Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board White Mountain by bicycle?

I'm thrilled with anticipation of my first Whitney trip (Sept 16-17, camping at Trail Camp). Time to find out if nine months of training will be sufficient to drag these 52-year-old bones to the upper reaches.

I'm planning an acclimatizing hike on White Mountain on the 13th (my first visit there also), but awoke this morning with an idea: Since the trail is apparently a Jeep road and not too steep, it might be fun to cover some of the miles by bicycle. Has anyone tried that? My bike is not of the heavy-duty mountain variety, but a hybrid.

I have seen bikers up on the White Mtn trail, yes, but I would also recommend a good mountain bike. In my opinion, acclimatizing on any trail/camp in the Eastern Sierra is sufficient, so long as you remember the other things: eat, sleep, and drink lots of water. As you know, White Mtn itself is at comparable elevation to Whitney and when I did a midnight hike there once I felt the effects of altitude just the same. Acclimatizing on a 14,000 peak to prep for a 14,000 peak seems a bit funny to me!

BrotherJim,

Good luck with your first attempt.I did mine a few months ago and it was awesome.I also have done White Mtn Pk.You could ride a bike most of the way but at that altitude I believe hiking it is plenty of a warm up to Whitney.There is only a few hundred feet of elevation difference.You are very exposed on the trail,no trees or shade.Bring plenty of water,there is none on the trail and it is 14 miles round trip.Also don't burn yourself out right before the big hike.Rest the day before if possible.Have fun.

Been there, done that. I took my non-sprung mountain bike to the top some years back, even dragged it up the ladder and rode around in circles on the flat-topped roof of the hut ...just to say I did. :-) But I was in better shape -- we had climbed Mt. Darwin west of Bishop the day before.

You can ride the jeep trail, very slowly, because it has lots of fist-sized rocks in the path. When I got to the big climb at the end, I was just pushing the bike to the top -- a 30 pound bike is like a backpack, so you climb about as slowly as you would carrying a full pack. Going down is ok -- It would have been much more fun with my new bike with shocks front and rear. On the way back on that trip, a rock pierced the side of my buddy's tire, so we had to walk it out the last several miles.

Took the bikes in a second time a few years later, and a walking hiker actually beat us out -- due to the rocky road.

Acclimating on White Mountain is good -- it gets you up high, but is not as strenuous as Whitney, since you drive clear up to 12,000 ft.

Have fun!

If I summit White Mountain that's great, but the main intent is acclimatizing for Whitney. Even going half way will fulfill my purpose. Then I'll have two easy days to hang around Mammoth Lakes before hitting the Portal.

Steve C: Thanks for the chuckle. I'm trying to picture you riding your bike around on the roof of the hut at the summit! Did you get pictures of that? I understand there used to be a ladder at the hut but that it has been removed. (To make it more challenging for bicycle enthusiasts? )

BrotherJim -- I used the ladder on July 31, so it was there that recently. Several bikers arrived at the summit a few minutes after we got there by walking. We saw other bikers headed up as we descended. We may give it a try next summer. I agree with the previous posters that you'd want a pretty good moiuntain bike to go all the way to the top. But you can get well beyond the Barcroft Station with a hybrid. Also, there are miles of dirt road between the Visitor Center and the "trailhead" (i.e., the closed but not locked gate) that would be fun to ride. They'd be below 11500', but still at high altitude.

We hiked White Mountain during a research station open house (when they let you drive up to Barcroft Station) and saw dozens of mountain bikes on the trail. There were even a couple of guys who made it to the peak (and the roof) on unicycles! But the sturdier mountain bikes definitely seemed to have an easier time where the trail gets rough near the top.

If I ever go back to White Mountain I am bringing my bike. I am not sure you could ride the whole way (like up the first hill to the research facility or maybe the last 200-300 feet) without a mountain bike.

But the whole middle section is very flat for 4+ miles and a drag to walk, especially on the way down. Having your bike a few hundred feet from the summit would make getting back to the car an enjoyable experience.

The following link will take you to a couple of albums that show the White Mountain Peak Trail.

<a href="http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/California%20Mountains/12620">White Mountain Peak</a>

I was at the Open House in 2002. When I was on the summit a unicyclist showed up at the summit (he rode the whole way up, or so he claimed), proceeded up to the roof and entertained us by riding around on it.

This year, we found the ladder leaning up against the summit hut at the back of the building. I think they moved it due to the solar panels that are now on the roof.

I've ridden parts of the road on two occasions. It definitely goes much better if you are already acclimatized. And, it would take someone with much better bike handling skills than I have to ride the whole route (the loose scree near the summit was too much for me on both rides).

Great pics - very helpful! The trail looks quite rocky in spots but the bike should come in handy for that somewhat flat four-mile middle section. I'll go to the bike shop today to get a back rack for my pack (keep the rhymes in the sack, Jack), and also the best tires that will fit my rims.

If I go for the summit, I'll park the wheels and ride shanks' mare in the last section.

Interesting side note: The Barcroft website says they had open gate day last Sunday. So you'd be able to drive in further, although the research facility itself was not open.

I met an amazing guy nine years ago on this trail. He said he biked from Big Pine. We watched him summit and then start back. Assuming he was not fibbing and his car was parked at Grandview campground, this was quite and accomplishment, approximately 42 miles each way?

Just something to shoot for.