Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board High Sierra Trail Advice

I'm thinking about doing the High Sierra Trail this summer. I have a few questions I'd love to hear some opinions on.

*How many days have you taken for this trip?

*Are the hot springs worth stopping at for the night?

*Suggestions on the best camping spots along this route?

*Is it reasonable to go "up and over" in one day or best to camp along the Main Trail? In other words, camp on the west side, summit Whitney, then go all the way to the Portal in the same day.

*Any tips or suggestions from those who have done it?

Hi,

From the Tallest Trees to the Highest Mountain, the HST is a great outing. Like the JMT it requires planning, basic skills, stamina, and some common sense. Unlike the JMT, it can be done during a single week off from work (and, in part, for this reason I think it seems to becoming more popular recently). Here are some thoughts on your questions:

3 1/2 to 7 days. Determining factors include level of fitness, motivation, size of party, weather, water levels, lingering snow pack, and interests of party (just hiking vs photography, fishing, peak bagging,...).

The Kern Hot Springs are ignored by some and cherished by others. Your personal level of enthusiasm determines whether it is worth camping there. There are fine campsites and bear boxes. Typically several groups will camp there each night.

The many traditional campsites, bear box locations, camp fire restrictions,...can be studied in the numerous trip reports on the Internet and the SEKI website. For the more adventuresome "stealth camper," the number of camping options is infinite.

Since many HST hikers seem to summit Mt Whitney in the morning, it is my impression that these folks are often quite motivated to hike out to the Whitney Portal Store the same day to get their reward (a beer, generous cheeseburger, and shower are massively appreciated)! For some on this Message Board, walking into the Store after a solid outing is like returning Home.

Tip: You will be rewarded if you study all the available materials. Also some warn against starting out too fast. Getting up to the Kaweah Gap with an initially fully loaded pack on a hot day can take a lot out of you. I have witnessed many parties retreat before the Kaweah Gap because of altitude sickness. Unfortunately, their car or ride is waiting for them on the other side of the Range. Then, of course, there are those who turn back, but then suddenly recall they were to be involved in a "key exchange" with their buddies going from the Big Mountain to the Big Tree.

See you on the HST this summer.

Jim

Thanks for the responses. This is all excellent advice. I'm thinking that first day we'll get an early start to avoid the heat and we plan to take it slow and steady. I'm thinking allowing 7-8 days. We have the time and won't be rushed to get back home.

Reading Jim's report brought up one more question. What do you all do about transportation? Leave a car at Whitney Portal and hire a shuttle service to bring you around? Or, drive your own cars? How is it leaving cars on the west side? I've heard stories of animals (presumably marmots) chewing through radiator hoses from cars left there.

Don't know if you have viewed this link by Summit Post - Summitpost_HST

Concerning transportation from Lone Pine to Visalia, if you are adventurous, you can catch the Eastern Sierra Transit shuttle from Lone Pine to Mojave (M,W,F only) at 9:40am. Greyhound will pick you up at 2:00pm (daily) at Mojave - you may have to walk a couple blocks from the ESTRA drop-off at Carls' Jr to the Greyhound pickup location (you'll have almost 2 hours). You should be in Visalia at 6:00pm.

Happy Trails!

Hi Sierra Cement,

To follow up on what FlaG8R notes, to next get from Visalia back to Crescent Meadow: Take one of the very inexpensive daily shuttles from the Visalia Transportation Center to Giant Forest, then get on the free SEKI shuttle to Crescent Meadow.

Concerning marmots eating your parked car, I believe this part of the lore of parking in Mineral King. The only (rare) issue I have had with parking at Crescent Meadow is that the lot can be full during the Summer. But a spot will likely soon open up.

After training, planning, gathering gear and food, obtaining a permit reservation,....then comes "the rest of the story"=Transportation. Unless a hiker plans a yo-yo (out and back double HST), then as you note "How do you get back from Whitney Portal to Crescent Meadow " (assuming you started at Crescent Meadow and left your car there)?" Trying to deal with the Transportation Problem is where many potential HST trips die.

In the past I have dealt with Transportation the following ways:

(1) Fly back from Lone Pine to Three Rivers. (This is really interesting as you follow the trail back to the west side.) Pilot Bob White is no longer living and I can not find anyone at the Lone Pine Airport to get motivated to rekindle the Bob White Flying Service.

(2) Hitchhike. This mode of travel is now a relic and probably an unwise choice. At least getting from Whitney Portal to Lone Pine is doable if you approach other hikers descending the Mountain or at the TH and are willing to have some patience (and perhaps buy them a beverage at the Store).

(3) Have a family member or friend drive you.

(4) Hire a professional driver. I have used the Mt Whitney Shuttle Service in Lone Pine. Bob (the owner) exceeded expectations. His number is 760 876 1915 (eve preferred). He can offer you the many options available while using his services (including those mentioned by FlaG8R). Bob is bonded and insured and at times he has driven my car from Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal. It is nice to come down the trail at the finish of the HST and have your car parked and waiting at the Trail Head.

I have never tried a car exchange or key swap with a party doing the HST in the opposite direction. Twice I had an opportunity to do this, but did not accept the offer, as I doubted the reliability of the other party. As it played out, each time my suspicions were justified. They never made it to the Trail Head (adding to the list of the thousands of annual Mt Whitney permit no-shows).

Hope this helps.

Jim

PS: I am starting to plan my HST trip now, too. I still find it very exciting!

Hi "I don't have the keys" "I am dropping the keys off for a group that is doing the HST trail" I need to be back at work in the morning how do I get back to the west side? ,

Answer to #1 on day 2 the person with the charge of keys discovered he had left them in the car parked at the west side , didn't want to ruin the trip till the end so waited till they were eating before he hinted about no keys, If I recall Myles or someone got two of the group to Ridgecrest and rented a car that they then drove the 1000000 miles back and forth.

Answer #2 And when the party gets to the Portal say 11 PM whats next, well they can always walk around with the bears and early starters looking for the car. The store starts moving about 6 AM but if Jr is in the Kitchen ??????

Answer #3 plan at least a full day of driving no matter what option . And if you are looking at Public transportation on the East side study the times going North and South for connecting flights,also NO SERVICE on the weekends.

One of my little jobs was to not get the trains on time but to get you out of here in 2-3 days this was about a 10 year effort, first to get past Bishop without staying overnight then get to Lancaster to link with the Amtrack.

The final push was to get the two services that went North to change the timing by about 15 minutes so you could jump from the Crest bus to Yarts that way in one day you could get from Lone Pine back to the Bay area. Well during the week and on MTTF and South MWF to Lancaster which then hooks you into the transit system in LA that can get you to the airport by about a mile Now don't ask why the train stops just short of the Airport but by now they may have a connecting bus /tram???

Bob has a great service book early and again his demand is great for several weeks during the summer so allow to get to the Portal a few hours early don't be a few hours late. Coming out a day early may not get you a ride either since Bob may not have a driver open.


In closing I just remembered another "wtf you mean you are not coming" A young man had planned for someone from the Bay Area to pick him up when he called. The person from the Bay Area checked the map.

I did HST with some friends last year in early September.

We rode Amtrak to Visalia and stayed there overnight. The park shuttle stops at or near most hotels in town. It was extremely easy to get to the trailhead from town. This eliminates the need to retrieve a car from the Crescent Meadows. We appreciated not having to make the detour back up there after we completed the trail.

On the east side, we arranged transportation with a terrific guy, Paul Fretheim at East Side Sierra Shuttle. He picked us up at the portal and dropped us off in Bishop. We stayed there overnight and took a one way rental back home. Easy peasy. Paul is a great guy and the business simplifies an otherwise complex transportation consideration.

As for the hike itself; we took a leisurely pace at 8 days. Hamilton Lakes and Kern Hot Springs were the highlight camping spots for us.

We brought a small canister for the last night in the whitney zone but otherwise used bear boxes of which there are plenty.

We were pretty hashed upon getting up to trail crest; partly due to the distance we covered that day (we started from Crabtree Meadows) but also the elevation gain in those last 4 miles. Getting all the way down to the portal didn't seem reasonable for us. Plus we had some weather on that day.

The last "decent" camp spot on the west side was the tarn at 11,700. If you started there, I could see making it to the portal that day.

My only other tip? Bring plenty of dried miso soup. In spite of all of the amazing meals I prepared and dehydrated myself, miso soup was the only thing I really enjoyed on the trail.

Bite the bullet and carry a bear canister. I can put 15 days of food in my Bearicade Expedition. With a canister you are free from reliance on the bear boxes and have unlimited options for camping. With a little forethought about water requirements, dry camping opens even more campsite possibilities.