Is it better to camp inside or stay somewhere in Lone Pine?
Thanks.
Not sure what you mean by "camp inside." You cannot camp anywhere on the Whitney trail if you have a day use permit, meaning you cannot camp at Lone Pine Lake or other areas that are technically before the Whitney Zone, but still off the main trail.
It is good to camp a few nights at altitude before going up to 14500 feet. Onion Valley is another nice option at just over 9000 feet (someone also mentioned Horseshoe Meadow). Some of the spots at Onion Valley are reservable on recreation.gov. The trailhead campground is lower (too bad),and have a lot of bears and noise, but still probably a better option than staying in Lone Pine, which is far lower elevation.
