Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2024

There is no snow left on the trail, so you needn't worry about that. As far as camping at Outpost vs. Trail Camp, if you're coming straight from low altitude to do the hike, you are going to need as much acclimatization as possible, and camping at the highest altitudes will give you the best bang for your buck.

That said, Outpost camp is a gorgeous site, with lots of cover. Trail camp is completely exposed, so if it's hot, you'll have a hard time getting out of the sun.

Good luck!

The best sleeping altitude is the highest altitude AT WHICH YOU DON’T GET SICK. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know where that is until you have some experience. If you know that you tolerate altitude well, sleep at Trail Camp. But if you’re inexperienced or have had symptoms in the past, Outpost Camp is probably the better choice. An inexperienced team going from sea level directly to Trail Camp is definitely rolling the dice with AMS.

Flying out tomorrow from the northeast for a 8 day trip, cottonwood pass, miter basin, Crabtree pass, the dreaded sand hill to Whitney and then loop back south to try Langley and out at cottonwood lakes. I read somewhere that there is a cut off trail between the 2 trailheads?? Also any news if the water spigot is back on at the trailhead, thanks, we will be the ones huffing and puffing at least for the first few days.

There is a trail between Cottonwood Lakes TH and CP?TP Trailhead...lots of horse$417 on it...(smelly the last time I used it)

Water faucet handle was taken off the spigot at CP/TP Trailhead...I'd guess the same at CL Trailhead...don't know why water isn't running, but a guess would be the FS doesn't want/can't afford to do the water testing that seems to be required before enabling flow...(Doug???)

BTW: if you come down the NAP Trail, you can do South Forks as an alternative...and I would suggest putting up with the little bit of extra distance/elevation of NAP...Army Pass Trail was in ****** condition when I went up a few weeks ago (with only a day pack...definitely wouldn't have enjoyed a full load).

Crew working on getting Water on,they are testing and flushing now.

Thanks for the heads up on the water, made it to lone pine and carbo loaded on some chicken fried steak. Got to see the badwater runners today too, an added plus. Starting tomorrow, we do plan on going over NAP on the way out, burgers at the portal late next week.

Water is ON at the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead.

I was up hiking at Horseshoe Meadows and Kearsarge Pass last week.

Good hikes...Tuesday had rain with thunder on the loop from Cottonwood Pass to Trail Pass, otherwise good weather the other days.

I ran into an employee of Vista concessionaire that oversees the campgrounds. I asked him when they plan on having a camp host at Horseshoe Meadows. He said he was the camp host. I asked if he now stays at Horseshoe, and he said no. He also oversees Onion Valley he said.

I asked if any of the rules have changed, and he said he was not aware of any changes. I asked specifically about allowable camping nights at Horseshoe, and he said he thought it was the same as the Portal and Greys Meadow, seven nights.

I left the conversion with the thought that, one he doesn't know much, and two, from his perspective, business as usual,

Also, at the time I was there the water was off, and the employee didn't know why. The campground at Cottonwood Pass Trailhead was almost empty...don't know about Cottonwood Lakes.

Glad to hear that the water was back on. Now, if they can only get Onion Valley's water working again.

Paul

The era of the Sprinter Van converted to a Home...
Awnings...Patio Furnature...
It doesn't bother me...
Probably because I break lots of rules myself...


On another note...the new 395:


Spent a few hours crusing around Olancha (on a Dual Sport...not a dirt bike) trying to find a way to get north of it without have to cross Olancha Creek at the Power LIne Road...as you can see, the one spot I found where I could legally cross the highway construction, I was stopped by a locked gate...genuis...

I was at OV last week Tue & Wed nites. Surprised there was no host & no water. Water situation in my opinion may be due to last years heavy winter runoff & summer monsoons which may have taken out the infrastructure (?) & they just haven't seen fit to repair it...

I noticed that the reservation placards were at least a week out of date, so if you were just driving in you didn't know if those sites were reserved or not. But I suppose if they were open the placard would be reversed to say 'open' correct? Also there was a mix up with my first nite's site to say that it was double booked, which may have been a rec.gov issue? So I just found an open site, but when the ppl with the rez for that site showed up the next nite I had to move to another site...

Apparently the person you mentioned who is overseeing the CGs was there Wed but I was on the trail so I missed him. I wanted to ask some questions. The FS ranger I ran into said he shows up a couple times a week, which I personally don't think is adequate.

I don't get a good feeling about this new management 'style'. I think it's going to create more problems & I don't think the FS should be going in this direction. They need to be stepping it up not stepping it down. Am I wrong?...

I last camped in Onion Valley in August 2022 and had a pleasant and civilized experience there. But for July of this year, I read reviews such as:

"Toilet a mess. No TP." "Garbage cans overflowing." "It was chaos" (concerning reservations). "Many sights overgrown." "No water."

At $37 for a night ($29 + $8 reservation fee), it appears that OV is currently no bargain.

In Summary: CatB seems correct in her thinking.

Jim

PS- Admittedly, I have been spoiled by the management at the Whitney Portal Family Campground which is a gem of the Eastern Sierras. Thank you Emily and Bob.

The FS really needs to go back to pre-CV19 days...
Walk-in permits (It's rediculous that we have to pay 21 to climb Whitney and 11 almost everywhere else...and a non-functioning cancellation system)...FS Workers out in the field (haven't seen one at HM/CL in years)...well maintained Trailheads...

CatB...

The winter of 2017 caused the water system to fail. The water tank collapsed and also the road just before the parking lot washed out.

It took 2 years to fix the road. And as you can see, the water system is still out.

Last year, I ran into Ranger May a couple times, a very good and knowledgeable ranger.

I complained about the toilet situation at Onion, right there as we were talking, she got on the phone and called it in, and thanked me. She said that they rely on vendors to do their job, and sometimes they fail for whatever reason.

Getting back to the water system, at the time, she said that the budget included fixing the system...I believe 2025.

I also talked to her about the trail from Little Whitney Meadows to the Kern River. It's in terrible shape...not maintained. She said the California Conservation Corp is scheduled to work on it....not sure 2024 or 2025.

Ranger May spends a lot of time hiking, supervising trail work, monitoring pack trains, It’s a far cry from talking with the rangers at the Visitors Center. Usually, they are young, inexperienced and just repeat what is written for them. This is my 60th year and I know more about the rules and backcountry than they do. So, I usually avoid the Visitor's Center.

Paul

I did the Army - New Army Passes Loop again today...

Army Pass is snow-free.

The smoke west of the Sierra was pretty nasty looking...
The air up at HM/CL was clear...

Here are a few photos:


Langley.



Army Pass.



Looking east from the New Army Pass Trail.


Red Hill (Probablity Peak) was barely visible thru the smoke on the ride home...

I have to eat my words…
FS truck heading down the road as I was driving up HM Rd….

I picked up a cancellation a while back for 08.02…
Forecast shows storms for Wednesday night into Thursday…
Coming up to the Portal for dinner tomorrow…
Bringing the e-bike…
If the forecast is correct, I’ll be doing breakfast Friday morning…

BTW: hanging at CP…
O2 Sat at NAP the other day was 86, so I obviously lost my acclimatization…

That should be Thursday night into Friday…Doh!

Stepped off the plane this morning, hello humidity, ugh. Nice trip last week, cottonwood pass, miter basin, Crabtree pass, Whitney and back out CL. We only had 1 day of light rain and hail at chicken springs lake otherwise the wx was perfect. Miter basin was well worth the sweating and Crabtree pass was tough but pretty straightforward. I was more worried about the descent down to the upper lake but we went slow, ended up non issue. The morning we summited Whitney it was cold and windy, 6.30am but a nice sunrise. We met the Inyo ranger, (Jess?) very nice and professional, checked our permit. All the trails were in good shape and actually not as many hikers out in the mountains as I expected. Of course we went to the portal for a bacon cheeseburger once we got done, already missing the mountains. Tried posting some photos but my analog brain couldn’t figure it out. Everyone we met were really nice, kind of like it was before cell phones and texting, lol.

Around Mt. Whitney - 08.02.2024
============================

First Off...Best Wishes to Doug for a speedy recovery...apperntly, he's down south now trying to get well...

Second...if you're cancelling your trip due to smoke, you're a whimp...

Third...we're in the monsoon season...it makes for iffy conditions...2+ hours in 40mph wind-blown rain/??? is not fun...it is a good reason to cancel...

My permit was for a NF Climb...all of the forecast I checked had potential for rain/lightning from likely to slight...no way am I going up the MR under these circumstances...

So, I did the next best thing and headed up to Main Trail...got smoked by 2 beautiful young women about 2 miles in...(confirmed by having another short conversation a mile from the summit...that means they "beat" me by more than 2 miles over 10+...:-)

Arrived at the summit about 10:30am...cloudy, but not really threatening...

So, I headed back down and made the right turn (I was hoping for the "Where are you going?") down the West side...NPS Work Crew down low doing some Trail Maintenance...Cool conversation with Anthony...

Shortly after passing Guitar Lake, the sprinkles started...rain gear (only top) went on...

By the time I turned right up towards the Arctic, it was 40+mph wind in my face with torrential rain...lasted until I was nearly at the top of Whitney/Russell...the What am I doing thoughts took over...

More good convresation with some (real) climbers at Iceberg...heading up the Buttress Saturday...

Descending the MR was near hell...legs shot...slippery conditions...hit the deck 3 times...

Stopped for a second lunch at Clyde Meadow...wife made...reminded me again of Bob and his newspaper clip outs...

Another First...E-Ledges had me worried, so I tossed my poles down...got down safely...obviously...but couldn't find the poles...DOH!!!

2 Bacon Cheeseburgers in 2 days...Thanks Paul!

Here are a couple of photos:


View from Trail Crest.



View from Trail Crest.


BTW: I left an e-bike at the Portal (have fun Cayden) so I can transport myself back to HM...was thinking Fast Pack 2 days...but that ain't going to happen...to survive it, I'll need at least 3...(insert Damn, getting old sucks here)

No pictures of the fast females?