have to win the lottery 6 months out or you're out of luck. I showed up at the Tuolumne Meadows ranger station at 7am on a Tuesday in August and had a permit for 12 days to Whitney Portal by 8:15. The lottery is fine if you need a fixed date, but the walk-up slots are way less picked over than people claim. Anyone else had luck just showing up at the station instead of playing the odds online?