Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Gate Installed at the "Road Closed" sign

Doug from the Portal Store wrote today that a new gate has been installed and locked at the "Road Closed" sign on Whitney Portal Road. That is at least two miles below Whitney Portal.

So no more driving past the sign whenever the road is clear of snow. People had been doing that especially this winter due to lack of snow.

Update: Word is that the gate will be opened April 20.

Update 4/17: Just got word...
...the county expects to open the gate Friday afternoon, April 18.

Argh!!!

I guess it because so many car have been swept into Lone Pine Creek from the rocks slides above Whitney Portal Road.

Actually, we need a picture to post here, because, as everybody knows - no picture, it didn't happen.

Yes, we need to be protected!

In the years past, I have called the Inyo County roads people to ask when it might open, and have gotten the feeling there is some irritation there with the public ignoring their sign.

I called the Whitney Ranger station, and obtained some intel. Hope this will help others interested in Whitney before they open the road.

They do not know when the gate will be unlocked. In the past years. Sometimes the Road Closed sign was removed earlier, as in before May 1st. They said this year the roadClosed sign may be removed later than usual due to the need for removing trapped cars higher up there.

It is okay to leave our cars parked on the gravel lot by the RoadClosed sign/gate for a couple of nights; however, the ranger does not recommend hiking up from the road closed sign on the actual road, because that would be, according to him, 5+ miles of hiking. Instead, he recommends hiking up using a trail from the Lone Pine Camp Ground. He said the distance from that area to the Portal store (AKA Whitney trailhead) is about 3miles. Is there a trail from that campground to the Whitney trailhead? Can anyone confirm this? I have never hiked up to the portal store area from that campground.

The information over the phone appears to be inconsistent with googleMaps and other info I found on the web. For example, on googleMaps I don't see a trail that connects the Lone Pine campground with Whitney trailhead, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean there is no trail. According to this website, the Whitney trailhead is 7 miles away using a trail from the Lone Pine Campground:
http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/Lo...mp;parkId=70292

I also plotted the distance to Whitney trailhead from the RoadClosed sign, and the distance from the campground. If one were to hike up using the road, the distance from the RoadClosed sign is about 3.5 miles, and from the campground it's 4.7 miles. If there is no trail from the campground, parking and starting from the gravel lot looks to be the better option.

The ranger/staff stated that there are cars stuck somewhere up there, but he doesn't have the information as to the exact location. He said citations are certain if somehow people park/drive pass the locked gate. He told me that the reason for the locked gate is to more easily coordinate the equipment that will pull the cars out, and the concerns of people going into the Whitney zone without the permits and wagBags.

If available, please add more information you have on this topic.

NachosG: I appreciate the updated info.

Do you have a gps coordinate for the location of the gate? That would help in calculating the distance. And we could REALLY use a picture from someone.

I have a hard time believing it would be easier hiking up from the lower campground -- lots more elevation to climb.

Inyo County Road Dept people in past years always tried to open the road in time for the opening of fishing season, which I believe (but really not sure) is the last Saturday in April.

I am wondering about the "cars and trucks stuck up there" statement. There was a pickup stuck in snow at the Portal this winter, but not sure about any others. And as for the reason for the gate, I think it has more to do with what I wrote above.

No, I'm only going by the first post in this thread, which is that there is a locked gate installed where the road closed sign is located.

With the location of the road closed sign in mind, I'm guessing the gate is installed about here:

36.5961, -118.2063

googleMap: https://www.google.com/maps/place/36°35'...1s0x0:0x0?hl=en

Hope this is correct... I don't know much about GPS. Caltopo.com also displays the following string above those numbers:

11S 0392099E 4050749N
(what do these mean?)

Nachos: The google link you provided is down near the Hogback Road junction. Isn't the road closed sign above the big switchback:

Here's the Gmap4 view, it has way more options than Google Maps. Map of Whitney Portal Road

Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system UTM.

The '11S' points to a intersection in a specific latitude band, and the other numbers are meters displaced from that defined point.

From my recollection, the Road Closed sign is right by the gravel road, which is where I got GPS the coordinates... Unless the Road Closed sign was moved sometime between first of Feb and now.

Thanks for the Gmap4. Definitely way better.

If the road closed sign is indeed that low, then it is 3.5 miles and 1,700' elevation climb up to Whitney Portal. That can take two hours time to get up to the trail head.

Here is a photo of the gate taken by a fellow yesterday:




And a photo of the gravel lot near that gate:

A more recent picture of the gate:

My mind is racing with ideas on options to get past the sign. Maybe a go-kart?! On a more serious note though, what do you all think the repercussions might be if I rode my moped/scooter up past the sign and then hiked?

Even on your scooter you could be fined for violating Vehicle Code Section 21461(a). Try riding up on a bicycle; it'll get you warmed-up for the hike...LOL.

It will be up to the Inyo County road department to decide when to open the gate, not the USFS. There are several gates here in the Bishop Creek area, which sometimes open earlier than usual, sometimes later; it all depends on snow conditions...and the road department budget.

In the meantime, the trail and the mountain get to have a nice rest from foot traffic and wag-bags.

I called the Inyo road department. They said they are looking to reopen the road on April 25th

How hard is it to pick up the Whitney Portal trail from the lot in front of the barrier?

Looking at the online maps, the "Whitney Portal National Recreation Trail" is about 200 meters from that parking area. Here's a link to a gmap4 map of the area, showing the satellite view. If you click the "t4" map, you can see the trail marked.

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=36.594954,-118.204483&z=16&t=s

If you switch back and forth between "satellite" (aka Aerial Google Satellite) mode to the "t4" (aka Topo high USA), you can see how to find the trail from the parking lot. The parking lot is the gray area above and left of the crosshairs, and the NRT is below the crosshairs.

Thinking more about it, by the time you bushwhacked or whatever to find the WPNRT, it would be a lot easier and faster just to walk up the road. In fact, Jeff in this trip report reported it took him 1:45 to push his bicycle loaded with all his gear up to the trail head. Kurt Wedberg reports it takes his clients about 2 hours to walk up.

For next year, I thought about using a
Walmart Hand cart ($26 online)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Magna-Cart-MCX-Personal-Hand-Truck/21093218

Or a dolly ($10)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shepherd-Hardware-9299-96-Inch-Tri-Dollies-3-Wheel-Each/21984951

Another alternative to haul stuff.
Bigger wheels, better for the rough road, though a good bit more expensive. Not sure if I would want to pull the cart, or carry the weight on my back. It does carry up to 300 pounds, so perhaps several people could share the space, and the load.

TIPKE MANUFACTURING
Marine Utility Cart ~ $269.99