Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Smoke ,no lattes

A few fires in California , we have smoke in the canyon and last night wind must of shifted my eyes were burning around 10 PM and could feel the burn in the throat. We have had worse and tried to hike in the smoke , you can not move quickly ,the air burns your throat and will make you cough. Sometimes the air will clear above 11,000-12,000 feet but I am sure you may have caused lung damage hiking in these conditions .
We are having request for products / items that you should be able to get in the City. Take note as you travel 13 miles to the end of the road the drinks with the nice design are only served after Nov. 1 on some years.

Campground full every night and the bears are very active breaking into cars and trucksand walking up to the open bear boxes as you are loading or unloading.

Added to this mask required in INYO County Indoors or OUTDOORS IF YOU can't maintain the 6 foot distance which will include the Whitney Trail and Portal since these are outside and gathering in groups fall into this rule. Hint Inyo County has now taken #1 in the State based on population for Covid and 9 deaths as of last night. So like the old TV show barker would say Come on down!

I'm selecting door #3 for right now.
The message here is like Bob Barkers quote "You can't fool television viewers with dancing girls and flashing lights."

I prefer lagers to lattes anyway.

Drinking a lager is the beverage equivalent of hiking up George Creek...

There's no smoke above the 15,000-foot level on Rattlesnake Hill.

Oh, yeah? Well, Barbara Lilley and I are sharing a pitcher of lager right now.

Three of us climbed the Swiss Arête on Mount Sill five years ago during the Walker Fire. Smoke was heavy and we had already hiked to the base of the climb and summit fever propelled us on. We paid for it with stinging eyes, coughs and didn’t feel good for a few days afterwards. Yes, we got the summit, but learned a valuable lesson. NEVER again climb in thick smoke.

The view that wasn’t. The lungs that suffered.

Señor, I surfed with Barbara Lilley. I knew Barbara Lilley. Barbara Lilley was a friend of mine. Señor, Barbara Lilley was no lager drinker! (As you well know, she said upon reaching most summits: "Ales, baby. It's all about the ales.")

I know where there is still a register with few sig’s that she and Gordon placed. A not often visited peak in Death Valley. She’s prolly there right now sipping two fingers of scotch whiskey.

Yes, I happen to know Ms. Lilley likes a little Lagavulin with her lager.

I’m trying to contact “Norma R” (posted the smokey picture) but am unable to PM her. The mailbox said she reached her limit. Norma please email me at woxdogs@gmail.com. Thanks.

Was also trying to PM Norma. Norma? PM box cleaning time?

Great info. From rather frequent checks of the smoke tracking maps, it looks like some parts of the days this week have still been very smokey in the Whitney Zone, from the fire just to the south and all the others, with some periods of clear air too. Has that been the actual experience on the ground as well? I have a permit for this weekend, but obviously do not want to get overly optimistic and make the mistake of starting out in a clear spell only to get socked in with hours of smoke later in the same day or overnight. I realize of course that no one can predict the air on a particular day, just interested to hear observations from the past few days. Thanks!

I had forgotten about the PM box. Turns out I hadn't used it in three years and had never emptied it since my first message way back when. Had fun perusing the messages and it will now accept new messages. Thanks for letting me know.

Norma

This reminded me that somewhere in old photos I have a register photo with Barbara Lilley and John Wedburg signature on the same page. Must find this

Smoke update some mornings clear,but at some point during the day the smoke will build in the canyon,some hikers not having trouble,many not going as the west side trail Crest to the summit may have heavy smoke before the Eastside,no reports from Horseshoe Meadow hikers but would expect they are in the smoke same with Onion Valley to Whitney.Many roads and trails closed south and west so check Park service sites for closures.

You mean this, or is that just the warm smell of colitas...?

Better than the warm smell of colitis...

Eh? I thought that's what I put. Damned autocorrect!