Preferred Camp sites at Portal?

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Preferred Camp sites at Portal? #34876 05/15/07 05:22 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 35 Greg Member
Greg Member Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 35	Hello. Can anyone tell me which campsites they feel are best at the Portal ? I will be doing one overnight stay at the end of June with my son, and I don't see a map of the facilities on the reservation website. I'd really appreciate any positive info / suggestions someone knowledgeable could give me. Thank you, Greg

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? Greg #34878 05/15/07 05:27 AM
Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal VersatileFred Member
VersatileFred Member Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal	What do you mean by "best?" If you are trying to make a reservation, only about 25 sites are reservable. Some of those do not have a lot of space for tents. Since no site is perfect for everyone, it would help if you could rank your preferences such as the following: near the creek large parking pad for RV large tent area shady area private area pit toilets You also can search the board for "best campsite" and "favorite campsite" to read previous posts on the subject, as discussed in Portal Campground. I put a general description of the campground at Whitney Portal Campground in the Orientation Notes. Note: I see that the map URL is down right now (since the map does not appear in my post), so that is why you could not see the map. Check back again tomorrow. You may also prefer to stay at Horseshoe Meadow (Cottonwood campgrounds) or Onion Valley since they are higher elevation and less crowded. Orientation Notes for Whitney First Timers

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? VersatileFred #34881 05/15/07 06:04 AM
Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal VersatileFred Member
VersatileFred Member Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal	I see that the Recreation.gov site now has the map accessible online (it was temporarily down). Here is the area map: Orientation Notes for Whitney First Timers

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? VersatileFred #34882 05/15/07 06:10 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,446 Studio City, Ca Ken Member
Ken Member Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,446 Studio City, Ca	That's odd. The map clearly shows the creek as Whitney Creek. In fact, it is Lone Pine Creek. Whitney Creek is the stream that drains Arctic Lake, Guitar Lake, and runs through Crabtree meadow west.

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? Ken #34887 05/15/07 07:18 AM
Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal VersatileFred Member
VersatileFred Member Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,309 SoCal	Ken, The map was copied over from the Reserve USA site to the Recreation.gov site, and that is one of several errors in their maps that I noted in the Orientation Notes. It has always been that way as far as I know. Orientation Notes for Whitney First Timers

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? Greg #34901 05/15/07 05:24 PM
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 1,871 wbtravis5152 Member
wbtravis5152 Member Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 1,871	For one night use the hiker in camping that is adjacent to the trailhead and bring ear plugs because Lone Pine Creek and late arrivers are unusually loud. We usually use the sites closer to the road than the creek, sites 8 and 9. The fee is now $8/pad for the night. Last edited by wbtravis5152; 05/15/07 05:25 PM. Mt. Whitney and Eastern Sierra Blog The Mt. Whitney Day Hike and Backpacking Page

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? wbtravis5152 #34931 05/15/07 10:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 35 Greg Member
Greg Member Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 35	Fred and Travis, Thank you for your information. It will help a lot. Greg P.S., I like the part about needing ear plugs, but of course I know you are correct Travis. So, I will do my best to use the suggestions.

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? Greg #34971 05/16/07 03:35 PM
Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 15 Southern California DecathlonV8 Member
DecathlonV8 Member Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 15 Southern California	I have campsite 11, anyone have an idea where that is relative to the map shown above??

Re: Preferred Camp sites at Portal? DecathlonV8 #35002 05/16/07 08:52 PM
Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 720 Oregunian! + @ti2d Member
+ @ti2d Member Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 720 Oregunian!	DecathlonV8: You are next to the Meysan Lakes Trailhead and the cabins. Hope this link helps. Have fun! http://www.recreation.gov/nrrs/Whitney_P...&parkId=357 Journey well...

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Mt. Whitney Weather Links

Upper Tyndall Creek
Elev 11,441’

Crabtree Meadows
Elev 10,700’

Cottonwood Lakes
Elev 10,196’

Lone Pine
Elev. 3,727’

Hunter Mountain
Elev. 6,880’

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