Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Getting to Horseshoe Meadows in August

I have a trip planned for late august. I have set aside approx. 9 days to go from Horseshoe Meadows to Whitney summit and out the portal. I was planning on driving up to Horseshoe meadows and leaving my car there while having an exit vehicle parked at the portal. I'm finding that its going to be expensive renting a secondary car. Are there any other possible solutions besides renting a car or hitchhiking? There are 3 in my party and none of them can bring thier crummy cars except for me. So 1 car down and 1 to go. Your advice is much appreciated.

Personally, I'd hitch from the Portal to Horseshoe Meadows. A good percentage of the vehicles leaving the portal are hiker-types, so your chances of getting a ride quickly are pretty good.

Your chances are even better if only one of you hitches while the others enjoy a burger and a brew.

But, I'd do the hitching at the beginning. That is - drop off your buds and pack at Horseshoe, then drive over to the Portal, drop off your car and hitch back. If it were me, I'd rather not have the uncertainty of the hitch at the end of a long trip.

Try to hook up with folks at Guitar Lake the night before you summit. I got an unsolicited offer of a ride back to Horseshoe. The hiking community it pretty cool about this kinda stuff.

Hi,

I've got the same situation going on myself. If we are starting or ending on the same day we can swap a ride.

I'm in the 18th out the 25th. what about you..?

-PR

I've got the same problem. I need a ride from the portal to horseshoe meadows on Friday September 6th. I'll be at the portal about 1pm. I figure it won't be hard to hitch a ride from the portal to the horseshoe meadows junction. I'm just wondering how much traffic I'll see around 2pm on the horseshoe road and how likely I can get a ride. It will just be me and I won't stink yet as this will be the start of my trip.

Of course the other option is to take my vehicle to horseshoe meadows and pay someone to follow me to the portal and give me a ride back. Would you do it for 50 bucks?

Thoughts?

Several years ago we went to Mt. Whitney via Horseshoe Meadows on a 6 day trip. We met a couple with a small boy (8yrs old) the second day leaving Chicken Spring lake. They needed a ride from the Portal back to Horseshoe Meadows and since we had a car at each place, we offered them a ride. They stayed close to us the whole trip as they did not want to lose their ride. The last day, they had camped at Outpost Camp and as we walked by they got packed up fast and were on our heels as we came out at the Portal.

This year we will be camping at group site #2 on June 29,30 and July 1. If anyone needs a ride to Horseshoe Meadows, contact us and we'll give you a ride For Free. My hike starts on July 2nd.

Happy Hiking, Bill