Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board PORTAL ROAD

Hi Quick update for the Road work: The Portal Road at the ROAD closed sign /new gate will be locked April 4-April 11 DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR IN THE PORTAL SUNDAY NIGHT APRIL 3 . YOU WILL NOT GET THE CAR OUT UNTIL AFTER THE GATE IS UNLOCKED.

Also no foot traffic on the Portal Road past the gate. All must use the NRT Trail . Best option is start at Lone Pine Camp ground , or if hard core do the down and up from the Gate closed area. Look for a dirt rd. Just before the Gate and turn left, drop off gear and park back up by the gate. You can cross Lone Pine Creek on a bridge at this location . Then work around the "old road" and join the NRT

Matter of fact just start at Lone Pine Campground.



Gated Locked April 4 - April 11 No foot traffic on the Portal Road.

Hi Doug, thanks for this info. I just sent you another reply in the MR conditions forum in regards to the gate closure. So are you 100% certain it closes April 4th? As mentioned we are going up April 1st, camping at Iceberg, then summit Saturday April 2nd and leaving. Lone Pine Ranger Station told us it closes April 2nd. Again, really appreciate the constant updates, it's very helpful for everyone!

I asked for some clarification and this is what I got:

Starting the week of 4/4, they will complete the rock scaling. Scaling is where they pull down potentially unstable rocks from a slope in a controlled environment. It is a relatively dangerous operation and therefore they will have a flagger at the road closure to prevent vehicles from entering that section of road. Completing this operation while the road is still closed will reduce the need for the extended 3 hour closures later in the project.

Hi if they say Apr 2 they may have another update my update says no changes to the flyer , and the following: Hat Creek plans to take advantage of the winter closure for the upper section of the road ......Starting Apr 4......and will have a flagger at the road closure to prevent vehicles from entering that section of the Road 1 844 372-4555 for voice version of Flyer.

Hey Kurt, thank you for the reply, much appreciated. I follow your company/SMI, keep up the good work! If I am not mistaken you have a group going up this week as well correct? If so are you planning on parking up top at the Trailhead? Just curious. Thanks again for the beta.

Thank you Doug. I will save that number and give it a call. Maybe I'll see you up there.

Hi Rock clearing off the slopes these last 2 weeks in the Portal , that work is done for now and the Road opened today ,
Construction will be on going for months so be ready to wait a few minutes during periods of the day .Work days are Monday- Thursday with hours 6:30 AM- 6:30 PM ,Most of the wait times are 10-15 minutes if that long. I use Hogback Rd and Lubken Rd and miss most of the waiting.

We are loaded in now and just doing a few last minute odd jobs and plan opening next week with food on Friday.

How is the construction going?

mostly work on shoulders and drainage these past few weeks. Major chipping and paving may start around June 1 this will be wait and see about traffic control and delays. some confusion now we have 10 cars total at times and visitors are told no parking.Signs should be installed soon about parking and maybe some count on permits given out to keep track of # of cars?
The delays so far are very short max about 20 minutes one night as they were cleaning up

Any updates on the construction for next week. I am planning on going into the Hills before headed up to the Portal. How hard is it to get in and out of the Hills right now? There does not seam to be much said any where on the what is happening during the construction.

Thank You
Bob

Hi The reason for the lack of details is because this phase of construction is very local one drainage structure at a time in several locations , then placing rip-rap on the drainage channels. Total work force is less than a dozen people . When the chipping and paving starts the work will be on the road bed so YOU WILL KNOW IT.

45-50 parking signs installed in the Portal today so before you park READ THE SIGN in the lot you are parking in.

Thank you for the information.

doug,
where does one park if coming up to overnight the Meyson lake area?.
In the past I;ve parked on the road near the sign that points to
the trailhead above the campground. Thanks for your input. Rick

The grinding started on Thursday , test strip near near the Campground so people were told to park at the Portal and walk down to the Meysan Trail.

But isn't a MT. WHITNEY PERMIT required to park at the Portal?

Sorry that rule only applies to foks who live in Maryland

Now is the summer of our discontent...

Well yes it requires a parking permit, another kink is the walk in camping if you don't have a permit. when the project was in the planning stage we suggested that the work start early season as the snow cleared and start at the Portal working down, we assumed they had read the traffic study and understood the peak season and historical uses hiking Whitney is one but may only be a third of all the visitor's to the area.
The delays are very short but we are just starting the peak season and the grinding and paving hasn't started full production so it is hard to tell what the delays will be or where.But for sure the road side parking will be restricted.

Sorry folks, Mt. Whitney's closed. Moose out front shoulda told ya.

The good news is there is a brand new, super nice trail from Lone Pine all the way to the Portal. No permit required.