Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How much water do you carry TC/Summit/TC?

Thanks, PMK.
Sounds like you had a good trip, happy to hear some recent conditions.
Not many Paige's out there, I better watch what I say, forgot it could come back to me in the flesh

And, by the way, I would recommend camping at Consulation Lake, not Trail Camp. It's much nicer (just a few hundred feet lower in elevation). Just one marmot compared to the dozens crawling around Trail Camp. The Lake is pretty. And the river there is better to get water from (than the icky water at Trail Camp).

Have fun.

PMK, I have a few questions about consultation Lake that I posted on the "first time whitney hiker" thread.
Doesn't the river that goes by Consultation come out of the lake at Trail camp?
The water is probably just as microscopically gross but maybe a bit filtered from movement.
This time around, I am bringing a pump so I don't have to worry about the floaties

Paige; Consultation lake is a deeper big blue lake with lots of clean fresh water. It is a little off the trail but a nice place to hang out. There are not a ton of campsites out there but then you will probably be there alone.

Trail camp is a little pond that hardly drains. It may have the worst water in the whole area.

Thanks Gonehiking. I was told that accessing Consultation lakes water was difficult and most people take water from the river, do you know if this is true?

Paige: Consultation lake is not difficult to find. It is a big lake off to the left. Last time I was there we just left the trail and walked cross country to the lake. Most people don't go over there since it is a little out of the way (and who wants to do any extra). Consequently most people take water from the river before they get to trail camp.

Thanks again, GoneHiking, on our last trip we stayed at Trail Camp, my husband tried some fishing at Consultation, but I didn't get too close of a look. I am hoping to find some solitude, less marmots and less wind. I think we will take a look on our way up and see if it's a good thing. My 10 year old really likes the idea of the toilet at trail camp so we might end up there rather then hiking to the potty every time she has to go.(she'd kill me if she saw this)

Hi, Paige. I actually preferred the water from the river at Consultation Lake. I used iodine treatment (ditched the filter to go as light as possible). I used orange flavored Gookinaid (after 40 minutes of treatment) to kill the iodine taste. There are actually quite a few camp sites there. I found one tucked away in a nook that someone had built up with rocks. Protected me from the wind until the wind changed directions. haha And there was a "cove" pretty close to it that I used as a kitchen area. I didn't camp right on the shore because I didn't want to hike all the way down there, plus the rangers want us at least 100 feet from the water. Yes, you do have to scramble down to the river, but that was a good warm-up exercise for me the morning of my summit. : )
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I still think Consultation is a better place to rest up than Trail Camp, where everyone and everything is walking through camp at all hours of the day and night. And those MARMOTS! They are little BUGGERS!

Maybe it was still early but in mid-july this year I never saw a marmot at Trail Camp. Not even a whistle was heard. I do recall about 10 years ago when we came from the west side people complaining bitterly about the damage that the marmots did to their packs at Trail Camp so we hiked on through from Guitar to summit to the Portal (what a long day!!!!)

As for the remark about having the convenience of the toilet - well, it is suppose to be reserved for SOLID waste with urination reserved for anywhere else and frankly, that is somewhat of an issue at Trail Camp where there is not much privacy for that purpose.