Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Portal Camping.

Three of us have a day-hike permit for Mt. Whitney. This is my third ascent. In the past, I have stayed at Lone Pine the night before and not had a problem with altitude sickness. This time I am traveling with my wife and a friend. With more people there is a higher probability that altitude may be a limiting factor. So I have recommended that we camp at the Whitney Portal the night before. But like an idiot I did not make a reservation. Does anyone have any experience on how difficult it would be to get one of the non-reservable one-night stay sites. We were thinking of getting to the Portal by 8:00am the day before our hike and trying to get a site. Any insight or recommendations on getting one of the non-reservable one night sites.

Thank you

During the week there are usually walk in camping spots early in the day (like about 10:00 am). Many do not check out by 8:00 am so I would shot for 1-2 hours latter.

Thank you for the feedback on the camping at the Portal. You noted that was the case during the week. What about the weekend (Saturday)?

Also, I assume that we are talking about the one-night limited area that is not reservable?

I also talked to the Ranger Station and they said another option if the Portal was full was Horse Shoe lake/meadow(?). I am not sure where that is relative to the Whitney Trail. Does anybody have any thoughts on whether that is a viable hedge if no room is available at the Portal?

I've never had a problem getting a campsite in Whitney Portal, either hiker-in or family campground.

I'd recommend you be there by noon. The family campground is only 50% reservable. This seems to be around the time you have to get there to be successful in acquiring a site. The hiker-in the same way. However, I've walked off the trail at 4 PM and have snagged of these on a holiday weekend.

Bill

We have reserved a campsite at Whitney Portal on Aug 23. Can we park our car right at the campground near us? If the answer is yes, do we need to move the car when we start our day hike at 2:00 AM in the morning?

In the family campground there are reserved spots adjacent to the campsite you have reserved. If this is the only day of your reservation you are going to have to move your car.

BTW, you'll want to drive to the trailhead anyhow since you will be close to a mile away from it.

Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the info.