Whitney portal campground advice?

My suggestion is to hitch a ride… lots of cars traveling to both those trail heads… easy to get a ride… and free…

billy

there is a small campground right at the parking lot.
I'm pretty sure it is supposed to be only for those with Whitney Trail permits.
But no one ever checked me when I stayed there for one night last summer (yes I did have a Whitney permit).
it is a pretty cramped little campground.

another 1/4 mile down the road is a regular campground that you can make a reservation for. if it is not filled you can camp there first come first serve.
but I would recommend a reservation if possible because it does fill up.

I've done this trip in both directions. I would suggest that you just drive to Onion Valley and leave your car there. The campground at Whitney portal is crowded and noisy all night long as people are constantly getting up at all hours to start their whitney dayhike, opening and closing the bearboxes, etc. Camping there is not ideal if you want to get a good night's sleep. Also I think your car would be safer at onion valley. And you can camp there if needed the night before your trip.

You can always camp at WP after your trip if you have to, but it is relatively easy to hitchhike from WP to town, and then you can either hitch or maybe catch a bus to independence and then easy to hitch up from independence to onion valley. (assuming it is daylight of course). You can always call a shuttle if you need to when you are done. The shuttles are expensive but I've had good luck just calling them when i need one rather than scheduling in advance.

Which shuttle service did you call?
You mentioned my car might not be safe at whitney portal? From people? Bears? Marmots?

Ive used Paul Freitham. good service but not cheap.
your car is probably safe at either trailhead. I've heard a few stories of smashed windshields at WP from squirrels dropping huge pinecones…just make sure no food in car.

At Whitney Portal, across the street and across the parking lot from the trailhead, there is a small walk-in campground just for backpackers. This place is pretty cramped. I stayed there once and never wanted to stay there again. It is better than nothing.

A half-mile below there is the Whitney Portal Family Campground, so it is full of RVs and kids. In prime season, this place is reserved well in advance. On some years, I have had trouble booking a spot there three months in advance.

With this in mind, some backpackers avoid the overnight stay at Whitney Portal by camping their last night up at Lone Pine Lake. It is about 2.4 miles up the trail from the bottom. Then they walk that last hour down to the trailhead, but that is likely to get them there in the morning, and there aren't so many cars going downhill to Lone Pine at that time.

–B.G.–

Don't suppose there is any way anymore to walk to Lone Pine from WP?

Walk to Lone Pine?

It is all downhill, but it is around 14 miles and there is almost zero shade.

Additionally, you could jump on your skate board.

–B.G.–

I meant as an alternative to the road, but true, it might be kind of boring and hot. I would assume the original trail up there was simply paved over by the road when they built it.

Yes, I believe that there is a trail hidden in the sagebrush, at least in places. Down low in the Alabama Hills, the road takes the only way through. Above the Alabama hills, there are some goat trails going uphill. Then I think the trail improves at the Lone Pine Campground (not to be confused with the campground in Lone Pine). When some people hike up Mount Whitney, they start from that campground in the middle of the night. Not recommended. An uphill trail there has to be ugly.

–B.G.–

Thanks for the great advice so far.
Paul Freitham is the guy I'm using. Used him in the past and totally trust his reliability.
Bummer is he's booked the day I need him, hence the whitney portal stay.

I'll be arriving ~5pm on a Thursday in Sept at whitney portal.
What are my chances of hitching a ride from there to onion valley?

If there's another reliable shuttle service I'd entertain that. Everyone on this thread seems to agree the trailhead can be a zoo….and sleep would be nice.

Ps: I checked those reservable family campgrounds and they are booked. Bummer.

Seems like everyone hitches to LP, so thats my plan as well.

I read a trail journal of one hiker who camped at the campground, then stared walking at ~2 am, walked straight to Mcdonalds and got on the ESTA bus. Not so hot in wee hrs of morning.

5pm? There should be hikers coming out around then… some will have a car to drive down the hill and be amenable to picking up hitchhikers….
personally, I'd drive to Onion Valley and just hitch back to my car when I get out at WP… that's what I did a couple of years ago… easy hitch it was… there's always the chance of meeting other hikers doing your same trip who have a car at WP.. talk to people hiking your direction…

billy

A couple of weeks ago I was driving around Lone Pine and back and forth to the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead south of town. I ended up making two round trips between the two points. I saw backpacker hitchhikers, so I ended up hauling a total of six of them (not all at once). I thought that might make good kharma.

Two of them got a ride from Cottonwood Lakes to Lone Pine with me, but they were trying to get to Onion Valley. Since Independence and the Onion Valley Road is only sixteen miles north, I offered to take them to Independence, but they declined. Their thinking was that Lone Pine was -the- place to get rides, and that Independence was not. Go figure.

–B.G.–

"If there's another reliable shuttle service I'd entertain that."

You might call the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce. There are a lot entrepreneurs down that way looking to make a buck any way they can. The Chamber will know the reputable ones, if there are any. Worth a try?

Perhaps they were just being 'polite' Bob.
(had you taken a bath more recently than they had???)

Billy

Billy, I was going out to the backpack trip, so I was still clean. On the other hand, they had been out on the trail for 50 days, and I would not dispute that.

Remember:

Some called him a vagabond
Some called him a vagrant
But they all knew when he was around
Because he was so fragrant.

Burma Shave

–B.G.–

Bringing back this thread as I'm finally about to start this trip.
How are crowds at WP in Sept?
Also does anyone know about these secret ravine campsites I'm reading about?