Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion June 24:General Questions

Hello all,

I was lucky enough to score three permits for this June. This is my first time hiking this hike and I'm extremely excited!! I have a few questions about the hike and leading up to it.

1) I've been reading how Horseshoe Meadows is a great campsite to acclimatize to. I just looked at their website and it's first come first serve. Do I have to arrive super early to secure a site, I most likely won't arrive June 23rd until later in the evening/ afternoon. I'm from Ohio and would really like get some level of acclimation to the altitude.

2) Is parking an issue for the Mount Whitney trail at Whitney Portal? We plan on trying to get there by 0230 on June 24th.

3) We won't have to visit the visitor center at all for our permits, the permits are printed out at least 14 to one day before the hike?

4) Any good restaurants in Lone Pine?

I'm excited to hike and see the area, thanks in advance!

The Horseshoe Meadows campsites are one-night only walk-in sites, so they aren't in high demand. If they are all full, you can sleep in the car, or lay your sleeping bag down in a clear spot.

Parking: There is an overflow parking lot, and if it is full, people park along the road.

3) yes.

4) the restaurants are all pretty good.

My account suggests me to check in up to 14 days in advance by phone or email, probably due to current situation. However there is no mention of email address or phone number.
Calling Inyo National Forest didn’t help. My call consistently got disconnected after several rings. I sent an email but no response yet.
Also, an email from Recreation.gov suggests that I will receive the permit via email. What was your experience?

-TP-

Something is clearly messed up with permit confirmation. I have two non-Whitney backpacking permits and one Whitney day permit reserved this year. All of the emails have a link that says “Permit Pickup Instructions”. The links all go to an Inyo National Forest web page that says “Content could not be located”. The Whitney email gives no clue about confirming my permit. The other emails have what may be complete instructions, but the procedure for Whitney may or may not be the same. I’ll bet Steve knows whom to call to get the answers.

Something is broken on the Inyo N.F. website tonight. I am emailing them. This link is broken:   Permit Pickup Instructions

Here's what I did to pick up my permit for the Whitney Main Trail last week:

Send an email to: SM.FS.WildPmt_Inyo@usda.gov
Subject should have: Hike start date, Trailhead

Email body should:
give the reservation number
give the group size
For Mt Whitney, you should state that you have viewed the "Mt Whitney Leave No Trace Video"
Say how you will store your food.

When all else fails, call the Wilderness Permit Office: 760-873-2483   then press 0, then let it ring and ring until someone picks up. If it disconnects, repeat the process.

Thanks, Steve! The Whitney procedure appears to be the same as for the other permits.

Changing the subject, I’ve seen a list of water sources, but I couldn’t find one with GPS coordinates for the one partway up the switchbacks. Do you have those coordinates? Thanks!

What? You don't count switchbacks???
36.5613, -118.2822 At elevation 12,400.

I pulled these from the CalTopo map and the switchback map created by the late Wayne Pyle.

Thank you Steve. I just sent them an email and keeping my fingers crossed. I’ll share my experience on this forum.

TP

You could just look for the water coming out of the ground.

Last August, it was gushing and water was almost flowing down all teh lower switchbacks.

I’ll be there to climb Wotans Throne, but we’re probably going to do the MR and then tag Muir first. We’ll be looking for water on the way down. It’s been 30 years since I climbed the MMWT without snow on it, so I don’t remember where the water was. At 72, I don’t think I can keep track of that many switchbacks when I’m tired, so I’ll plug 36.5612, -118.2833 into my phone and walk down like a millennial zombie until I find it.

Thank you!