What are the best JMT alternatives if you lose the Yosemite permit lottery?

Three alternatives cover most of what the JMT offers without the Yosemite lottery. The strongest is entering from the east side via Kearsarge Pass out of Onion Valley. Inyo National Forest permits are easier to obtain than Yosemite permits, and the route puts you on the southern 100 miles of the JMT, which includes Glen Pass, Forester Pass at 13,153 feet, and the Whitney finish. You skip Yosemite, but you get the highest and most remote portion of the trail.

Second is the High Sierra Trail: 72 miles from Crescent Meadow to Mount Whitney, crossing the Great Western Divide and joining the JMT for its final 18 miles. It shares the Whitney summit climax and generally has easier permits.

Third, the Rae Lakes Loop packs a spectacular JMT section into 41.4 miles over 3 to 5 days, including the Rae Lakes basin and Glen Pass, with a far more obtainable Kings Canyon permit.

And do not write off Yosemite entirely. Winners cancel, and those Donohue-eligible slots come back to Recreation.gov during the season. Watching for cancellations on your preferred start dates has put plenty of hikers on the trail in the same year they lost the lottery.