Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Gas Prices. How Many Trips Are U Planning?

I've done some more research and I have to say I'm getting more and more pessimistic about this whole thing. I'm not even sure if we can believe the EIA report since their analysis is based on data provided by oil companies and other countries' oil ministries. The latter is often inflated data.

It seems the world is a train wreck waiting to happen unless we begin to transition to a viable alternative energy source before peak oil occurs. It takes a lot of time and effort to do that, so we should be starting now! We should also conserve to delay the peak and allow more time for alternatives to be developed. If an alternative is not in place by the time oil peaks, the consequences could be far reaching and extremely severe.

Regardless of whether this is just a commodities bubble, the long-term strategy should be to transition to another source of energy. Maybe these current high prices is the best incentive yet to start working on that now.

For those who want to learn more, here are a couple of interesting reports, the most recent of which is by the General Accounting Office:

GAO Report on Uncertainty of Future Oil Supplies (PDF) (Right Click and Save As)
Hirsh Report

My buddy got his new turbinator device and we installed it on Saturday. We will be carpooling all week and taking data on fuel consumption. He already gets about 18mpg city and about 21 hwy.

He seems more enthusiastic about this device than me. The turbinator looks like a crude piece of steel. I doubt that anyone did any sort of aerodynamic studies on it. You could make one yourself with some tin shears and a can of beer (empty of course).

So one week of back and forth usually takes a tank and quarter.
We will see what the data say.

I year ya!

I would sure like to see some leadership in this area that goes beyond asking OPEC to please pump more oil or threatening not to sell them new weapons unless they pump more oil (those approaches representing the sum total of what our political parties are offering up as strategy).

It makes me laugh when everyone's response to the gas price crisis is, "well, that's why I have a Prius."

That is only a bandaid, everyone. CNN did a report not long ago, showing how the 1987 Honda CRX got 57 mpg (51 by today's tougher standards). That's a full-gasoline engine getting 51 mpg. Better than most of today's hybrids!

They said the reasons were today's car is heavier with more safety features. But today's hybrid gets less mpg than 1987 technology! Car manufacturers are not being held to any kind of standard. Hopefully we'll see that change as more consumers demand better gas mileage out of their cars.

The only way to effectively combat the gas situation is to ride a bike, walk, or use a full-electric car--hopefully some more will come to market soon, such as the Aptera, Tesla, etc. And to counter the increased electric use, go solar!

I started biking to work about two months ago (25 miles roundtrip), and it's been a blast. I love it, and look forward to my morning and evening workout!

But the real future use of oil is by growing countries---no matter how much less we use as US consumers, growing economies like China and India will dwarf our use in just a matter of a couple of years. And they have far less pollutant control than we do in the US. That's the truly sad part for the environment.

Yes it is pretty hard not to be affected by the increased price for gas - probably less trips for me this year, but some of the trips will be longer; so the number of days out might be pretty much the same.

The CRX was a good little car as far as fuel efficiency is concerned and maybe in other ways too. Its overall fuel efficiency was slightly less than the Prius, its highway mpg was slightly higher but it was a small 2-seater whereas the Prius is a comfortable mid-sized car with airbags, etc.

There is a plug-in Prius that is expected to be available in 2010 which will reduce its gasoline consumption considerably more. Gasoline-only vehicles can't be plugged in.

Getting back to the thread topic, we might be able to see the effect of high gas prices on Whitney visits by checking the number of permits that aren't used as the season progresses and comparing it to previous years. I forgot where to find that info. Any help?

Edit: As an afterthought, there was a change in the permit system after the 2007 season that included the North Fork in the Whitney permit lottery so this might have an effect on the comparison of 2007 to 2008.

just one trip, just as planned. Coming in from Wisconsin doesn't allow too many trips per year. It'll cost about $1000 in gas this time around... ouch

I'm heading up today after work for 9 days.Just filled my truck,25 gallons @ $4.51 per gallon @ 17 mpg.Not much on economy but can go anywhere in extreme comfort.
Anybody spots me or my red GMC with "FISH395" license plates stop by and say hi.I'll be between Bridgeport and Lone Pine until the 22nd.

Search for "unused" in subject only, set Date Range appropriately.

One data point: My partner couldn't make it to Whitney this weekend and I'd normally go solo anyways-- except for the price of gas. It just isn't worth the $100 to me. I'll climb closer to home instead. So there're at least two slots open tomorrow due to no show.

We also cancelled a long distance climbing road trip this summer in favor of climbing more locally.

I'm sure there's going to be a lot of this as it starts to sink in how much we're spending. Not for everybody of course. Some people have tons of money. And others are coming just for that once a year vacation that is already costing them a bunch. But for the average casual weekender I think habits will change.

Unused Whitney Permits - 2007
Unused Whitney Permits - 2008
Reservation Availability

Thanks Steve.

The results are in. Lost 3mpg after we installed this piece of metal per the instructions. He removed it today and is sending it back. Well we learned a valuable lesson and it only costs a few extra bucks in car pool gas.

Well, it's my turn to drive this week and I changed the oil in my car to Mobil 1 synthetic last week and during my personal driving I noticed an increase of 2mpg.

I think my results will be better than my friends results with the turbonator. Will post results new results next week.

Yup, the mobil one works better than the turdinator. I saw about a 4mpg increase on the highway. With the AC on!

I change my oil regularly and the only difference this time was that I got synthetic instead of the regular oil. Same viscosity and all. So next week, my buddy is putting synthetic oil in his truck and we are going to do it all over again and see if this makes a difference or not.

We did learn the the turbinator does reduce mpg.

Please report back with his mpg results. I'm curious.

For June 2007 the number of permits used for Whitney dayhiking was 1177. For June 2008 it was 1287.

An increase in 2008!

Note, these are the used permits, not the unused permits.

(Maybe someone should check my calculation.)

edit: I realized after posting this message that the increase in permit users in 2008 is probably explained by those who had permits for the North Fork. Note that last year the North Fork wasn't included in the permit data. This will have an effect when the reservation quotas aren't filled or when the applications barely exceed the quota. The data for July and August will lead to more precision since those reservation permits will be better filled with more applications rejected. However, from the June data comparisons there doesn't seem to be much if any reduction in Whitney dayhikers.

I got back June 22 from my epic adventure of state highpoints (AZ, NM, OK, KS, CO) - total just over 3000 miles driven in my 4.0L Ranger. MPG on the trip was just over 22, about an eight percent increase compared to the career average of 20.5. Most of the back roads we took had a lower speed limit, we didn't see an interstate except the first night and final day. Just drive slower, it really makes a difference.
btw, cheapest gas I saw was in Colorado Springs at $3.89. It was $2.89 for E85.

I just flew out to Redmond, OR to pick up my buddy. We then drove back into Cali to climb Shasta. In August he's driving down here so we can climb Langley and Whitney MR. So the gas prices are cramping my style, but not really stopping me from doing what I want to do.

I changed to Mobil 1 and saw an increase of 3MPG with no change in driving style. I was surprised and did the test for another week and saw that my calculations concluded 4mpg increase.

Did the same test with "improved" driving habits and my MPG went up even more to an average of 28MPG combined. Driving slower (under 60MPH) and slower take offs made a huge difference.

Using cruise control on the highway was probably the biggest gas saver.