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

Is the gate closed at the Portal Road? We would like to snowshoe/hike up to the store and possibly a bit beyond depending on conditions. Looking at New Year’s weekend. Thank you.

It's officially listed as Closed for the season...

https://www.inyocounty.us/services/public-works/news/inyo-county-road-openclosed-status

I've been meaning to ride up to Lone Pine for a couple of weeks now...
If I make it up before someone else responds, I'll post a report.

We went up during the last storm , road closed sign is up and the upper gate is in place about 1 mile below the store.

Lower section of the road had some snow , but at the tree line Main Family Camopground the snow was building up and at the store the new snow was about 6 inches over the last system and coming down heavy so I would think at least a foot of fresh snow at the Portal but much more above.

For years I thought that the Rec Trail up from Lone Pine Campground was good winter hike but after hiking this trail and seeing the rockfall and snow conditions( trail in in the shadow of Lone Pine Peak and gets little or no sun so the snow doesn't pack) Plus the bridge could be out at the Meysan crossing and the next section can be very steep as the trail is gone) I would suggest taking the road up.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep checking the page for current conditions.

Morning, just curious about current conditions for hiking and parking Whitney Portal Road. Might drive up this weekend. Everything is based on the weather and from the looks of the forecast the conditions will keep changing.

Doug went up yesterday to about the top of the first switch back,raining and light snow . Above that several days ago he walked into the Portal snow was about 6-8 inches on top of base. Checking this AM you can see spin drift off Whitney so one system is moving out.

Many years the snow level is down at Lone Pine Campground or lower this time of the year. A quick look at the weather NOAA 7 day forcast , a chance for snow until next Tuesday. With the most on Saturday , that said I recall one year same type of report 1 inch at 7000' overnight it turned into drifts of 7 feet and a solid base of 3-4 feet just above Lone Pine Campground (we call this the year the Subby was buried)

Loving that I'm seeing the Crabtree station reporting 52" of snow...
Maybe a good winter for a change?

Speaking of the younger Doug...



Three years after we had our initial conversation, I finally found a dealer who was willing to give me a good deal...(Sold out for the longest time...)
(430 RR-S)

I only made it up to about 6,100' on Hogback Road due to snow/ice. (Definitely didn't want to drop the new bike.)

There is a LOT of snow in the Sierra (and north - bought the bike in Oregon).

We've got to do a ride together before the season starts (not that far away).

BTW: amazing bike...when I looked at the track at home, I had ridden nearly 80 miles of mostly dirt...how I did it is beyond me...I guess it was just too much fun to stop...I was a little concerned about fuel efficiency when the fuel warning lit up...turns out it's getting about 47mpg...not bad for a race bike with lights...

Conditions on Presidents' Day, 2023...






Quite a bit of melt going on, but this info will probably be irrelevant in the next few days...

Ran into a couple of climbers coming down from the MR...reported good boot track to the summit...saw 7 in a guided group. heading up, on their way down...

I rode through Death Valley both ways (way too much traffic on 395 for my taste). No signs of wildflowers yet, but quite a bit of green starting to show in the desert...