Editing JMT/Permit (section)

===Start South of Yosemite, join the JMT South of Yosemite===
*skip Donohue Pass and Yosemite, but fear not, all of Yosemite on the JMT is eminently dayhike-able. Come back some other time and do it. 
*Permits will either be from Inyo National Forest (if you enter from the east, which is what I would recommend) or Sierra National Forest (if you enter from the west).

*Start at the Rush Creek Trailhead, hike up Donohue from the South
**People have bad things to say about the Rush Creek trailhead. I get it. It's no South Lake trailhead. It's hot; there are dams, and cart tracks, and you have to climb. It could even be a little dusty. So what? You're climbing to Thousand Island Lake, a gem of the Sierra. Quit complaining.
**Route is [https://awhite4777.pythonanywhere.com/SierraMapperAlpha/default/mapper/m131/n067/m033/m045 here]; my approach would be to hike out of Rush Creek, and drop your stuff at the JMT junction (aka Rush Creek crossing, 9.43 miles in). Either hike up and down Donohue that day (add another 8 miles) packless, or wake up and do it (packless) the next morning.
**Skip the ascent of Donohue if you want to save 8 miles, and don't care about getting visiting Donohue Pass. But this approach gives you an opportunity to visit Donohue Pass, while respecting the impact to Lyell Canyon (and getting you up your first major pass packless!).
**Permits are from Inyo National Forest at recreation.gov--look for the Rush Creek Trailhead wilderness permits (AA05). The Whitney Exit quota will apply, which might make getting this a little more difficult than the Hoover options above. Alternatively, don't exit at Whitney--do it at Cottonwood Lakes or Cottonwood Pass, just a bit south of Whitney, and don't worry about the quota.