Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2 or 4 man tent?

I'm planning a summit in late August this year (got lucky with the lottery). I've never hiked in the Sierras before. I live in Utah, and do a lot of hikes in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains. A lot of peaks in the 11's and some up to the 13's. I have a question about tents at trail camp on the MW trail.

I have a group of 4 going, and was planning on packing into a couple cramped UL 2-man tents. I'm debating between that and a not quite as light 4-man tent. Both tents guy out and should be fairly stable, but I think the 2-man tents would hold up to wind better since they are lower profile.

My concerns with the 4-man tent:
-Is there enough room (flat ground) among the rocks to pitch a 4-man tent up at trail camp?
-It's a little heavier, but can be split up.
-It has a higher profile, and could be more susceptible to wind

My only concerns with 2-man tents:
-They are obviously more cramped
-My Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 is not completely freestanding. Is there any place you can stake, or do you have to use rocks for all your anchors up there?

Anyway, just looking for a little more information about the tenting conditions up at trail camp, since I've never been there before. If anyone has been up there, and has some input, I would love to hear it! Thanks.

First of all, I wouldn't ever expect to be able to cram 4 people into a "4 person" tent. That's going to be a tight squeeze!

Second, I think you'll gain a lot of versatility by going with a couple of two man tents. You won't have to worry about pad size, and wind won't be as much of a problem for you.

I'd go with whatever gives you more options. Looks like the two man tents will do that for you.

Thanks for the reply. It'll actually be a tighter squeeze fitting 4 people in 2 UL 2-man tents than it would be in a roomy 4-man. But I am concerned about the same things you mentioned. For me, the biggest problem with the 2-man tents is that I only have one of them right now. So we'd either need to drop another $400 for a second one, or rent an REI quarter dome, which is not the lightest tent in the world. Either that or rent 2 bivvy's for the other two guys.

I guess my big questions for anyone that's been up there are, is there enough footprint room for a 4-man tent up there? And is staking out a tent even a possibility, or do I have to rely completely on rocks for tent support?

It all depends on where you pitch, I was pretty stunned by how large of an area people were spread out. Some are pretty far down the trail others are way up the trail. From what I can remember there are some spots where securing a tent would be possible with stakes, it might just take some searching to find the perfect spot.

Farts could be a problem with 4 guys in one tent!

I've used my Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 at Trail Camp. I used a combination of stakes and rocks.

There's room for a 4 person tent, but I can't remember seeing one. Is it a backpacking tent? Can you stake? yes, but you might want to have some lightweight rope to allow extension in spots where you can't on one side, etc.

Two friends and I did Whitney last labor day. Two of us had Big Agnes Seedhouse UL1s (which like your tent is mostly, but not entirely, freestanding), and the third person had the Fly Creek UL2 (for one person). None of us had trouble pitching our tents. I pitched my Seedhouse using a combination of stakes and tying fly lines around rocks, while my friend with the other Seedhouse only used stakes.

Even when I staked my tent, I piled rocks around the stakes for extra security. Photo of my tent at TrailCamp:

I use an REI half dome two man tent and it fits two pretty well. I don't think it will set you back that much...certainly less than $400. It's pretty light too.

Tent spots...there may be some but you will have to search. You also run the risk of somebody already being on top of one and that will make your search a bit harder.

You need a tent with good ventilation, I can picture it now with a staggered sleeping layout. I think I would go with the two tents. You could buy Eureka solo tents for under 100.00.

I concur that taking a pair of 2-person tents would be better than one big one. My son was 12 when we did Whitney in 2001 and we cozied up in my 1.5-person Walrus (weighs a shade over 3 pounds). Photos of our campsite at Trail Camp are in the trip report in that link. A little shopping around at Sierra Trading Post or Campmor will get you a decent 2-person tent for $100 or so.

A couple of notes about tent spots at Trail Camp: Yes, some of them will take stakes but they're mostly sand, so adding some rocks on top of the stakes is a good idea if the wind comes up. Second, watch out and pick a spot that drains. Some of the tent spots are dished down in the middle and turn into puddles in the rain so unless you like sleeping in water, pick one that has a bit of slope or is built up in the middle so the water drains away from the tent.

Enjoy your trip...it's a beautiful area (even Trail Camp, although it's pretty barren). Keep an eye on the weather...thunderstorms will blow up quickly and you don't want to be up on the summit or crossing Trail Crest when they do.

I can't speak for Trail Camp specifically, but there are some sites alongside the trail near the Consultation Lake turnoff where you would have ample room for a 4-man tent. One family pitched a 4-man about 100yds from where I camped. If your flexible and are willing to add Consultation Lake to your campsite locations, there are definitely spots....and they are more sheltered.

Thanks for all your responses! It's great to hear such specific information about the camp. The 4-man tent we were thinking about using is a Eureka backpacking tent. It's pretty roomy, and for what it is, doesn't weigh all that much (about 8.5 lbs). But it also has fiberglass poles. It also has a fairly high profile. It does have guy-out points, but the fly doesn't go all the way to the floor in front of the door.

My Fly Creek UL2, with footprint only weighs about 2 lbs 15 oz. And my brother has been talking about picking up a UL 2-man. If not, we might have some other resources for procuring another UL for not too much. We could always rent a quarter dome from REI. I think they weight about 4.5 lbs. Plus they have 2 doors, and are a little more roomy than my fly creek... pretty nice tents, just a little heavier.

I have some snow/sand stakes I could bring as well, but it sounds like I could probably use stakes in combination with rocks to secure the tent(s) pretty well. I AM planning on bringing some parachute cord with me (I always keep some in my pack).

It kind of sounds like the 2-man tents will be the way to go. I am SO glad I found this forum, and I thank you all for your input. If anyone else has pictures from trail camp, or other information about the camp itself, I'd love to hear it. I'm not sure if we'll stay closer to consolation lake, or up further by the smaller lake.

this is near the trail overlooking consultation lake. A fourth tent was added to our little community just past the third tent in the background. The fourth tent was a 4-man. As you can see, it is up against the rocks which provided some protection from the wind.

Tom's right. CL is really nice. And late August.....probably a good chance to sleep outside of the tent. Lotsa stars.