Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion 7/23 carpool from Lone Pine/ tips on getting 6 ppl to Portal

Hi there,

I have a group of 6 hiking Whitney (day hike) on Sat 7/23. I see now that at that time there will be NO roadside parking that day. So... I'm exploring ways to get 6 people up to the Portal and down later in the day. I'm not yet sure if anyone in the group has a vehicle that seats 6.

I see there is a shuttle for hire that is a bit expensive ($65 one person, $20 per add'l person). And of course we could do our own shuttle, driving people up and down Portal road at 2am in the morning.

But I was wondering... if there is anyone on this board heading up to the Portal from Lone Pine around 2-2:30am on 7/23 who might have space for 1-2 people in his/her car?

I understand the need to restrict parking for construction, but it's a bummer that the number of parking permits issued does not vary by group size. Any advice from others who have made this work in recent weeks would be much appreciated.

An option: shuttle two in your group up the evening before, they can camp overnight in the walk-in sites. There is always space there. They can get up and break camp, stuff their camping gear in your car.

Here's a related discussion: September 19 Day Hike

We are in a similar situation. 5 people, but two of them want to get started earlier. I'm curious to know what you ended up doing, how the shuttle worked out, etc. Thanks!