Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Last minute trip, Memorial Day Weekend

Hey guys-

I apologize if members of the board find this note crazy, annoying, naive, redundant or otherwise, but just going to throw it out there. My buddy is only in California this one weekend (I live in LA), and we've both always wanted to hike Mt. Whitney. We do not have permits, and would do up and down same day (we're both in decent shape). We have this crazy/awesome idea to try to do it this weekend. So, that being said:

- Is it worth it to risk it to hike it without a permit? How much do the rangers patrol this time of year and on a Memorial Day weekend. What are the penalties associated with it?

- Is there a possibility of showing up the day before and checking on cancellations to get an actual permit?

- Is there a board out there for groups who might be looking for extra people?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can clue us in.

You should have no problem getting a permit this weekend, at the visitor center in Lone Pine, I think they open at 8 which is late to start.

There will be a lot of snow and possibly dangerous ice in many places. High temps are expected to be in the low 30s on the summit most of the weekend and teens at night. You should bring crampons and an ice axe and someting warm to wear.

If you go be careful.

No preaching here, just some thoughts you'll want to be aware of. There is a Low coming through this weekend, so you'll definitely have some weather and temps to deal with. Read some of the recent posts on here speaking to conditions specifically on the "chute" (slope, really as others have mentioned) and backside where there has been more snow reported recently than "normal". You'll have full winter conditions, ice axe and crampons will be a necessity. You'll have a mountain full of people with the holiday weekend, take advantage and talk to Doug and/or those around the Portal to get an update on conditions if you need it.

It is not cool to hike w/out a permit.
You can day hike to Meysan Lake without a permit if you're so inclined to hike without one.

Apparently penalties can be a maximum of $5000 and/or 6 months in prison. I just noticed the sign on my recent trip...

Have you thought about White Mt?
It's allmost as high, you do not need a permit, and not likely to be many people there.

Is White Mountain Road open yet? I don't recall it typically opening any time soon....could be wrong though.