Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Start of old trail

Where does the old trail start? Where does it join the MT? Is it a shorter way to LPL?

It starts above the Portal Store and joins the MMWT at N.F. of Lone Pine Creek. It is maybe 5 to 10 minutes shorter.

At Whitney Portal there is a day picnic area. The road goes past the Whitney Portal Store and then makes a 180 bend before coming back to the dayhiker parking area. In the middle of the bend you will see a large rock (50 + feet wide & 25 feet high) on the west side of the road.....in a little bit from the road.

The trail starts on the other side of the rock, and goes up and to the right (North/west).

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1221771767061435028GyzvGA

The trail is short and steep, and comes into the Whitney Trail a little south of the North Fork River....right about by the John Muir Wilderness sign. It saves some time, especially on the way down.

The paved road goes past the Portal Store and loops back. The old trail starts a little west of the far end of the loop. You will not see the old trail immediately, but if you walk around a bit you will find it. It joins the main trail just below the John Muir wilderness sign. It is a little steeper, but will save you 0.3 mile.

It starts after the large rock and before a stop sign next to the main fork of Lone Pine Creek. While you save 0.3 mile of "hiking" by taking it, you still have to "walk" an extra 0.1 mile to get to the trailhead. You also save 3 creek crossings.

As noted earlier, the old trail comes up perpendicular to the main trail immediately below the John Muir Wilderness sign. If you do not look for it on the main trail, you will be distracted by the wilderness sign and the brush on the side of the trail. There is no "fork," just gaps in the brush that converge into a trail further down the side slope.

Thanks for the great info will look for it in daylight so I can find it on our summit attempt 8/6.I hope everyone is safe after storms.See you on the mtn.

fyi...

we came down the old trail on Sunday. since the trail is not maintained with water bars the rain from Saturday night caused a ton of debris and rocks to settle on the trail. it doesn't slow you down too much but you have to pay attention to your footing because of the rocks strewn everywhere.

there is also a downed tree with broken branches that crosses the trail which requires you to climb over it.

nr

Last year when my son and i hiked Whitney, we saw a ranger enter the trail, but did not know where the trail led to, or what the name of the trail was.....as we came to top of the "old trail" where it met the Whitney trail, we saw the ranger clearing brush...he must have beat us by 20-30 minutes...I asked him about the trail. he gave me a brief history, and said that it's not maintained, but easily traversed.

My son and I planned on taking it on the way back down, but we had fishing poles with us, and the entrance required some ducking under bushes and thick over growth....it would have been a pain with our full packs and poles sticking above our heads, so we skipped it....

We are going to do a one day summit next week, so maybe we may consider it for this up coming trip....

Is it hard to follow in the dark?

Not sure if we should try it on the way up....but will try it on the way down.

Mike

Old Trail faster????? I don't think so for most hikers, and will burn your legs at the start.On the down you can run faster on the new trail and beat anyone on the old trail, bring money and shoes. Thanks Doug

thanks for the input Doug Sr...I will seriously consider your advice. May still do it on the way down, just so I can say that I have done it.

I have in fact run down the last part of the "new" trail (several years ago on my first one day summit)....kind of felt silly, but wanted to get back to camp to get BBQ going, and make it in time to the showers (before they closed,) after the others got down to take over the BBQ. LOL