Lone Pine parking?

You can leave it in downtown Lone Pine, or you can leave it at Whitney Portal. If the former, you might want to mention it at the Inyo County Sheriff's Substation so that they don't try to tow it off for being abandoned. People of Inyo County and Lone Pine like to promote tourism within certain limits.

At Whitney Portal, there are a few parking lots with bears for security guards, so I recommend leaving Zero food in there. One problem with Whitney Portal is that if the car becomes disabled for any reason, it is extremely expensive to get it towed down to Lone Pine. Something as simple as a dead battery is not such a big deal, because you can probably get a jump start from some other hiker.

A couple of weeks ago, one gal locked herself out of her vehicle at a nearby trailhead, and she was quoted the price of $500 to have the wrecker guy in Lone Pine come up to open it. So, be forewarned.

If you do park it at Whitney Portal, look uphill from where you intend to park it. Quite often, rocks and boulders tumble down from the steep cliffs above, and I would hate to see a good car get smashed. The worst damage my car has ever gotten there was a dent from a falling pine cone.

–B.G.–

Good info bob. Do people leave notes on the dash saying when the will be back or do the authorities pretty much ignor the at WP? When I posted almost the same questions as the OP a while back I learned you can park at the lone pine chamber of comerce for $20/week. Bears boulders and pine up top and car frying in the mojave below. What to do?

"What to do?"

Geez, I don't know. You could strap a bicycle to your backpack.

The bears at Whitney Portal are notorious. Fortunately, there are many metal food lockers scattered around the parking lots. Unfortunately, all humans have access to your food that way. If one human stupidly leaves a food locker open, then that allows acess by all bears. So, that is not a perfect solution.

I will admit to having left food in my car there on dozens of times, but it was only canned and sealed food that had absolutely no odor. For that matter, a bear will break into a car just for seeing a plastic water bottle.

Personally, I have never seen any notes on dashboards, but I have never looked for them. The Forest Service guys used to make routine sweeps through there with a dog in search of food odors at parked cars. Then they would leave behind some nastygram to the car driver warning of a future citation.

I would not call it the Mojave Desert down below. I would call it the Owens Valley. It does get very warm there.

One gal I know left her car parked at Whitney Portal for two weeks while she hiked the JMT. When she returned, the bear had done about $2000 worth of damage despite the fact that there was no food in the car.

You can't win.

–B.G.–

Way too many variables at Whitney Portal for my liking. Any other thoughts on specific parking spots in Lone Pine other than the Chamber of Commerce?

Is I stated, you could inquire at the Inyo County Sheriff's Substation.

–B.G.–

If you're planning to stay at the Dow Villa, you might be able to pay them a fee to keep your car in their overflow parking lot (adjacent to the hotel, right on the main street). Since it's right on Hwy 395, it should be fairly safe there.

Sort of brings up another variable – how easy is it to hitch from WP to LP? What about at the end of September?

When I asked this question a couple years ago I was told that you can leave a car at the Chamber of Commerce for a small fee, like $20. I didn't end up trying it though.

"how easy is it to hitch from WP to LP? "

I would think pretty easy. At Whitney Portal, there are several parking lots close to the trailhead, so there are hikers and backpackers and families and all manner of vehicles heading down to Lone Pine, more in the afternoon and evening than early. If a hitchhiker is on the downhill side of the road with a sign that says RIDE, then I would expect it to work quickly. If you walked downhill a half-mile to the family campground, then there are additional vehicles there which might be headed downhill. However, I would think that your chances are better at Whitney Portal proper. The cars there will be going slowly and it is easier to stop.

At the end of September, the weather is changing a lot, so there are somewhat fewer people. Still, there will be cars going to Lone Pine.

–B.G.–

OK, is it really a significant risk of a bear breaking into my car? I would of course have it completely food/fragrance free.

You might check the Whitney forum for more information.

http://www.whitneyzone.com

I'm thinking (with no backup evidence) that the problem up there is somewhat less than it used to be. I know a number of people who have left there car at the Portal for extended periods of time without incident. Anything can happen anytime and anyplace but I wouldn't hesitate to park my car up there. I occasionally hesitate driving on the freeway in So. Cal. though.

Mention was made about the Dow Villa. I was allowed to park my car in their overflow lot for a JMT one year (I stayed there overnight). Two years later I asked about it and they said no. I think it might depend on who you talk to.

It depends on the type of car, where it is parked, and what kind of mood the bear is in.

As a general rule, a smaller and lower car is more vulnerable. If the bear can stand up and look in the windows, it may see something interesting. If there is nothing visible in the passenger compartment, then that helps a little. If sealed food is locked up out of sight in a hard steel trunk, then that seems to work pretty good. Big American sedans or SUVs seem to work pretty good. An adult black bear has the claws and strength that it can pry into the upper car door/window frame and bend that down away from the roof. Think about that.

However, if you car is parked next to some other car that has a nice overripe Virginia ham, then the bear might attack that car first and then your car second, just until it finds the goodies. If somebody poured out some liquid food on the parking lot, and then if you parked over that, then the bear may attack your car just out of principle.

If your car is parked next to the road where other cars are whizzing by all of the time, then that might discourage a bear a little. If your car is parked in the back of the overflow lot next to the creek, then that gives the bear a little more privacy for opening the vehicular picnic basket.

Personally, I have seen only three bears ever at Whitney Portal. I've also seen lots and lots of broken glass windows there.

–B.G.–

My car has a tasty color – called vitamin C – so I'm definitely worried.

Insurance for bears breaking into your car:

Get the overripe Virginia ham, but don't leave it in your car. Leave it underneath some other car about five cars away.

–B.G.–

Call the Bishop Ranger station…..