JMT/Permit

Plan A

(unless Plan B becomes Plan A because this part of Yosemite is touristy):

• Start in Yosemite, follow Official JMT over Donohue Pass
• new permit system has made these permits harder to come by
• map of Yosemite trailheads

Plan B

• source for most of this info: Adam White in this discussion

Start in Yosemite, and exit over Fernandez or Isberg Passes

• These permits will not be affected by the Donohue Pass quota
• there may be some bushwhacking, trail finding, or challenging crossings
• easier to get a ride this way

Start North or East of Yosemite, enter Yosemite and join the JMT and follow it over Donohue Pass

• permits will come from Inyo or Humboldt Toiyabe National Forests
• You will still have impact on Lyell Canyon (where the quota is attempting to minimize impact), so this option might not sit well

• Start at the Robinson Creek trailhead in the Hoover Wilderness
• Here's the route; You'll start from the Robinson Creek trailhead at Twin Lakes, and ascend Mule and Burro Passes, then follow Matterhorn Canyon to Virginia Canyon, then descend Cold Canyon to Glen Aulin, and follow the Tuolumne River to Tuolumne Meadows (and the JMT). The total distance is about 40 miles from the trailhead to Tuolumne Meadows (compared to about 22 for the JMT). From Tuolumne Meadows, follow the well-worn trail to Mt. Whitney.
  • Permits are straightforward: obtain from Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, here. Your trailhead is Robinson Creek, your first night could be Robinson Lakes (7.25 mi, 9,200 ft), Crown Lake (7.94 mi, 9,486 ft) or Matterhorn Canyon for permit purposes. You'll start outside of Inyo, so the Whitney exit quota won't apply to you. Feel free to exit at Whitney portal.

• start at Green Creek trailhead or Virginia Lakes trailhead.
  • Routes and profiles are here and here; same permit form as Robinson Creek, but use the appropriate trailhead. Distances to Tuolumne Meadows are 24-26 miles. I've not hiked either of these, but I'm sure many on here have. I imagine there's good camping in Virginia Canyon.

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 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.

Tips

• on filling out the permit for alternate exit from yosemite "I put down "Nearest legal campground halfway South to Lower Merced Pass Lake" for my first night campsite. I show Whitney Portal as the Exit Trailhead (but written alongside it (leave Yose at Isberg Pass) -- and for the question "I plan to exit over Donahue Pass, I chosed "NO" and entered Isberg Pass beneath it."