Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Update

Well, I guess Rattlesnake Hill is closer to Maryland...

Thank You Dave and Doug!! By the time I get back to the Alabama Hills I just need to keep going down, not up and down. Keep Looking Please, the road is not much fun.

Thanks, Still Crazy Jack PS. Are there rattlesnakes on rattlesnake hill??

Cheaha Mountain, highest point in Alabama, is ideal for access to the Kentucky ORV-ATV Trail.

Get yourself acclimated to the 2,407-ft elevation before climbing Bunker Tower for a panoramic view of Alabama.

Hi You look at some of the High points around the US and it is amazing what some States do, then Sunflower, I swear it is so close to my uncles farm that we would have plowed it on some years.

Flowers should be great this year we had another nice slow soak several days ago and we are hitting mid 70's , Dave and I found a lot of plants popping up today. Also found a set of Stairs in Lone Pine Campground neither of us knew about????


Thinking of Jack we rerouted a very nice trail that gained about 300'in 100' to a flat nice stroll along Lone Pine Creek , but now you have the 300' fall if you slip but again thinking of Jack. (this would most likely be the late 1800' early 1900's path to Whitney you can see a faint section of rock work and looks like the same as the section about 1000'east.)


Now the real high point looks like it is where you want to make it. My vote would be Rattlesnake but on the North end since so many think it is on the South. Unlike Whitney that is the endpoint of a ridge, Rattlesnake stands proud like a Mountain!.

Have you got a map of this trail. How much is left to build?

Thanks.

Saw my first wildflower of the year last weekend in the El Paso's... Desert has already turned green there...shouldn't be too long before it goes purple or yellow...

Thinking this may be another Bloom of the Century...especially if these storms have carried into DV.

Hi First the thought of linking the Trail to town was not to build a trail but find and link the sections that were in use before the roads were built. When you read the early history of Whitney you see a use trail system from the west side and many of the trips would never come down the east side . With the mining and need for wood to process the ore each canyon would have / has a use Horse/wagon trail and sheep trails. 1904 Mr Marsh built the east side trail to trail Crest joining the 1903 trail on the west side and onto the Summit.

While doing work on recovering the BM's William Stone found a early map USGS base data 1907 and that shows some of these early routes.

Now to the silent movie days, western movies, pack trips into the Sierra and the building the first road into the Portal in 1935 you now have many old trails/two track routes/ single track/ sheep trails and use trails that link this together.


The BLM ask about a trail out to one of the arches that was a topic for many years as we could see people finding the arches but many did not and would like in any area create use trail to nowhere. Another problem was many people wanted to look for the Old Movie locations, since this area can be very sandy and many many dead end roads we had people getting stuck, lost and calling Washington .

So we worked with the BLM and built a simple rock lined trail to the Mobius Arch. A map to some of the Movie locations was printed and later it was discovered that it was not helping people finding the movie locations as it was getting them into the area and on their own would take a different road again to a dead end canyon.

The NRT from Lone Pine campground follows the early trail to Whitney using this same logic.several minor adjustments but mainly the historic route.

I started looking for a way to do the same thing sometime in the 90's with the help of BLM , also around that time the BLM Jim Jennings created a booklet for Inyo County that focused on a road system for people that wanted to get off the main roads and see the area. He used a topo map base which shows many of the roads but high lighted a road system around each town and in Death valley area and a very short write up. This is I think the best resource we have for the area, it shows the roads, campgrounds ,creeks and since it was based on a topo map you now have a very handy travel planner. Also about this time the BLM was mapping some of the routes and asking the local users where and why some of these roads were there, as the filming crews would create 2-3 roads for a shoot in the old days one for the Camera truck one for the action shot and maybe a Camera shot for a long distance shot.Some of these are now 80-100 years old


Those other roads / trails show up in this booklet and that is what we have used to tie many of the sections together,also google earth when we can't tell if they link. And many many walks looking for the most scenic/ remote and can be used by many groups.

The main section is a single track that starts about 1500' East of Lone Pine Campground and this takes you to the Arch Trail (5-6 miles) you can see this trail on Google earth very well. Then out of the arch Trail 3 routes can take you into town , each in use many years but not maintained and not well mapped, With the BLM we have started to narrow down this last section for a "trail of choice" avoid resource damage, stay clear of seeps and springs find an existing trail that links to the natural attractions Arches ,Views of the Inyo" ,Sierra ,Whites and Valley ,Movie locations and link if at all possible into the early trail , We are at the end of the trail now (no pun) We have about 12 miles of trail from the existing NRT back into town and we now only gain several hundred feet going down hill!

We work with the BLM as they release sections we have work days and many people over the years have helped line these trails and repaired resource damage and become stewards of the area

The plan for this year is to do the final touches , repair several very short sections say 1000' and see if we can move forward with a NRT application.

The BLM is working on a draft map of the area and we plan to have a follow up public meeting FEB. 10 to go over the draft that was started about 8 years ago, we had a focused public meeting last Nov. and these comments and suggestions on what should be on the map and what would best serve the Pubic using the Area and printing date by Early April.

Dave Kirk the BLM Ranger on the Ground has walks/tours of the area often. Check the BLM website for dates and topics.I think he said the last work day we had is on the BLM page now, showing the trail section and the people that came out to build the trail .

If everything is ready we may do another work day for some of the final sections on National Trails Day, First Saturday in June with the BLM, American Hiking Society, and others. I will go to Portland for the American Trails conference and see what other groups are doing around the Country, as of the last few years now an International meeting for Trails.

The Alabama Hills Day event is April 11 agenda and details out very soon but save the date. This is a great event with the BLM and the AHSG also many local Non profits and Friends groups at one place sharing what they do in the region.

I want to Thank the people that have helped make this possible ,First without the support from the BLM and all the people working for the BLM this would of never happened. Giga Mike and Richard P for the walks and thoughts and mapping that started joining these section and all the people that did the first few test hikes to see if this was something that would serve a need. Now we can see loop hikes, section hikes, discovery hikes, the main trail as a vehicle to go into the area but still leave the choice to go explore and find your own special spots.Trails are dog tested winter tested and Jack tested.Betsy will go anywhere if you tell her you saw a flower.

This is a very historic area, no doubt. Nice of you to preserve that heritage and build on it. I hope the Whitney Hikers Association donation makes a positive difference. I have to say, there's a lot of anger about how this donation was handled by the Board without any input from members, basically wiping out all discretionary funds and destroying an organization. The membership has stated support for donating to this cause, it was just the amount and the way it was handled that upsets people. Nobody is condoning Steve's actions. He's apologized to the membership, and we'd like to see him apologize to you personally, Doug. I hope he does so someday and I hope you can accept it if he does. So good luck with the trail "rebuilding" and let us know how our donation has helped. Perhaps it will motivate some volunteer labor some day.

"Dog tested."

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Sasha and I are available if needed to test any trails.