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 Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1
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OP
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1 |
Does anyone know if it is permissible to sleep in one's car at the Portal? we plan on arriving late (well after dark), when it would be difficult to make camp, if any sites are even available, w/o waking everyone up. Does anyone know if its OK to just sleep in the back of my truck, and then get an early start in the morning? Thanks.
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,509 Likes: 103
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,509 Likes: 103 |
Hi Timmy,
People do it all the time.
I'd still put food from the car into a bear locker when you arrive.
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 5
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 5 |
I just did it recently before my "Epic" hike to the summit on 7/29 and it worked out fine. As long as you are comfortable and put your stuff (even water bottles)in a bear locker you should be ok. Actually,I brought a nice camping cot that I WAS going to sleep on outside next to my car until I noticed a black bear about 40 feet from my parking space!
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,509 Likes: 103
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,509 Likes: 103 |
Water bottles??? I think bears, with their noses about 1000 times more sensitive than ours, would leave a water bottle alone.  I've always left them on the ground under the car.
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 659
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 659 |
I think this is a new advisory. When I picked up my permit two weeks ago, the ranger advised that water bottles should not be visible in the car. Apparently the bears now associate water bottles with the presence of food, and the sight of the bottles could provoke a break-in. (The under the car approach might address that issue though.)
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,256 Likes: 2
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,256 Likes: 2 |
I think this is a new advisory. When I picked up my permit two weeks ago, the ranger advised that water bottles should not be visible in the car. Apparently the bears now associate water bottles with the presence of food, and the sight of the bottles could provoke a break-in. (The under the car approach might address that issue though.) Yep. Two weekends ago a ranger swept the parking lot at the Portal and posted notices on (or cited) about one car in three for food violations. Several people were warned based on the presence of just one visible water bottle left on a console beverage rack. Apparently a tougher response to the activities of the two extraordinarily troublesome bears this summer. They even give you a spiel about these particular bears at the IA Center when picking up your permit. On the sleeping-in-vehicles question, yes it's done often - almost a ritual for many. However, I heard Amy at the store tell two different people who asked the same question that, no, it is not allowed. After the second one, I asked her about it. She said the INFS has asked that the store discourage people from doing so, although they know it happens every day. She mentioned that very occassionally a Forest Service employee will make rounds late at night looking for auto-sleepers outside the campgrounds. This was news to me. Anyone have any experience with this?
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 249 Likes: 1
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 249 Likes: 1 |
Water bottles??? I think bears, with their noses about 1000 times more sensitive than ours, would leave a water bottle alone. ... Human acclimated Sierra bears (and other animals) have a long history of ripping open packs without taking time to smell and verify the presence of food. Bears may not eat cameras, binoculars, video recorders or water bottles, but they have torn open packs that contain them even with no food present. Leaving potentially food associated items visible inside vehicles might extend this behavior. Dale B. Dalrymple
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 249 Likes: 1
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 249 Likes: 1 |
...
On the sleeping-in-vehicles question, yes it's done often - almost a ritual for many. However, I heard Amy at the store tell two different people who asked the same question that, no, it is not allowed. After the second one, I asked her about it. She said the INFS has asked that the store discourage people from doing so, although they know it happens every day. She mentioned that very occassionally a Forest Service employee will make rounds late at night looking for auto-sleepers outside the campgrounds. This was news to me. Anyone have any experience with this?
National forest and BLM lands are usually open to "dispersed camping". In areas with developed campgrounds this is not allowed. The usual notices are signs that say "Camp only in developed sites" or "No RV camping beyond this point". These signs are common on Sierra trailhead roads that have developed campgrounds. In times of reduced budgets, enforcement is targeted at problem areas and the Portal is a problem area. Before the bear problem days, I slept at the portal. I've been talked to and charged camping fees, but usually not noticed in all the traffic at the Portal in season. The Portal has become less attractive with the bear problem, limited bear-resistant storage (particularly on weekends) and the abundance of people incompetent to use the bear-resistant storage facilities. Dale B. Dalrymple
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 252
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 252 |
Yep. Two weekends ago a ranger swept the parking lot at the Portal and posted notices on (or cited) about one car in three for food violations. Several people were warned based on the presence of just one visible water bottle left on a console beverage rack. Apparently a tougher response to the activities of the two extraordinarily troublesome bears this summer. They even give you a spiel about these particular bears at the IA Center when picking up your permit.
What he said. When we were up early in July, the same thing was going on. There were three or four cars in the parking lot that had yellow tags on them that listed a warning regarding bears associating plastic water bottles with food. Including one car with a note on the windshield that said it was going to be there for a good two or three weeks to come.
One day I'd like to hike the entire John Muir Trail and not leave a single footprint. -Randy Morgenson
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 28
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 28 |
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/16791#Post16791Happily slept in my car...but had also paid the ten bucks for a campground lot for the night. (not sure if it is an issue of safety or money)
Last edited by Jrod8; 08/04/11 05:08 AM.
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 695
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 695 |
I think this is a new advisory. When I picked up my permit two weeks ago, the ranger advised that water bottles should not be visible in the car. Apparently the bears now associate water bottles with the presence of food, and the sight of the bottles could provoke a break-in. (The under the car approach might address that issue though.) Yep. Two weekends ago a ranger swept the parking lot at the Portal and posted notices on (or cited) about one car in three for food violations. Several people were warned based on the presence of just one visible water bottle left on a console beverage rack. Apparently a tougher response to the activities of the two extraordinarily troublesome bears this summer. They even give you a spiel about these particular bears at the IA Center when picking up your permit. On the sleeping-in-vehicles question, yes it's done often - almost a ritual for many. However, I heard Amy at the store tell two different people who asked the same question that, no, it is not allowed. After the second one, I asked her about it. She said the INFS has asked that the store discourage people from doing so, although they know it happens every day. She mentioned that very occassionally a Forest Service employee will make rounds late at night looking for auto-sleepers outside the campgrounds. This was news to me. Anyone have any experience with this? Yup, it's true. Technically, not allowed; but people (as I have also done) do it all the time. Not enforced much. CaT
If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it. - Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
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Re: Sleeping in car at the Portal?
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 372
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 372 |
I've almost always slept in the car before doing Whitney. And always drove home after getting off trail since I'm ONLY four hours away. The last few trips have been in the pick up camper parked behind the store with my shipmate Doug's permission. Still, I've napped (not exactly slept) in the many a crappy front seat, back seat (into the trunk) and in the bed of a pick before nearly every one of my epic hikes. It's all part of the "fun".
95% done on the home remodel. Looking to sneak up San J then Whitney real soon..................................DUG
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