Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2025

...and go try to pawn it at Dart Thrift to buy as many 40s of Olde English as possible...

Leave your pack outside the house so a bear runs off with the scumbag...

But in all seriousness, sorry to hear about your E-bike being stolen, Richard. Hope they find him and you get it back.

If you are able to grab aerial updates on different sites that would be excellent!

With a view like that the insurance company will deny the claim without a doubt! "Sorry Richard, but we simply can't afford to pay out your claim when your bike includes Mt. Whitney and a decent chunk of the surrounding area..."


Sorry to hear about your bike! I thought the videos you posted riding up to the Portal Store were pretty awesome.

They're what reminded me to actually make an account here despite "creeping" on the posts since 2023 :p

Like the other replies, I'm sorry to hear about the theft an have plenty of gas to throw on the fire but that won't help.

I also ride a bicycle, a relatively cheap one because I have planned ahead for the possible theft, what would I do if I'm there, or not, etc... The reason I mention this is that in the cycling community there is a list where you can report your bike stolen and often they are recovered. They did actually locate a person of interest that does things like act as a broker for the thieves to take stolen bikes to. If the bikes are inexpensive enough they resell them locally. If they're in the 5-15k range they'll advertise them out of the country to avoid possible detection by the victim and/or LE and if there's interest they'll transport them to whatever locality where there are buyers, so long as the economics make sense. I suspect the same holds for any stolen item: an e-bike, firearms, etc.

The smart and imaginative criminals are very creative. Anyways it might be worth your time to try to locate a similar list where stolen e-bike information is aggregated. I don't see it being a privacy issue for you nor exposing you to more security risk. Hope this helps.

One of the Duputies that I've dealt with in the past told me that there is a gang that cruises the 395/14 Deset Corridor looking for opportunites...and they've managed to figure a way to get the motorcycles across the border without proof of ownership...like a law-abiding person would have to do...

I did get some good news from the Insurance Company...I was figuring I'd be waiting 30+ days for this to settle, but they're sending me the settlement paperwork...and it's a very fair deal...I guess that's one benefit of Inflation and having replacement cost, rather than deprerciated value, as part of the policy...I just wonder how bad the renewal is going to shock me...

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellow...gh-elevation-travel-and-altitude-illness

Thought I should add this link gives a few hint's on AMS/HAPE/HACE


I noticed the numbers for HAPE , seems like Whitney isn't that base line , could it be the number that try one day, overnight at 12,000' lack of training or hydration/rate of accent weight of pack?


My thought are simple anxiety plays a part in the program , the "what if" before the hike for people that aren't seasoned long distance hikers, not experienced with snow travel , proper gear for the season and conditions .The vast amount of conflicting information on the social media sites Person A reports .... I have... I did ... if you don't... years ago I woukd say read 10 reports and somewhere in the middle you should get a general idea of conditions and focus on reports from first timers these will be similar to your experience.


Ever heard you got to be off the summit by , it rains everyday at noon you need to start by , you should have at least... gallons of water , It was 90 in Lone Pine do I need a jacket on the hike, The waterproof high tech rain gear failed! I always wear trail runners ( barefoot Bob thinks you don't need any footware) My app shows the trail! does it I suggest go to the trail head and make sure your app displays your position at the Trailhead. I have checked one app that somehow picked the wilderness boundary for the trail. Will your app be active when you lose cell coverage. And the all time every day well 2... I lost my keys we need a rescue I left Chuck around trail crest he isn't back yet ( Chuck has the keys) and it is getting dark someone needs to do something.

My two cents on AMS/HAPE/HACE...

One thing a lot of people don't realize is how much caffeine they normally consume daily. Most have a cup of instant coffee at camp (about 1/3 the usual morning dose) and start getting the headache around Lone Pine Lake or Lower Boy Scout that compounds with the lessening O2. That then leads to the mental stress and semi panic of thinking it's altitude sickness, which usually causes them to turn back, but then get to the Portal Store, have a real cup o' joe and be back to 100% in minutes.

Before taking newbies up the mountain, I recommend "decaffing" or cutting intake way back as part of the training regimen. I saw this improve the success rate of summiting dramatically, compared to just adding caffeine pills or stronger instant along the hike. My assumption being the increased heart rate, metabolism effects, and peaks and drops in blood pressure and general cardio function at altitude being more problematic. Personally, I always felt much better being off caffeine and with a noticeable gain in stamina, able to knock off both Langley and Whitney on a given weekend, or a "jog" up and down Williamson---and a lot less grumpy...

Well, there's always the 24-hour Starbucks on the summit.

Unfortunately still closed for the remodel

In his April 6 post, Doug Sr provides a link to the CDC's "High Elevation Travel and Altitude Sickness." For the treatment of mild HAPE, the CDC notes that in field settings where resources are limited, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor can be used (if nifedipine is not available). The CDC suggests a specific prescription drug. Though the CDC warns, "Descent and oxygen are much more effective treatments than medications."

Since caffeine (not mentioned by the CDC) was just mentioned by Jeff M, it might be noted that caffeine is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Interestingly, in a recent study by researchers in Beijing, China, it is concluded that "Caffeine could be a potential treatment for HAPE."

I usually have some caffeine tablets (200 mg) in my first aid kit and from time to give it on request to a hiker claiming to be suffering caffeine withdrawal (usually due to poor planning). Perhaps it could have another potential use.

Jim

In the Old Days, when I "worked" as the WPS Overnight Security Guard, I would empty the Coffee Machine (at closing) into a fairly large thermos...this kept me from getting the Caffeine Withdrawl Symptoms the next day on the climb...

I'm one of those poor souls who NEEDS to do long, slow, acclimatization...I ususally won't head up much beyond 10k until I've had at least 3 weekends at progressively higher altitudes...

I remember having a conversation with Jim at Horseshoe Meadows (2018) shortly after barfing 3 times as I was prepping for a Whitney climb in a few weeks...


On another note: Scroll to 4:45 for some NPS Info...

I am similar to Richard: Three weekends of activity at progressively higher elevations before attempting a 14,000+' elevation outing.

When I encountered Richard at Horseshoe Meadows in 2018 (May 27), I was hiking at 10,000' to 11,000' el. Two weeks earlier, I had ascended Castle Peak (el 9,103') just off I-80 near Donner Pass. And one week before Castle Peak, my daughter and I were tramping around Giant Forest (7.000'-8,000' el) in SEKI. Still. as expected, in June the first climb above 14,000' was a bit "turbulent." But, from then on the "altitude thing" was not an issue for the remainder of the season.

Jim

I see to be one of the lucky ones, the Altitude doesn't seem to affect me. Even when coming from Sub 1000 foot elevation the day before.


My partner on the other hand isn't too lucky. It seems to be 50/50 for her. First time we attempted Whitney we drove up to the portal the day before, she was struggling just to walk around the parking lot. Decided to not attempt to summit the next day and just take our time and see how far we could get. She was perfectly fine the whole hike, and we made it just above mirror lake before turning back due to time/the snow being a little too heavy to trudge up without at least spikes. (This was in 2023, we had brought crampons and what not, but decided to leave them behind to dump the extra weight since we weren't expecting to make it past lone pine lake)

Next attempt we slept in the Portal parking lot the night before, trying to give her time to acclimate a bit more.

Half way up the old trail we had to call it as she started getting light-headed and ended up throwing up. (That one was scary, we were walking around/doing jumping jacks in the parking lot because I wanted to make sure she was good to go. The speed at which she became not okay surprised me, despite knowing how quickly altitude sickness can start)

Last year we didn't win a permit with the lottery, but snagged an overnight permit and decided to try camping at trail crest the first night. Day one she was perfectly fine even with a decently heavy bag.
Second day she was struggling from the get go. She turned back at the cables and went back to our tent to rest, while I hoofed it the rest of the way to the summit.

I want to say sleeping at altitude makes it worse for her, but I can't say for certain. We're attempting another one day attempt at the start of may, and i'm debating just staying in lone pine overnight and waking up 45 minutes early so we can drive up to the portal vs. sleeping in the car. Thinking that maybe sleeping in a bed might make a difference for her vs. car camping/tent camping.


All that to say, even with me knowing how quickly things can turn south, they definitely turn south faster than you can imagine. For anyone that hasn't done any hiking at altitude before, make sure you read up and maybe watch some videos on AMS/Altitude sickness signs. You don't want to be caught off-guard when someone you're with or yourself starts feeling it.

Better to be alive to try again than to need a trip to the hospital!






(Obligatory summit picture from last year, this was September 8th 2024)

https://www.extremetech.com/cars/kawasaki-unveils-robot-horse-powered-by-hydrogen?ref=thefuturist

When I buy my Robot Horse, am I going to be banned from taking it into the BC???

On another note: Drone manufacturers are starting to call their mini-drones Flying Cameras...J'm guessing to try and get around drone bans...

If they were smart, they'd call them assistance devices for the altitude-impaired. (Probably get grant funding on that, too...)

Another kind-of relevant post linking to a new CDFW doc on Bears:

Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan for California

Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful in the beginning-of-season lottery this year. I’m curious about the chances of securing a spot through the daily lottery or cancellations later in the year.

I’m not very familiar with how this process works—how likely is it that a spot becomes available mid-year? Is it purely luck of the draw, requiring constant monitoring of Recreation.gov, or do cancellations and openings happen frequently enough to make it worth checking regularly?

I got skunked too...and I had listed almost the whole season as acceptable dates...3rd year in a row...

In the not to distant past I read (on the FS website) that the FS DOES NOT put cancelled permits back into the system...I'm hoping this was some numbnet IT employee posting BS rather than fact...If cancelled permits aren't put back into the system, we're hosed as far as getting on the mountain legally...

There is the options of doing a Long Range Hike from Cottonwood or many other trailheads that have permits that are easier to get...

Hmm...I ran into an REI employee once who had shared that he' had just secured permits' and they were heading up that night to hike the following morning.

So they don't have a 'daily lottery'?

No - there is no more daily lottery. All Whitney permits are managed online now - so they likely just got some that had been given up recently.