Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Winter Access Forum Whitney Portal road conditions?

Tom:
I skied up the WPR this afternoon, but had to turn at about the same place as DougSr due to losing light in the evening. There was light snow falling, and a few pics from today are here.
I also looked at the frontage road to get to Shepherd's Pass from the highway today, and there are still sections covered in snow. Don't know how close you can feasibly get to the trailhead. When we tried Bairs' Creek in December, the same looking road was slicked out by just a few tire treads.
Have a great weekend!
-L

Joe Lovegren:

Got your email and my fingers moved too fast for my brain (ie: accidentally deleted the message). But to answer your question:

The road has snow/ice about 1/4 mile below the "Road Closed" sign. There is a dry pullout on the left hand side (south) which will accommodate a few cars. There were a few trucks that made it to the sign, but I could hear them slipping a bit as they drove past. For me, the comfort of knowing my TOF could get out of there outweighed the short extra walk.

I don't think anyone will be driving up the road anytime soon, much less to the campground or the Portal. While the boot track is nicely consolidated (and made for a nice human luge while skiing down last night), stepping out to either side of the track led to instant postholing.

Hope this helps, and that you get the message. Sorry about losing the email...

-L

I'm planning an ascent of the MR this weekend with a few friends. Anyone been up the road lately? Anyone else planning a trip this weekend?

Cheers!

I'm headed up Monday with two friends. We'll either see you on the way out or look for your posts. Looks like snow on Saturday. Have a great trip!
Any feedback on the road and recent conditions are appreciated!

How are the conditions right now?

I am planning a trip up to Whitney for this weekend, weather forecast looks great for the whole week, so if anyone is there any time before Thursday I would love to hear about how it went..thank you.

Right now it's windy. Here's a partial clip from the NWS for Lone Pine:

* Winds... gusts to around 65 mph possible above the 5000 foot
level. Wind gusts to near 55 mph expected in the
valley... especially along the western foothills and near the
west/East Canyon openings.

The winds are supposed to end tomorrow (Tuesday), but some cold air is moving in.

How about actual road..Does anyone know how many extra miles we should expect to do before we reach Whitney portal?

Hi Since this will be your first trip , expect to do the road from the closed sign , this adds 4 miles and another 2000' elevation. On you way down look for a down climb at the wide turnout with the sign , this saves about a mile but very steep.


I am not sure about the weather for a week out , I rely on what we get not what anyone says we might get. This time of year storms can move in fast. I checked the Noaa 16 km images and would think some what different weather may happen at least a chance of wind. Thanks Doug

Hi all !

I'm heading up to Lone Pine in a week or so just to do a day hike from Lone Pine to the Portals. Judging by the current snow conditions on the road would snows shoes any/or crampons be necessary or can I get away with mountaineering boots only?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the info! Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!

Hi Walked up to the Store yesterday snow on the road but tracks that can avoid breaking trail , I used Ropers and the person that went along used low cut lightweight running type boots. Thanks Doug

Ahhhhhhh ! that is refreshing to hear.
Thanks Doug !

Hi Doug,

How far past the "Road Closed" sign could you drive? From where you parked, how long a hike was it to the store? Were there small avalanches across the road or a lot of boulders?

Thanks,

Victor

Hi It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the store but we had many stops to get pictures, The lady I went with is very strong and her pace without pictures would be about 1 hour , If you want a nice pace plan on 2 hours. Some rock on the road but no large boulders yet , they should start moving in the next several weeks as we see the snow move off the South facing walls. Just expect to park at the road closed sign , the short distance you can drive is not that far, Doug Jr and I have checked to see when we can get the store open and will post when we can drive to the store. Thanks Doug

Doug,
You give better information than CalTrans !

"JustBob"

Thank you for your info. I and 3 of my friends went up Friday 12th-Sunday 14th. Started hiking just a bit above Road Closed sign because my friend's car got stuck (it was a 4WD truck). But 3/4 of us summited on Saturday (including me) after a foot or so of fresh snow fell Friday night. We were only ones from people attempting who got to the top (3/11). But there were some groups set up for Sunday, hope they had as much fun as we did!!!

anyone know current road conditions? A few of us plan on heading out this weekend and attempt to summit in a day. any information would be great. thanks!

you might be able to drive up past the road closed sign for mile or two..by that time maybe more snow will melt..but count on walking extra 4 miles and 2000ft of elevation anyways just so you are prepared for it mentaly if it happens..
good luck