Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Two newbies going up in August in one day.

Hello Friends, Our plan is to go camp out in onion valley for two days before the hike. The day before the hike, we will pick up our permits and then check out the area at whitney portal.We will then get a motel room in lone pine, check out our gear, eat a big carb dinner and try to get some sleep. We plan on waking up at 1 a.m and hitting the trail at 2 a.m. ( Is this to early ? ) Any suggestions or tips ?

Without knowing your conditioning level, degree of aclimazation, ages, etc - I'd say that's a good plan, especially for the first time up. Should give you plenty of time to get back before dark.

Hope you have a great trip.

You are not giving yourself enough time considering it will take you 20 to 25 minutes to get to Whitney Portal from Lone Pine.

I'd camp at Whitney Portal rather than take a motel but that is me.

I think sleeping in Lone Pine before the hike is a good plan - you have a better chance of getting a good nights rest
remember the phrase "climb high - sleep low"

Try camping the night before at either Whitney Portal or Horseshoe Meadows. I like HM because the elevation is roughly 10k feet. This is better than staying in Lone Pine at roughly 4k feet.

light hiking the day before is good acclimation. many people do not sleep well up at the portals - especially when you are not used to sleeping at higher elevations(and with the constant traffic). what advantage does that have over a good sleep in a nice bed. you can wake up fresh at 1am and have a good hike. I would recommend a high carb dinner(spaghetti) and lots of water for dinner the night before.

Sleeping problems at Whitney Portal can be mitigated with the use of ear plugs and an eye mask. I do not even notice the traffic any longer in the hiker in campground and I rarely utilize a tent there.

For a newbie to Mt. Whitney, I do not care where they choose to spend the night there is going to be a lot of anxiety that will getting any sleep difficult at best.

I think the Portal experience is worth a bit of noise and traffic.

Climbingcasey, I think that you and JPP have a great plan and stick to it. You both will do great! Enjoy your week off.

Hey Doug, Spotted my post uh ! Wanna go up with us? We need a seasoned vetern like yourself. See you back at work July 5th.