Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Tip for October , please

I am taking my wife up 395 from the San Diego area on the 2nd weekend in October. This will be her first time to see the Eastern side. Will we axperience any "fall colors?" I am fairly new to the area myself having drove up to Lone Pine/Whitney Portal a month ago for the first time and just fell in love with the area.

We will probably arrive in Lone Pine around 3 or 4pm on Friday and drive up to the Portal for an hour or so. I was planning on staying the night near Bishop at a nearby campground (camp in the truck or tent). We will not be planning any overnight hike but would like to do a day hike near bishop and head north on 395 afterwards and end up at another good camp spot Saturday night. Not sure if we should head towards Mammoth, June Lake area or Take Hwy 120 west towards Yosemite for Saturday PM.
WE would also like to do a short dayhike on Sunday PM. We are planning on being back to San Diego by around 10PM Sunday night.

1. Any "fall colors?"
2. Any suggestions for a Friday night stay?
3. Saturday dayhike?
4. Saturday night stay?
5. Sunday dayhike?

Also, any good eateries for snacks and such along the way?
Can anyone just plan my entire trip? (just kidding).

Thanks for reading.

For fall colors, check this thread:

Date for peak fall colors?

You should find some nice places.

Steve C, thanks. That Rush Creek trail looks like an awesome experience for a first timer. We will not have enough time to do too many miles but I am sure we will get some great views even if we do a moderate dayhike. It also looks like we could even camp there.

Do you have any 4-6 hour (roundtrip) dayhikes near Bishop that you would recommend?

My 2cents worth would be to check out the South Lake, Sabrina or North Lake area. Take 120 west out of Bishop about a half hour up into some of the most beautiful country anywhere. Should be plenty of fall color. There are nice campgrounds up there that should be open. I've not hiked that area too much but others can point you in right direction. You may not want to leave but there are other awesome places up 395 like Rock Creek, Lee Vining, Tioga Pass, Bridgeport. Too many people around Mammoth though the scenery is also beautiful.

Check out the links in Driving North for more ideas.

I assume that you mean Highway 168.

Bishop pass out of South lake is maybe 4-6 hours round trip depending on your fitness. Nice hike thru lakes etc.

Paiute Pass out of North lake is probably about the same time, great views, lakes, not as many folks as Bishop pass.

You can go to Wilson's Eastside sports in downtown Bishop, just north of the East Line street intersection you would head west on to get out to Lake Sabrina area (north lake and south lake). Wilson's will have maps and the folks there know the area and are friendly.

Also don't pass up a trip to the white mountains, maybe no "fall color" but the Bristle Cone pines and the immense solitude is worth the drive. Take hwy 168 East out of Big Pine (be sure to bring water, and plenty of gas).

Have fun, I wish I was going!

To answer your questions...

1. Fall Color...there are a lot of areas with aspens changing color. I lot of what is good depends on the elevation of the trees. Therefore, if Rock Creek Canyon is not good, June Lake or Conway Summit might be. Those are the area I like to go.

2. Friday Night...Whitney Portal is as good a place as any. This puts you 2 hours from Mammoth and a short walk from a pancake breakfast.

3 and 5. Day Hikes...Bishop Pass, Little Lakes Valley, Mono Pass (S), Saddlebag Lake or Virginia Pass...pick your poison.

4. Saturday Night...June Lake Campground. It is in the middle of town and if you want to utilize the restaurants they are within walking distance. I like to have breakfast at the Double Eagle Resort and watch the waterfall come off of Carson Peak.

Yeah, bunches of good places to eat...

The Still Life Cafe in Independence...Bring someone else's American Express Card.

Jack's and Schat's in Bishop

The Mobil Station in Lee Vining...Don't laugh, this is one of the best places in the Eastern Sierra to eat.

The Tioga Resort...Limited seating but great, great food.

Drive through Mammoth, camp at Red's Meadow or Agnew Meadows. A day hike from Agnew Meadows down to the river trail and up toward Thousand Island Lake should be picturesque that time of year.

Lots of good places around Mammoth to eat. Breakfast at Blondie's (great waffles), Ocean Harvest for seafood (expensive), or just wander along Old Mammoth Road (where Ocean Harvest is) and pick what looks good.

Lots of options...

I was wondering if someone would mention The Double Eagle Resort and Creekside Spa west of June Lake. What a wonderful place in a beautiful and austere setting! You may think its a bit too much civilization but it truly seems to fit its surroundings.

Want your wife to be more head-over-heels appreciative of you than she already is? Give her her choice of massage at the spa even if you only have a couple of hours. My friends gave me this as a birthday gift while staying in Mammoth. Although I didn't have the time to take full advantage of the other spa features that come with the price of any "service" (I only had about 40 min. in there before my 1 hr massage <<aaahh, the steam room with eucalyptus!!>> and about 1.25 hrs for lunch), I would do it again in a heartbeat! And having lunch was a great way to end my visit, sitting with a new found level of relaxed bliss after my incredible massage watching the waterfall wbtravis refers to in the distance. I was barely coherent!

Well, this is, of course, only if you have time and are interested in this kind of thing. The resort is always there but the fall colors are only once a year. It shouldn't be something she'll ever forget though! http://doubleeagle.com/

I did not mention the restaurant for dinner because I had a bad meal there a few years ago. This is not to say things have changed but for their prices I'm twice shy, especially with the Mobil Station within driving distance.

Funny you say that. I avoided saying anything in that vein in my response but was tempted. I agree. I was not that pleased with the menu/prices and ended up just getting the only salad that appealed to me. Fortunately, mine was good but my friend from Mississippi, seafood queen in her own right, did not care for the crabcakes. If you want to sit in there and enjoy the ambience and view, you might be better off with a cup of tea or something small. Mobile Station is intriguing me now. Must try!

Don't forget The Mono Inn at Mono Lake. Killer view, great food.

http://www.monoinn.com/

While on the topic of heading up for an October weekend at the Portal, is there a cut-off date after which you cannot reserve a campsite? I ask because on the reservation website there appears to be "No Availability" at any of the campsites after October 9th -- is this accurate? If so, is it then first come, first served at the sites (and is there a limit as to how long one can occupy such a site)?

My apologies in advance for what may be basic "off-season" questions.

Excellent place to eat. My wife and I went there after reading an article in VIA magazine (AAA). The chef there is actually quite a high profile chef who left it all to work in a simple gas station. Nice friendly atmosphere too.

Same here. I apologize for my original questions above regarding my trip in October but after hiking Mt. Whitney in July (and finding this message board) I could not resist going "to the source" as all of you seem to know much more than anyone else I could have asked.

Thanks again, I cannot wait to introduce my wife to this area.

Bruin Dave,

Whitney Portal is more or less a ghost town in October, at least the times I've utilized it during that month.

I would not pay a reservation fee for the family campground in the that month...ever!

Sherpa - Do you happen to know how long Whoa Nellie Dellie's (Mobil station) chef has been there?

CaT

Here is a link to the original VIA magazine article
http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/eastside_story05.asp

Found this also through Google - more details about Matt Toomey. It seems he has been there for more then 10 years.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/travel/060212sierra.html

All in all your trip is a no lose. I have travelled the world many times over and the 395 corridor is just wonderful. Weather you are just driving through or spending a week in the mountains it is breathtaking, especially in the morning when the sun is just coming up over the mountains and first light is hitting the Sierra's. You should see the mountains there when they are packed with snow glowing in a blue sky. Hard to believe you are in Southern California....

Enjoy..........

Thanks.

I think wbtravis gives some good suggestions for dayhikes.

My first choice, which gives a lot of flexibility, would be to do Little Lakes Valley, from the Mosquito Flat Trailhead at Rock Creek. The turnoff is a little over halfway from Bishop to Mammoth, so you really could do this either Saturday or Sunday. The round trip all the way to Lower Morgan Lake is about 9 miles, to Morgan Pass only the round trip is about 7 miles, but you can make an even shorter hike by stopping at whatever lake you pick and turning around. If you're looking for a 4-6 hour round trip for Saturday, you really can't go wrong hiking the 9 mile RT to Lower Morgan Lake. If you don't stop too much on the way, then you can take a look at all the lakes on the way and choose which one you want to spend the most time enjoying on the way back. Also if you have time on the way back, you can take the less used spur trail to Treasure Lakes, it isn't very far out of the way and it is a good spot to sit and enjoy. BTW, these Treasure Lakes are not to be confused with the Treasaure Lakes out of South Lake above Bishop that branches off the Bishop Pass trail, but those Treasure Lakes are also nice. The Rock Creek Lakes Resort is usually open until around mid-October, and when I am up there, I find it difficult to resist having some pie. Good stuff. But if you are up there after the Resort is closed, the hike will still be worth it.

The hike up Bishop Pass is also nice. If you want a shorter hike from South Lake, you can go on the trail towards Bishop Pass, and turn off to Bull Lake and Chocolate Lakes. If you want pretty short, you can turn around, but it is a great loop to continue on to Ruwau Lake and back to the Bishop Pass Trail which you hit at the upper end of Long Lake. You can then go back down the Bishop Pass Trail, or if you have time and energy, you can keep going up towards the pass.

There are also many, many good day hikes in the Mammoth area. If you have never been to Devil's Postpile, it is interesting to see. You can make a decent loop going to the Rainbow Falls trailhead, hiking to Rainbow Falls, and then back up to the Postpile. If the shuttle is running, you can just go back to the Ranger Station/Postpile stop, but I assume it won't be running as late as you will be there, and you would need to complete the loop back to the trailhead, that might be a 5 mile loop, but a nice loop. You can also just wander around the river area some while near the Postpile.

There are also plenty of nice short hikes to take around the Mammoth Lakes themselves. Go from Lake George to Crystal Lake, or to from Lake George past Barrett Lake to TJ Lake (and make a nice loop of it by taking a trail of use down the creek from TJ Lake back to Lake George), if you're looking for something very short on Sunday, those might do.

But my number one vote would be to do Little Lakes Valley, however short or long you want the hike to be on whatever day you do it, and either do a hike out of South Lake starting towards Bishop Pass and picking your poison among the various shorter and longer choices or else go to Rainbow Falls and Devils Postpile (although if you've never been to the Bristlecone Pine Forest, that is tempting, too).

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the dayhike suggestions that have been made here, it is all good, the Eastern Sierra is amazingly beautiful country.