Whitney Portal Campground info

I've got a Whitney trip planned. Permit is for Sunday entry into the Whitney zone in July. So, ideally, we'd camp at Whitney Portal on Saturday night. According to Reserve America it's fully booked for the night I need. My question is do people know if they hold back a certain percentage of sites for drive ups? Or is it all reserved? My alternate plan is to sleep at Onion Valley or Horseshoe Meadows that night to take advantage of a little altitude adjustment. But I'd rather not drive the extra miles if I can avoid it. 

Señor Arroz wrote: I've got a Whitney trip planned. Permit is for Sunday entry into the Whitney zone in July. So, ideally, we'd camp at Whitney Portal on Saturday night. According to Reserve America it's fully booked for the night I need. My question is do people know if they hold back a certain percentage of sites for drive ups? Or is it all reserved? My alternate plan is to sleep at Onion Valley or Horseshoe Meadows that night to take advantage of a little altitude adjustment. But I'd rather not drive the extra miles if I can avoid it. 

I think there is a backpackers' walk-in campground - no reservations necessary. Maybe.

FrankPS wrote:

I think there is a backpackers' walk-in campground - no reservations necessary. Maybe.

Edit: Here it is. No reservations taken:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=20704&actid=29

Thank you. That's great to know. 

You'll need to get there very early. A Saturday in July is going to be very crowded. The walk-in camping spots are limited and will go very fast from my experience.  I've only been lucky once and that one time, those spots filled within an hour.

The situation is like trying a spot at Camp 4 in the Valley during prime season. Certainly possible but you need to be an early bird. 

pigsflyinsd wrote: You'll need to get there very early. A Saturday in July is going to be very crowded. The walk-in camping spots are limited and will go very fast from my experience.  I've only been lucky once and that one time, those spots filled within an hour.

The situation is like trying a spot at Camp 4 in the Valley during prime season. Certainly possible but you need to be an early bird. 

Ah, that's also good to know. Maybe better to just plan to camp high at Horseshoe or Onion Valley. And to keep trying to get a reservation at WP. 

We got a hotel room in Lone Pine.

Marc801 C wrote: We got a hotel room in Lone Pine.

Yeah, there's always that. But given that I live at the beach I'm sort of looking for the extra night at altitude to help acclimatize.

Horseshoe is good. Helps with acclimating as well. Whitney portal is similar to Disneyland. 

Horseshoe these days is not the empty spot it was decades ago. Everyone knows about it as an alternative and I find it just as crowded and noisy.

Not sure what your schedule is like Senor but I would, and have done this in the past. Drive up after work to the Horseshoe Meadows on Friday. You'll be there probably by 10-12 at night depending on when you can leave work and where you live.  Not that bad. You'll have an extra night to acclimate. Go down the next morning to get your permit and immediately go up to the Portal for your camping spot. Sure beats waking up early and rushing to drive up. 

I have a lot of trouble with the altitude. The extra night helps me enjoy the hike and climb a lot more. I have a friend who drove up and immediately did Langley to Whitney in a day. I can semi keep up with him at sea level but if I tried that I'd probably die from edema. First night, I'm gasping for air at the Horseshoe Meadows just walking to the bathroom. Everyone handles altitude differently. 

pigsflyinsd wrote: Horseshoe these days is not the empty spot it was decades ago. Everyone knows about it as an alternative and I find it just as crowded and noisy.

Not sure what your schedule is like Senor but I would, and have done this in the past. Drive up after work to the Horseshoe Meadows on Friday. You'll be there probably by 10-12 at night depending on when you can leave work and where you live.  Not that bad. You'll have an extra night to acclimate. Go down the next morning to get your permit and immediately go up to the Portal for your camping spot. Sure beats waking up early and rushing to drive up. 

I have a lot of trouble with the altitude. The extra night helps me enjoy the hike and climb a lot more. I have a friend who drove up and immediately did Langley to Whitney in a day. I can semi keep up with him at sea level but if I tried that I'd probably die from edema. First night, I'm gasping for air at the Horseshoe Meadows just walking to the bathroom. Everyone handles altitude differently. 

Our permit is for 2 nights in the Whitney zone starting on a Sunday. So I don't need to be ready for blast off before dawn on Sunday. Instead we'll be hiking up to the highest Whitney zone camp and doing the summit from there on Monday. But I like the idea of blasting up from LA to Horseshoe late Friday night. Any excuse to spend more time in the sierra. 

Josh Cameron wrote: Dude, I'd be more worried about the bears and less worried about camping. You have the whole damn Sierra to camp out in . . . which is filled with bears that all want your food.

Bears and I have a long history of peaceful coexistence. Mobs of campers on the other hand...

Josh Cameron wrote: Dude, I'd be more worried about the bears and less worried about camping. You have the whole damn Sierra to camp out in . . . which is filled with bears that all want your food.

The OP is concerned with getting a camping spot at a trailhead, legally. That's a good thing.

What night are you looking to camp and how many in your group?

Just want to circle back and say that I was able to reserve a Whitney Portal site for the night in question. I used a service that continuously checks the reservations and texted me when a site came available so I could grab it. 

Señor Arroz wrote: Just want to circle back and say that I was able to reserve a Whitney Portal site for the night in question. I used a service that continuously checks the reservations and texted me when a site came available so I could grab it. 

What service is that, Senor? Sounds interesting.

FrankPS wrote:

What service is that, Senor? Sounds interesting.

Called YesYouCamp. I tried it just on a whim. Worked as advertised. 

Señor Arroz wrote:

Called YesYouCamp. I tried it just on a whim. Worked as advertised.

Thank you.

Plenty of camping at Cottonwood/Horseshoe ....   you can park in the lot and not stay in the sites for a much more restful night. It will help with the altitude, take a short day hike in the morning.  

Have fun