And now the rest of the story!
Construction to start 1 March and will start from Lone Pine Campground up to the Portal. Will you do your day hike in March ,April, May or even early June? So 4 months of construction before the main season even starts, recall the project is 8 months .
No construction on the weekends or Holidays, this as not a big factor since the permit system spread the use out over the days.
Why do you need to park along the road ? In the past the long term hiker would park in "your" spot for weeks or months. A traffic study was published several years ago and the counts show this to be the pattern. So with a parking pass you will now HAVE a Parking place near the trailhead.
Many are talking about shuttles now around the area , some are serious that the demand may not cover the cost required to run the service. The main season is from July to second week of Sept. say 10 weeks. (I use 7 for the Portal)
Day hikers will not see much of a change, they arrive between 2-4 AM and are on the trail. Most return before 8PM and the few that don't straggle in before 11 PM.
Overnight hikers will need to be in the Portal before 8 AM and most are since they have spent the night in the campgrounds if not they can drive in after 11 AM and start the hike ( this may mean you would spread you entire pack on the ground some where else for several hours before you start)also make Outpost area the first night ,do the hike to the Summit back to Outpost for another night and then down to the Portal and drive out between 11AM-1PM.
Last season a slight change in use patterns the Park Service put limits on the JMT entry trails , more started from the South than average(Portal) and other southern trail heads so the lots that would not fill until the 5 weekends during the season were full by early June. Also since we had very little snow many hikers started the long distance trails weeks early.
More people hiking the HST and PCT ,Pct hikers were restricted from resupply in the Portal but the word was out on the trail late so many came in and out.
The parking for the long distance hikes are about the same since you need to have a ride at one end plan on hitching a ride or shuttle or a pick up from someone in the group that didn't make the hike. Scout/hiking groups will rent buses to have the group picked up. Parking will be near Lone Pine Campground , the hike down is easy and very scenic. I would not hike up with a heavy pack.
Walkin permits will need a plan , THE KEY is have a shuttle lined up to take you to the Portal and drop you off; NO PARKING NO PERMIT rule ,but if you don't need parking you may get a permit. As always the sharper the tack........ Now those 200 people on the trail that you don't bother to engage during the day May have a ride for you????
We know many are going to come as always and get to the road closed sign and WTF I got papers !!! If you plan your trip you can avoid most of the problems and we will post updates often, the Permit office is posting on:
https://twitter.com/MtWhitneyInfo and the Forest Service will up date often.
You can go to
www.inyocounty.us Front page and look for RFP's /Bids topic about 1/3 down the page and the Whitney Portal Road project is linked to the main contract with all the details.
Now the end of the story So you see the road work will be going full bore(No tunnels pun) and you may need to wait in the lower section also or take the Detours that will be used , First suggested was Tuttle Creek Road to Horseshoe , very nice drive 1 1/2 lane road limited sight distance so go SLOW.
Second option is Lubken Canyon this is about 5 Miles South of Town again very nice drive but has a short section of 1 lane 1/2 mile so with traffic up and down you may need to wait for a clear path. Again this links to Horseshoe Meadow rd. going up turn right /Down left (as one of the surveyors ask Earlene one night which way left but that's another story). and to the Portal Road about 5 miles notice how the distance matches?
Ok for the few that want to miss the delays after the Upper section is finished take 395 North to Moffat Ranch Road about 6 miles N/O Lone Pine., Turn left off 395 and stay LEFT ON THIS dirt road and join Hogback Rd. about 2 miles west. Hogback Rd will take you to the Portal Road at the bottom of the First switchback /where the normal winter Road Closed sign is placed. Check all these options on Google Earth. SO you don't get lost !!!!!
