Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Question about JMT

Is Onion Valley the 1st place NORTH of Whitney where you can enter the JMT??

I have a friend doing the entire JMT next summer.....I am considering meeting up with him on the trail to finish "last leg" of the trail and to summit Whitney.

I have been looking at some maps online.......not very familiar with the area.

I also wanted to ask if there is some type of shuttle system that you can pay to take you back to onion valley from portal to pick up car???

If you are only considering routes on established trails, there is only one entry point south of Onion Valley, over Shepherd Pass. But it is a long slog to the pass. I have done the Onion Valley to Whitney route, and I highly recommend it.

Thats a great trip. Not to long, not to short. The view when you pop out on top of Kearsarge Pass is just the begining.

A couple of things to consider here in regards to "Meeting a friend for the last leg"
a. easy meeting place at Charlotte Lake (about 8mi from OV)
b. you could be a "Mule" for your friend and bring a resupply for them so they don't have to lug so much food from MTR or last resupply point (they will love you for it)



Nah, drop the car off at the portal, then go to OV. It's always nice to have the car there when you finish. Not sure of cost of shuttle, but, it's not too hard to hitch a ride.

How much time would you guys plan to hike from Onion Valley to Whitney to the portal??

Would 5 days (4 nights) be pushing it or just right???

5 days will give you plenty of time to enjoy the views. It can be done much faster, but all depends on your speed, pack size, acclimation, etc. The more time to set aside, the more likely you will get there.

shuttle to Onion Valley - http://mountwhitneyshuttle.com/

I did the Onion Valley route this summer with a scout troop, and we did it in six days. We took a leisurely pace and it was very enjoyable. On summit day we went from the tarn above Guitar Lake and stopped to spend the final night at Lone Pine Lake. We could have easily gone out to Portal that day, we got to LPL mid-afternoon (started on the trail at 5AM), but we wanted to savor one more night in the mountains. Here are some pics from the trip, it was a very scenic route:

http://s941.photobucket.com/albums/ad254/balfouriana/Whitney%202010/

Thank you for sharing. Beautiful pictures from photobucket album!! In fact, I had never seen a picture of Whitney taken from the west side.......very cool!!

"Trail Crest Exit" ** permits

Is this what I would apply for if starting at Onion Valley and coming down to the portal??

Are they hard to get??

Yes, if you enter anywhere in Inyo National Forest, you will need an exit permit over Trail Crest. Make sure you get it for the day you will be going over; if you plan on spending another night on the Portal side, your exit permit will not be for your last day on the trail.

Reserve this permit as far in advance as you can, they go fast.

That is one good aspect of getting a permit for entry on the west side - no need for the Trail Crest exit permit. Of course, then you have some distance to go before meeting up with your friend on the JMT. You could start at Roads End in Kings Canyon, and meet up at Vidette Meadow on your second day in from the road. It's only five miles further than the Onion Valley route. The scoutmaster of the troop I went with had a friend who was scoutmaster of another troop that started the same day as we did, but from Roads End. We met up with them a few times on the trail.