Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Current road and trail conditions

Is the road open to the portal yet? If so, how is the trail to LP lake? Is the lake free of ice?

Thx,

1Calsurfer

I can partially answer you questions.

On Saturday I hiked (walked) to the family Portal campground. The road was closed, with about 15 or so cars parked in the lot next to the gate.

There was no snow on the road until you reached the campgrounds. In the shade, the snow was solid, in the sun, soft. There were so many boot tracks on the snow that footing was uneven.

I ran into several groups of hikers heading up. Everyone I talked to was heading up the mountineers route.

Paul

SE Couloir on Langley.



Lower Gate is locked...Never noticed the Open 04.30 sign before...



I was expecting to see more vehicles at the Turnout.


I was buzzed by 3 Fighter Jets on 395 South betweem Lone Pine and Olancha...don't know how they figured out I was finally home...:-) Threw up the Victory sign as they flew over...!!! Definitely below Drone Altitude...

Well Richard, it's about time and welcome home. Hopefully the start of some needed trail reports.

All future out of USA trips have been cancelled.

I need you to sneak up to Horseshoe Meadows.

Paul

They have TWO Road Closed Signs at the Gate...it looked like they might be working on the road, so I didn't pass...
Bummed because I was planning on flying from Walt's...or higher if it was melted out...
I'll sneak up early one of these days...
Less than 3 feet of snow on the HM and CM sensors...
Wondering if an Adventurous PCTer may be heading through already?

BTW, gas was $5.26 in Ridgecrest and 6.30 in Lone PIne...

A little side note: Back in 2014, Inyo County Roads opened the road to Horseshoe Meadows (all the way to the trailhead) on April 28th. I dove up on May 4th and hiked over Trail pass down to the Kern River, and up to Wallace Creek where it meets the JMT.

The only snow that I encounter on the trip was at the JMT. A very bad snow year.

Let's hope the road is being worked on as you say. I was looking at NOAA long term weather outlook and it's dry into April.

Paul

Richard, I just checked Inyo County Road Conditions and it shows as of today that Onion Valley Roard is open. Go figure.

paul

I checked too.
Wow, this seems really early.
I don't know that I've ever done Kearsarge in March...even when I was BC Skiing...
May have to head up on Monday...too much racing on over the next 3 days...

BTW, My Wife has always had Veto Power over my trips...she doesn't want me leaving agin so soon, so Ladakh reservations have been cancelled...

Question for you all: if we have to park in the lower dirt lot, is the trail south of the road (coming from Lone Pine Camp) shorter and more scenic than hiking up the road? On paper it looks like it may be a better option.

The NRT can be treacherous during any melt/freeze cycle...
If the canyon is melted out, it can be a fun alternative to walking the road...
I don't know what condition it is in right now.

South Lake is Open...Horseshow Meadow Road is still closed as of this morning...

Reservations re-established...got the OK from my Wife for 2 months...late-Spring thru early Summer...
Flights to and from booked...free...transport to the airport arranged...dang, car rentals are getting expensive...
My online Indian Friend from Ladakh has offered me a room in his hotel for $235/mo...
He also has the bikes...KTM or Royal Enfield...
I'm Excited to see the area with snow...
AND, get up that New Highest Road In The World!!!

BTW, he's getting me the Special Permits Required to Visit additional Restricted Areas...I wanted Siachen Glacier, but it's so restricted now that I'll have to try and make friends with an Indian Army Officer to get access...

Spent two nights at Lower Boy Scout Lake. Made it up to the Notch. Beautiful weather, low of about 35 deg. at night. Days were like warm summer. Real snow requiring crampons started at Lower Boy Scout. Wednesday morning found a door to the Store open; called inside but no one answered. I was hoping for a selfie with Doug Sr. but no luck.

I've always considered April the best time to do a "Winter" ascent of Whitney...warmer weather and those nice, longer, days...too much night time in Dec-Mar...

Sorry I missed you we help with the water turn on so go from above the Portal to the end of the lower campground several times
Storm moved in this afternoon cold wind and by late today cloud cover I got rain going to Bishop this afternoon

Richard is on the war path...

I rode up to Indian Wells Canyon yesterday...didn't spend much time as the weather was Nasty...
Somebody in a car was yelling at me, but in these conditions, I wasn't stopping...they were gone when I rode back down...
Riding back home, I decided I'd ride Freeman Road...never have to worry about traffic...
It had started raining, so I was dipping my helmet down and back up to keep as much water off my face as possible...and ripping to keep the ride as short as possible...
One time I pop it up, I notice a 3-wire fence across the road...
Brakes locked up...still about 30- mph as I hit the wires...
Hard hit on the left side...shoulder, arm and wrist damaged and bloody...
Could barely stand up because of major damage to lower left leg...
Limped home in 3rd gear...dang it hurt to try and shift...
Lousy sleep...
Doctor visit this morning to afternoon...no break...sprain and ligament tears...


Here's a message sent to Kern County Sheriff's Office:

I would appreciate it if you would look into the Illegal Fencing on Public land.

Building a fence across a public road can be a crime and/or a civil violation. Common legal characterizations:
Trespass / interference with public easement: If the road is a public right-of-way, placing a permanent structure can be treated as unlawful use of public easement.

I was recently injured when riding eastbound on Freeman Road. I hit a 3-wire fence across the road.
Here are coordinates for the location:
35.60098, -117.86588
It is east of Highway 14 and south of Bowman Road.

Here is a link to the Kern County Assessor's Map:
https://assessorapps.kerncounty.com...es/DocViewAssessorMaps.aspx?apn=34101011

There is also a No Trespassing Sign posted and some road blockage a few parcels east; also on Freeman Road.

Thank you,
Richard Piotrowski


Accident Attorney contacted to see if they can suck a little money out of the a****** landowner...


On topic:
This means I ain't going to be up in the mountains for reporting any time soon and Ladakh is probably in serious jeopardy...I doubt I'm going to heal in 3 weeks...

Wow!!!

Glad to hear that you're reasonable okay. It could have easily been worse.

I guess I'll have to wait for trail reports, or, maybe I can get Doug to fill in for you.

As for me, I am waiting for Horseshoe Meadows Road to open before I head back up to Lone Pine.My thinking is that it will be soon.

Well Richard, take care.

Paul

Thanks...

Yes, it could have been much worse...I was trapped on the ground with a strand of wire wrapped around my neck...it could have cut my head off...the fear pumped a S/L of adrenaline...I'm still waiting for my HR to settle back down to normal...

I watched the HM sensor go from nearly 0 up to about 3"...it's back down to nearly 0...
Inyo should get the road open...at least I could drive up there and suck in some thin air in case I decide to head to Leh...at 11+k...

Hey Richard sorry to hear about your fight with the fence!