Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Onion Valley to Whitney

We are planning a september hike from Onion Valley and finish at Mt. Whitney. My questions are as follows:
1) Is it safer to leave a car at Whitney and shuttle to Onion or vice versa?
2) Can you recommend a shuttle service?
3) Do we need a permit to summit Whitney from the JMT and then hike to portal via the main trail?
4) If a permit is needed for the main trail, could we avoid it by taking the mountaineer's route?
5) Given all in our group are of adequate health what amount of time should we allow for the trip?
Thanks for your help!
Joe

Logistically, it is a lot better to leave your car at the Portal, and have it waiting for you when you get back, rather than have to deal with shuttling when you get back, which may not be at your anticipated time or date.

I would tend to think of the Portal as being safer, for the standpoint of auto break-in, due to the constant presence of people. Onion Valley gets quite deserted at times.

Last summer I did the Shepherd'd Pass to Whitney. Shepherd's Pass is just south of Onion Valley, and in my view much more difficult because it starts at 4000 feet while the Onion Valley trail starts at 9,000 feet.

I left one car at Whitney, and one car at the trail head. We did not feel unsafe about leaving our cars and we did not have any problems.

We did need permits to hike but we did not need special permits to exit at Mt. Whitney. The ranger told us we could exit anywhere. We chose to do this because we did not want to hike the front side of Whitney (because it is a frat party and over crowded) nor could we have gotten permits anyway.

We started the hike on Thursday at 1, and we were eating dinner in Bishop on Saturday by 7. I am 35 and have been racing bikes for years, and I feel I am in decent shape (5 ft. 9 in 140 and I could lose 5 lbs at least). My companion hiker is 40's but she truns all Summer and snow shoes in Winter and is about 5 ft 6 and 125. I wore a heart rate monitor the whole time.

We carried a fly weighing less than one pound (for emergencies), maryjane's deydrated food, metrx, peanut butter, one light stove, half a bottle of fuel, and of course coffee. We at the most heated water for coffee and meals. We both brought light weight summer bags (under 1 lb). I wore trail running shoes and light socks and she did also. One doesn't need heavy boots or any boots at all in most of the trails in the Sierra. I brought one light wool t-shirt, one pair of convertable pants, one pair of socks etc. I had a light pac light rain coat and a light stuffable Patagonia vest for rain or cold. We broght baby wipes. Those and breathable, wicking wool are crucial for fast hiking.

It was great trip, one of the best I've ever done. We saw I think at most 5 people in the back side: a cowboy looking for horses, a trail runner, 2 guys hiking Whitney, and some other guy going North. At Trail Crest, we saw tons of people and the descent was a traffic jam.

The trip is about 50 miles. Our group used 7 days (6 camps) and had a good time. I believe typical backpackers might do it in 6 days, but any less and you're probably running a race. I find 6 to 8 miles per day to be unhurried and fun.

Our camps were:
Flower Lake (4:00 pm start)
Vidette Meadow
Forester Pass (north of pass, in "meadow" just below highest lake)
Tyndall Ponds (great place if not crowded)
Guitar Lake (others on this forum have noted better spots nearby, slightly up trail from the lake)
Trail Camp

It's a great trip, and the Whitney climb is almost routine after days at 11,000 feet typical.

Rockytop, I'd really suggest calling the Wilderness Reservation Office in Bishop (760-873-2483) to clarify the questions on quotas. I had applied and received a permit to do the Onion Valley-to-Whitney hike this July, but realized a few weeks ago I'm not able to get that time off work, but when I called to request a change in my permit date I was told that, although there was space on the date I wanted to enter Onion Valley, the quotas were already filled for the Whitney exit.

According to the Ranger I spoke to, there are daily quotas for all trailheads, allowing you to exit at any trailhead EXCEPT Whitney. When applying for a hiking permit from any trailhead with an exit of Whitney, there must be space in the entrance quota AND the Whitney exit quota. I had also asked about the possibility of avoiding the quota by taking the Mountaineers Route, and was told that there were no exceptions regarding of the route to come down from Whitney. Their reasoning/concern is that some people might opt to take the MR even if they are not capable of that route, just in order to avoid the quota.

Bummer... but as I said, you should just call and get the information from the Wilderness Reservation office.

That being said, I will agree with all that it is a great trail! I've done it a few times and time ranged from 5 days/4 nights to 9 days/8 nights... just depends on side trips, etc. Wallace creek has got some really nice trails, and there's a camp site near the Center Basin Trail turn-off that my sons really loved. Have a great time. Rosie

Rosabella - So even though, technically, a west side JMT approach to summit Whitney and exit via the MR doesn't actually cross Trail Crest (which is just to the south), it sounds like they are still considering such a route a "Trail Crest" Whitney exit for purposes of the exit quota?

That was the way the Ranger explained it to me. Her only suggestion for my situation was that I could summit Whitney coming up via the JMT, then go back and exit from a different trailhead. :-(

The only time the exit quota doesn't apply is when you hike out of Yosemite and exit at the Portal. JMT thru hikers are exempt from the exit quota to preserve the JMT thru hike from Whitney pressure.

I have yet to contact the forest service to check on permit availability. Is it typically difficult to get an exit pass in mid-september? We would be exiting on thursday, the 16th.

Your post brought back memories, since my first serious overnight backpack was Onion Valley to Whitney Portal.

My parents dropped my friend and me off at Onion Valley. It was 9:00 on a moonless night in September. I will never forget the utter silence after the car door slammed shut and they drove off--nor the absolute darkness when the car lights disappeared--because we were immediately struck with the realization that we had never done anything approaching this, and our ride home was 50 miles away!

The fact that it was bitterly cold and we couldn't see to select a campsite for the night didn't help, either. So we bedded down right there beside the road. Fortunately, the weather was fine for the trip (no weather.com back then!). We had told our parents it was only 50 miles, so we would be home in 3 days.

We had a great time after the sun came up. Without paying any attention to a schedule, we spent the first night in Center Basin and the second at Wallace Creek. Before we retired the second night, we read in Starr's Guide that we had 25 miles to go the next day: We were only half way.

To make a long story short, we got up early, managed to summit Whitney at dusk, and got down to the Portal after midnight. It was a tough day!

A glance at <a href=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/permits_res/quotas.html>quotas</a> shows that there are 25 slots for exiting over Trail Crest, 15 reservable. <a href=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/permits_res/other_avail.html>Availability</a> shows that there is plenty of room in September, although the page hasn't been updated in quite a while.

It has nothing to do with your trip but, for completeness in giving useful INF permit links, <a href=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/permits_res/whitney_avail.html>here</a> are the Whitney trail availabilty figures, although this is old, too.

Well, after reading these other responses I guess the permit situation is like dealing with any government agency. The answer and results you get depend entirely on the particular person you talk to. Like I said, I had permits to enter at Shepherd's Pass and the ranger in Lone Pine told me I could exit anywhere I liked. That's what I did and I didn't have any problems.

5-7 days sounds a bit excessive. The hike isn't that hard.

Well, Brunodog, you're right... it's not that hard, but I don't think either Ken or I sited that as the reason why we took longer. I usually hike with my sons, and kids like to explore. I've tried to make backpacking fun for them so that they'll want to continue and , hopefully, will come love to backpacking as I do.

I grew up backpacking with my family. Two summers ago, we did the Onion Valley-to Whitney hike and took nine days (the longest time range) - this was a trip with my 87 year old father. We did have to go slow, but it was a trip that I've treasured... my last hike with my Dad.

When my sons and I go backpacking, we have a great time exploring, swimming, taking side trips, etc.

Can it be done in three days... of course. Do I like to hike like that...no.

The exit quota for whitney portal is new this season. When you went you were allowed to exit anywhere because they were useing the standard entry quota system.

How far is the nearest trailhead south of Whitney Portal?

I once read about some old abandoned monastery south of Portal with a trace trail. I wonder if one could access it from the JMT just in case there were no exit visas available for our day? I have yet to buy the necessary maps so it is mere speculation.

The monastary you might have heard or may have been part of an old thread last summer or so. Check this out
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000195
If that doesn't work search for Tuttle Creek Falls

Would that I had 9 days of vacation a year!

The question was what was the nearest trailhead south of Whitney. If the operative word is trail, it's New Army Pass via Cottonwood Lakes. Onion Valley to this exit is how I plan to do Whitney this summer. I am figuring on camping up by Arctic Lake and climbing by the class 2 northwest gullies. I may descend by the trail or back down the way I came, but I won't need to set foot east of Trail Crest. To start I'll overnight up at Horseshoe Meadows, leave my car there and have a shuttle arranged to pick me up and take me to Onion Valley. This way, I figure no permit hassles beyond the basic wilderness permit and avoid the crowd scene on the Whitney trail.

Mike

Mike,
How much mileage does your planned route add to one planned for exiting at Trail Crest?
Joe

Joe

My route if I go to the summit of Whitney by the trail works out using TOPO! to be 62 miles. By way of Trail Cres, including summit and back from Trail Crest, is 43 miles.

Mike

About leaving vehicles, the most likely culprit to break into your car is a BEAR. Don't leave any food or anything smelly in your car. Don't leave anything that might look interesting so that it's visible through the windows.