Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board first time whitney hiker

Myself and five others are hiking whitney starting on 9/20/03. We'll drive up Friday night to Whitney Portal, camp, hike Saturday to the highest possible overnight trail camp, do the summit on Sunday and back to the trail camp, and on Monday go back to Whitney.

Any estimates on the time it can take from Whitney Portal to trail camp and on the trail camp to summit and back?

What types of bear boxes, etc. are available at Whitney Portal campground?

For those of you who have picked up their permits after hours, have you had any problems doing that?

Thanks for any information.

There is a button at the top of the page, called "SEARCH" (it is right under the one you clicked named "NEW TOPIC". These subjects have been addressed SOOOO many times, I'm sure you will get your questions answered. And you won't add to the cluttering of this board!
Oh, and have a fun hike.

lido14,
Trail head to Trail Camp is approx 6 miles, and can take anywhere from 4-7 hours, depending on your conditioning, weather, etc. From there, the summit is appox. 5 miles each way including the infamous switchbacks. Again, times vary. Most find the switchbacks to be MUCH longer on the way back (Why is that?!)

There are plenty of bear boxes at the Portal campgrounds and at the trailhead, but try not to bring ice chests, etc., they take up too much space. Bear canisters are available to rent or purchase at the portal store, and to rent at the ranger station in Lone Pine.

I hope this helps,
...tg...

Times are approx, Portal to Trail Camp 5 hrs. Trial Camp to Summit and back 6.5 hours. Others will do it faster and other will do it slower. It all depends on what kind of shape one is in and how much gear they are carrying.

For bear boxes at the Whitney Portal Campground, there are two types. One type will hold approx 4 normal size coolers while the other type is really, really big. It will hold more stuff than what will fit in a normal size car trunk.

I can't help with the permit question, sorry.

Hiiker

Thanks for the prompt responses and the information I was looking for Audiograce. I'll check "search" Spike.

Thanks Hiiker. Sorry I missed you when I looked for replies.

and no problems picking up permits after hours, just call the rangers at the number specified by the time specified on your conformation and they will put it out for you along with many others.

lido....5 of us just did the one day, first time for all of us, Sept.4th. I just finished looking through all the pictures that two of us took. I suggest you take your time, enjoy every minute. Since you'll be camping there's no need to rush into any leg of your hike. The pictures don't do our hike justice. If I had it to do again, and I will, I'd take more time, take more pictures, and take the time to meet more of the people up on the mountain. You're in for one of your best moments, ever! Have a great hike.

Thanks for the encouragement Rudyray. Part of our group hiked up San Jacinto yesterday (Sunday) and enjoyed it a lot. We are really looking forward to Whitney next weekend.

I would like to recommend camping at Consultation Lake instead of Trail Camp. It's just a few hundred feet lower in elevation, and will take you but 10 minutes to hike to Trail Camp. The lake is spectacular (like a lake on the Moon!), and far less marmots than at Trail Camp. Plus, the water you can get from the stream there is better than the water at Trail Camp. Just a thought.

Have a great hike.

PMK, we were considering camping at consultation lake, heard water was difficult to access. Are there a lot of sites around the lake, if we see people camping over the edge should we bother looking for more sites or are those it? How was the wind factor?

Paige, see my post under your water post.

Water from river at Consultation is WAY better than Trail Camp water. I think it's worth the scramble to get to it. But, if you're concerned about that, just get your water from Trailside Meadows on your way up. That's where the Consultation Lake river water flows. (Did that sentence make sense?!)

My friend and I just did the exact same hike that you are planning to do. Started at the Portal at about 9-9:30 and made it to Trail Camp at about 5 (we stopped a few times along the way). We camped at Consultation Lake, and I highly encourage you to do so as well. Much less crowded; when we were there, there were probably 25 tents at Trail Camp and we were the only ones at the lake. Water is easily accessible. Summitted and came back down to camp the second day, the walked out the last. Make sure you get a burger at the Portal Store on your way out.