Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney Message Board Group Hike – Saturday, 9/27

Thank you for the info. One thing that was not mentioned is distance....any idea what the mileage is? and overall altitude gain?

But Regardless ... you can count me in. I will also be coming up to Lone Pine Friday night. Also may I suggest that we have a rendez-vous spot in Lone Pine early Sat. and have some sort of carpooling to the Portal....Reason being: why drive 18 cars up if we can divide into 5 or 6 cars? ...

The Dragon trip starts at the Onion Valley trailhead. The route leads up through the Golden Trouts drainage and not the Keararge Pass trail. To reach the OV Trailhead; drive north of Lone Pine appr 15 miles to the town of Independence. Turn left(west) at the post office(easy to spot on the SW corner in red, white and blue). The trail head is approximately 13 miles up the road. I would allow 45-55 minutes from Lone Pine to reach the trailhead.



For those just hiking Dragon Peak and back; I would estimate the distance at close to 8 miles round trip with about 4k feet of gain.

For those wanting to due a Dragon-Gould traverse; I would estimate an extra 2 miles and appr 1.5k feet of gain and they would be coming back down the Kearsarge Pass trail.

So what about Saturday night - Pizza Factory?

Some great questions out there.... I have some thoughts that I would like to share with those going or considering going.

1. For those interested, we meet at the Portal Store Friday evening around 6 or so for burgers and beer
2. We can meet in LP for breakfast at 6am (which restaurant?)
3. We can carpool from LP to OV (great idea)
4. The hike starts at 8am at OV trailhead
5. We meet at the Pizza Factory around 6 or 6:30 for post hike activities

Your thoughts?

paul

1. Yup.

2. Alabama Hills Cafe: across the street from the hostel

3. I can fit three more in the TOF.

4. Okeedokee.

5. You mean "post-hike festivities" right??

Pick me. Pick me......

I have to work as usual on Friday - still not sure whether I am driving up late Friday or early Saturday. Will be for sure to meet at breakfast and then maybe join in a carpooling caravan. Then it's PF after the hike.

Why of course Moose..... but what I didn't say was the show that you will give during post-hike festivities... “how to open a bottle of champagne gracefully.”

paul

Paul you are the man, thanks for putting this together this should be a blast! Whose all camping out at the portal Friday night? I forget do they allow camp fires?

Hey Mike and Alan K you guys going to be able to make it this time? Take care
JS

I had planned on joining this hike (though I had not yet formally confirmed that in this topic thread since I hadn't yet bought the air fare, etc.), but now find that my vacation plans for the remainder of this year have just changed so that I will not be coming out to California again until 2009.

I hope you all enjoy the hike. I was greatly looking forward to it, as well as to a few other hikes on my own, such as the MR, Russell (east ridge), Muir, and Thor. I will look forward to the TRs when they come out.

CaT

Jeff: I'm camping Friday and yes, they allow fires in the pits. I've got a yuppie log and some other leftover firewood I'll be bringing.

Looking forward to it.

CaT, sorry to hear you can't make it. Hope to see you soon!

-L

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm only here for the entertainment value...

1. I can leave work in Bakersfield at 3 to 3:30 pm so that should put me in Lone pine at 5:30 to 6 pm. I would be more than glad to meet up for dinner anywhere (although it might be a good idea to carpool up with someone to the Portal Store).

2. Doesnt matter....as long as everybody has had their coffee and are in a good mood :p

3. I am all for carpooling. Moose r u taking reservations? u can put me down for a spot please

4. Can't we like start at noon so we can sleep in a little ...common guys....hehe. 8 am is just perfect.

5. if the hike is 8 miles roundtrip and we were going at 1.5 mph pace (somewhat very conservative for a day hike + light pack), that should put us back in Lone pine around 3 to 4 pm max. Since some of us will be driving back home i.e: LA or Bakersfield and we would like to leave as early as we can after this long day(without mnissing the "entertainment" of course), can we like say ...we will meet at the pizza factory right after the hike is over whenever that will be.

George, aka 'mafiose13"

Here is an update:
We are now planning on having the post hike meal at Doug's Whitney Portal Hostel! Once the hike is over, we'll head down to Doug's and meet for pizza and beverages.
Hopefully Doug, family and the rest of his crew can join us. Any others around (even if they don't do the Dragon hike) are welcome too. Our best guess is that we will be there around 6:00 - 6:30 PM

See you there,
Phil

Bumping this thread - just saw this post. The Hostel for meal - how is that working - do we order from PF and they are going to cater?

Now less than two months away - looking forward to some cooler temps in the Sierras soon.

Tom - I think you're getting a bit too much sun. Did you mean 2 weeks?!

Kevin

September 27th is not 2 weeks away - and I am not getting as much sun as last year - but I will still get my 50 days this year

Tom, yes, we'll order from the Pizza Factory and have them delivered or Phil and I will pick them up. No problem. We are going to place the order when we get to Independence after the hike (we'll coordinate the pizza types the day before, so all we have to do is call and place the order).

Phil has been in touch with the manager of the Hostel and I believe Doug..... we are going to have the refreshments on ice and waiting.

Tables and chairs will be provided. All Doug asks is that we clean up afterwards.

Paul

Here are some updates for the Group Hike - 9/27:

1) Doug Thompson is planning on working with Paul and I to open up the 9/27 group hike “celebration” dinner at his Whitney Portal Hostel, to any and all of you in the message board community – regardless of whether or not you do the Dragon hike! Doug may offer an alternate hike as well. The main thing is to get everybody together so that we can meet and celebrate our appreciation for the Whitney Portal area (not to mention the message board and especially Doug, family & crew).

2) A note about Paul:
Right now, he is on vacation, spending time around the portal area and doing a great, 8-day solo backpacking trip. We all wish him well. He has a SPOT satellite personal messenger to help keep in touch.
I think that these group hikes he sets up are a great idea.

3) On Saturday, 9/20, I will be doing a “warm up” hike in the Mt. Baldy area to Sugarloaf peak and Ontario peak. Any SoCal participants in the Whitney Portal MB group hike (or anybody else who wants to come) are welcome to join in. It should be a good representative climb/hike. We will start hiking at 7:00 AM from the Icehouse Canyon parking lot. Anybody interested – please PM me for more details.

4) Anybody interested in staying at the Whitney Portal Campground on Friday and/or Saturday of the Dragon hike (9/26 & 9/27) please PM me and let me know, We have several sites reserved, but will cancel any sites that we don’t fill up. So we need to know if you plan on staying there ahead of time.

That’s it for the updates. Less then a month away now, we are really looking forward to it and looking forward to meeting everybody.

How about some of these double fisted Moosie Burgers:

Only if Mike eats more than two bites...