Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board post-hike shower

If you're looking for a place to take a post-hike shower, consider Kirk's barbershop in Lone Pine, 2 blocks north of the light on the east side. The barbershop looks like a relic from the 1930s with old-fashioned barber chairs, snapshots pasted on one wall, and old-timers sitting in a row of chairs along the wall. Kirk may be a relic from the same era. The showers are $4 and include a fresh towel. Be sure the doors are ALL latched or someone may burst in. The showers aren't particularly clean, and the space is cramped, but how often do you have the chance to take a shower in an old-fashioned barbershop? Men may want a shave and haircut afterwards.

sipako,

Just to clarify for the sake of readers, many of whom are female, is this facility available and/or suitable for customers of both sexes/families?

I'm female, and it was okay. The shower room I used had a rickety latch. The barber was out when we arrived. A waiting customer pointed us to the back, so my friend and I each jumped into a shower stall. The one my male friend was in had a door to the back of the building. When the barber came in, he entered by the back door which wasn't latched since my friend wasn't expecting anyone to come in that way. I would have been embarrassed if I'd been in that shower, but I bet the barber would have been more embarrassed!

My guess is that an RV park would have cleaner, more spacious, more modern facilities, but I liked the atmosphere of the place. The customers were teasing me about needing a haircut when I came out. The barber admonished them not to insult his customers and urged us to ignore the riff-raff. It was like jumping back in time, or into Mayberry, and I got a kick out of it.