Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board First Time Whitney'er

Hello -
New to the forum, but not new to strenuous, long day hikes. Very healthy and fit, been training for a long time and no issues with acclimating to altitude. Decided to take the extra time and overnight it with a hike over 9/24 and 9/25.

1. I'd appreciate anyone's advice on best place to stay the night before - hotel or camp and which ones. I'm thinking hotel since I always sleep better and more rested in a real bed.

2. I tend to get cold, and layers usually work best as I heat up. What works for you for sleeping and during the hike for clothes, gloves, hats?

thanks much!

I would recommend staying at the Whitney Portal hostel in Lone Pine. Check this link.

Rooms will sleep 4-8 people. Rates are $20.00 per bed plus tax. Each room has a bath and shower; in addition there are 5 public showers on the first floor.

For reservations call: 760-876-0030

I would pony up the $5 or whatever it is and stay at the Whitney Portal backpackers site. It might do you some good to stick around at 8000 ft for a while before you start.

As for the clothes, you'll have to make that choice. All I can say is prepare for cold but also make sure you don't overheat while hiking. For me that means a tshirt and a windshell for the hike up and lots down for when I am sitting around. Yes to gloves and hats.

We climbed Whitney on Wednesday, Sept., 17, 2008. We stayed at the Mt Whitney Motel. Caution... uptown prices, we paid $80.00 per night for two nights. Comfortable place, excellent location, microwave and frig in room. Small pool.

Clothing for the fast up & back from the store: I wore Patagonia Wick-a-way shorts, Patagonia wick-a-way T-shirt, Pearlazumi arm warmers, Pearlazumi gloves, a NF beanie hat. At the summit I put on a waterproof/windproof fleece jacket. I stayed at the summit for an hour and was never cold... the weather cooperated that day. The previous day they got snow/sleet & lightning at the summit.

Thanks much-
Sounds like you did a day trip. The weather picture sounds quite dramatic this time of year but for now seems to be holding. I don't think the Hostel is for us and would hate to end up with a snorer. Your input is helping me be more reasonable on the clothing.

Hi Knees:

Over the last couple of years my husband and I have found reliable accomodations at the Best Western Frontier in Lone Pine. (This year tax and all totalled up to $115 a night). Nothing fancy - just nice clean rooms and reliable service from friendly staff. They remodelled the breakfast room last year and it is very nice. Breakfast begins at 5:00 am for folks who want to get an early start, and hard-boiled eggs are provided for those of us who need protein in addition to carbs.

We summitted on Sept. 10th and a snowstorm caught us by surprise about 500 ft. from the top. We wore REI wicking long undies, regular weight hiking pants, fleece jackets and Mountain Hardwear shell jackets and lightweight gloves. I also had a regular summer hat accompanied by a turtle fur earband. We were nice and warm, and had the flexibility of the layers if we needed it (after 10:00 am - we didn't). The snow stopped for a while in the afternoon, but then it started in the evening again when we got back to Trail Camp. Temperatures probably got down to at least 30 degrees. I had a 35 degree Big Agnes sleeping bag with insulated pad. I could have been a bit warmer, but I was basically fine and slept well. Good luck and have a great journey!

Rockhopper

Hi,

When my wife and I went in August we spent the day/night before at the Whitney Portal Hostel. Not wanting to share a room we rented the entire room (All for beds) for $80.00 plus tax.

It was the least expensive option in town and we got to support the Hostel! Nice, new,clean rooms to boot.

No strangers and the only snoring was from us...

Good Luck,

Ron

My husband and I stayed at the Whitney Portal hostel this past weekend and rented an entire room also. We were very comfortable and being right downtown were close to everything.

Okay - Back from summitting!!!! What an experience - OMG!
Well - here's what I did for all those other first timers or about to be's!

We stayed at the Dow Hotel - $65 per night, king sized bed, quiet, private bathroom and clean. Best breakfast across the street and (on the side street).

Started on Wed, Sept 24 at 8:30 amish, reached Trail Camp at 3:20 pm, took a number of breaks as yes, we over packed! We concluded we packed to survive not necessarily what we needed to hike. Plus, we brought an extra day of food in case we wanted to stay longer. The climb from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp was very hard. The wind picked up during the evening, so we were grateful for good refuge against one of the boulder walls but it did keep us up most of the night which is why we had a late breakfast and started up again at 8:15 am. The 97 switchbacks were not so bad with a day bag, nor was the cables as very little ice or snow of concern. Trail Crest to the Summit was gruelingly long as the effects of altitude definitely slowed us down, but not as scary or hard as we thought. The site of the Summit hut was so amazing when we finally got close. And of course, there's nothing like the Summit! It took us just a little over 4 hours, 12:20 pm. We meet a 76 year old youngster and her son too. Lots of people had to turn back or were out of water. Some day hikers who started at 3:25 am, passed by us charging up the mountain and back before we made it! Just amazing!
At 1:30 headed down; coming down was like a dream. The one climb back to Trail Crest was difficult; 3:30 pm we repacking at Trail Camp which took forever and loading our over loaded packs again, ugh! We left TC at 4:30 pm and made it down to Outpost Camp by 6:20 pm. Passed and attempted to help, another day hiker who was really hurting and struggling. One last hill to climb, and soon we were in darkness, but with strong head lamps, we finished by 8:40 pm. Feeling about ready to quit...we did a 5 minute rest stop, and found we were 200 feet from the end.

So we weighed out bags on the way out - mine was 35 lbs (I'm a woman, 5'5") and my husband's was 50 lbs (5'8"). We had a lot of food left. What's the recommendation on weight at the start of a 1-2 day overnighter?

BTW - Carl's Juniors was dinner and Mt.Whitney Hotel $69 per night in Lone Pine was all that we needed!

My brother and I just came back from our first summit of Mt. Whitney. I'm feeling it now at work... I'm sure you know how I feel. I climbed the Mountaineer's Trail many years ago but didn't summit due to complete exhaustion.

I think my pack was about 35 pounds though I tried to keep it light. I had most of the food and the single bear canister. My brother had a heavy pack (around 50 pounds) mostly the tent and an unnecessary ice ax and other sundry items (I didn't take inventory!).

I want to take note of what I brought and what I never used. The fleece pants were nice when it was real cold at Trail Camp but otherwise not necessary, but the weather was exceptional last weekend. We brought one day's extra food (4 extra power-bars) which were necessary since we stayed one day longer than expected. Our steri-pen stopped working but the iodine tablet back-up worked great. We took a small stove with white gas and cooked one dinner for two only using about 1/2 cup of fuel.

Being a bit of a compulsive type, I want to over analyze everything and optimize for the minimum in the pack. I never wore my jacket's outer-shell though I'm glad I brought it because otherwise rain would kill the trip.

I should've left the TV at home because the reception at Trail Camp is horrible, and the generator kept the neighbors awake.
;^)

Knees-

Nice trip report. Congratulations on the summit.

Sounds like you guys had a blast. It sounds to me like you are in pretty good condition. Those pack weights that you listed are fairly heavy, IMO.

Glad you had fun.

T-