Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Water Usage

Just curious how much water pepple cary from the portal to trail camp and then from trail camp to the summit? Any suggestions would be helpful, I'm a first timer on whitney.

Also I am staying in a portal family campsite do they furnish bear lockers per site or are they all comunity lockers?

Hi Mountain Mattie -- I was a first-timer on Whitney last weekend. I started with 3 liters, which was enough to get me to Trail Camp. I reloaded my water at the lake at Trail Camp (using iodine pills), and then took about 2 liters up to the summit the next day. I finally reloaded again at the Trail Camp Lake on the way down. This worked fine for me, but I hiked mostly in the early morning hours, when it was cooler and the sun wasn't as strong yet. If you are hiking later in the day under the sun, you may want to take more water.

Good luck with your first time on Whitney! It will be a great experience!

Hi Mattie,

I carry 1.5 liters to start and filter as needed. There are many places to refill. I carry a couple of empty bottles in my backpack which I then fill at Trail Camp for a total of 4 liters (I tend to sweat alot).

Yes, at the Portal Family campsites there is a bear locker for each site. In fact, last year there were two lockers (one old and one new) per site. Based on an earlier post, it sounds like that is still the case.

Best of luck to you!

Mark A. Patton

As noted, there are plenty of opportunities to refill water (with filtration or chemical treatment) between Portal and Trail Camp. 2 liters per person would be plenty for that part of the trail.

From Trail Camp to the summit, and back, there are no reliable sources this time of year. The trickles across the switchbacks may or may not be accessible, and from there up, there is zero available water. We carried four liters each from Trail Camp, part of it to be mixed with Gatorade powder (electrolytes keep your muscles from cramping and help with altitude symptoms, but don't overdo the Gatorade, or it can upset your stomach...one liter of Gatorade interspersed with three liters of plain water is about right). By the time we got back to Trail Camp, we had less than half a liter each left, so we were just about right.

I definitely wouldn't start out from Trail Camp to the summit with less than three liters per person, and more if it's a warm day. (Our summit day was clear in the a.m. but then stormy after noon...see trip report under "highpointing" on my <a href="http://www.mtritter.org">WWW site</a>.)

Finally, count on treating any water you get along the trail. Debates about Giardia aside, there are enough careless and thoughtless people on the trail that human contamination (fecal coliform) is inevitable. A filter will preserve the good taste of the water, but iodine is lighter, if you can stand the taste (I use a First Need filter...I'll put up with the weight in order to have good-tasting water!).

It seems we are entering moonsoon season. Therefore, I would expect you would be at the high end of the water consumpsion scale because of the heat and humidity.

We usually make it to Trailside Meadow, our usual stop on the way up, with 2.4 L or less. From this point we take 4 L. This is the high end of what most people will take. We build in a margin of error because you can get stuck up on the crest with illness or injury, the last thing you want to do is get dyhydrated up high.

Bill

Last year, at the end of July, I took 4 liters from Trail Camp and ended up running out on the way down the switchbacks. Fortunately, there was water available on the switchbacks, but it's not dependable this time of year. For me, 4 liters is the minimum.

I had two 32oz. Nalgenes, and a 32oz poweraide. I drank...

we started at 3AM in seemingly 70-80 degree temps (it felt HOT!) from the group/family campground about 300 feet below the portal.

1 liter from the campsite to the portal store
filled back up
2 liters up to outpost camp
filled back up
1 liter up to trail crest
1/2 liter on summit
1/2 liter of poweraide on summit
1/2 liter of poweraide (finished) on switchbacks down to outpost camp,
1/2 liter before reaching outpost camp
filled back up (didn't fill up the empty poweraide)
1.5 liters from outpost camp to a stream crossing about a mile or two down the trail
filled back up
2 liters to the portal, was thirsty from portal to the campsite.

9.5 liters of non-alcoholic fluid from leaving/returning to my campsite.

I think I drank a liter once I got back too, then a half liter before dinner (where we drank a lot of beer).

I had read somewhere that to prevent altitude sickness, drink a lot the day before, then drink 2x as much on your high altitude excursion. Seemed to work for me. I never felt even the slightest pain in my head, stomach, or body. I never felt weak, out of breath, or dizzy. I did pee a lot though.

I believe in mega-hydration when at altitude and in such a dry climate (Whitney seemed way drier than Salt Lake City).

-ben