Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board parking and hotel???

how safe is it to park at the portal for a one day hike. We plan on starting at about 0200hr or so and be back by dark. Any theft or break ins heard of?

also best hotels in town near food and the road would be best.

I've never had a problem in six straight years. Just don't leave FOOD in your car...

<a href="http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do;jsessionid=83E0BF9AE17A780D5071ED5B9044D4B4?propertyCode=05052">Best Western Lone Pine</a>

You can also try the Dow Villa Hotel .. or any of a number of others.

Break-ins are only a problem if you leave food in the car. (Bears) There is plenty of good food in Lone Pine along Main Street (Hwy 395).

Good luck,
...tg...

The Dow is acknowledged to be the best. I've stayed at the family-run Mt. Whitney Motel, too. I'm not picky, but I like HBO and a refrigerator. Pepe's is my favorite restaurant in town, where I get my post-hike chile verde and beer.

Where's Pepe? I thought I knew Lone Pine pretty well but that one escapes me.

I'm partial to the High Sierra Cafe and The Pizza Factory but good stick to the ribs Mexican food would be a welcome change to the post hike pig out.

The biggest break-in problem is bears. Make sure you thoroughly clean your car before coming up to the Portal. I'm sure there are a few miscretant that roam the Portal but I haven't heard much about the two legged varmints.

The Dow Villa is good and convenient place to stay.

Bill

>>The Dow is acknowledged to be the best<<

Depends. We've stayed at both the Dow and at the Frontier Best Western. They're both good, but we prefer the Frontier. Subjective choice. Given the size of Lone Pine, anything in town is conveniently located.

My $0.02, I prefer the Best Western.

We're staying at Dow Villa again this year because last year it worked out just fine for us. You can easily walk to everything in town, It's right at the road that heads up to the Portal,(you have to park at the Portal, you're not going to walk up there), most important for us was that the ONLY all night restaurant in town is next door to Dow Villa and we wanted food in our stomachs when we assaulted the mountain. Worked great for us.