Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Shuttle ride between Whitney Portal and Cottonwood

Making plans for next year..

This year I attempted the Whitney Portal Hike with an overnight at Trail Camp but Altitude Sickness hit me hard at 13,300 just before Trail Crest so I had to turn around. I'd like to make another attempt this next summer to celebrate my 70th birthday. I think I'll be heading out from the Cottonwood Pass TH and spend 3 or 4 days on the trail for acclimation before attempting Mt Whitney summit and exiting out of Whitney Portal. I'd like to park my car at Whitney Portal for the return trip home.

What is the best method to schedule or best chance to hitchhike from Whitney Portal to Cottonwood to start my hike? I plan to start on a weekday. I'm willing to pay for shuttle but do any offer this service?

Getting a shuttle to Horseshoe meadows (Cottonwood, New Army or Army pass) or Onion valley (Kearsarge pass) is completely routine.

There's a handful of people in Lone Pine that provide rides to different trailheads. Rather than post some names/numbers here, just search around a bit or call some of the local outfitters for suggestions.

I'm not certain what the parking situation will be like @ the Portal this upcoming summer. Even if it's sorted out, I still think just leaving a car in Lone Pine is easier than parking @ WP. Getting a hitch back down is maybe the easiest thing to do in the world.

3-4 days is a good schedule. Also, the beauty of going in the back door is that you can get a walk-up exit permit ie you don't have to wait for a cancellation or deal with the lottery. If you're solo, even better; I've never been shut out.

Without having to deal with pre-planning or advance permits, you can pick & choose the absolutely best weather window. If you see a forecast for building high pressure over the Great basin, with expected clear skies for 4-5 days, then that's to time to jump in the saddle and go.

Ed, for the purposes of acclimatizing, check out the road to and including White Mountain Peak. You can walk up as far as you want on a nice easy trail and then hang out in the Bristlecones when you're done, which is all over 10,000ft.

...or just hang out at Horseshoe Meadows for a day before you start out on your hike.

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to get my worrying over with before I make the trip. <G>

I was just looking at that peak and watched a couple of videos of the climb which seemed very easy. If times allows I may head over there if for anything else to see how high I get before (and if) altitude sickness hits me again.

This year when I made my first Whitney attempt I spent one night at Whitney Portal and spent the next day hiking from Horseshoe meadows to the JMT intersection and back. The next day I hiked to Trail Camp and spent the night. It was my third day trying to make it to the top of the switchbacks where the headaches got bad and nausea sit in. I sure hated to turn around but I'm sure I did the right thing. I also did not watch my water and food intake as I should (didn't feel hungry or thirsty). On the plus side my hobby is hiking and backpacking in hilly areas. I never did get sore muscles from that Whitney attempt.

I'm hopping that eating better, drinking more water and spending another day or two longer at high altitude will acclimate me where I won't have problems at Whitney peak.

Ed, congrats on continuing hiking at 70! (I'm only a few years behind.)

It sounds like you are more susceptible to AMS than average, so you should really work to address that. I'm like you when hiking at altitude--just don't have much appetite and never really feel thirsty. So I make a conscious effort to drink -- at least a pint every hour, and maybe even more. Adding electrolyte tablets to a drink makes it way more appetizing. (Check out those Nuun tablets.) Carry snacks that you really like to eat, and try to eat at least as much as a granola bar every hour.

When you go this year, spend one and maybe two nights as high as possible -- my favorite is Horseshoe Meadows. If you could do that the first night, then maybe head up to the White Mountain area for another night, (possibly hiking White Mountain on day 2 or 3 of your trip), you would probably be acclimated well enough to enjoy your trip to Whitney.


Assuming you are retired, you don't have to be on any sort of time schedule, so take lots of time acclimating. That will help make your trip a success.

Oh, one more thing: Since you are so susceptible, do get a prescription for Diamox (acetazolamide), and start taking it on those days and nights you are acclimating. (Just take a dose or two at home to make sure you don't have any bad side effects.) Don't take more than 125 mg twice a day. Higher dosages are for glaucoma patients, and that causes worse side effects--buzzing/tingling finger tips is one.

By far, the most important of all those factors is time. You body needs more time to acclimatize. Everyone is different. If two days is not enough to be comfortable, then take 4 days. It can make a huge difference.

I finally got a prescription last year. My MO typically is to drive straight from sea level before dawn, grab permit @ 8am, park car & start hiking - no acclimatization, no nothing. Around 50% of the time I'd be fine, but other times - on exactly the same hikes - I'd feel slow, weak, listless & tired.

I knew it was AMS, but I was getting away with it when I was younger. I'm probably in the 1% condition wise and could just power on through. However, I just didn't want to deal with the chance of struggling and not enjoying myself anymore, so I got a prescription.

As Steve mentioned, 125mg is now the standard dosage (2x day). They used to be 250mg, but Kilimanjaro guides were advising their (British) clients to just eat half. This led to the realization (hmmm, actual field experience?) that 125mg was preferable.

To be honest, it still feels like cheating a bit, but boy does it ever work - at least for me.

One thing to consider is a possible summit of Langley prior to Whitney. You should be fine after 3 days up high before you get to Whitney. Last summer I did the Onion Valley to Whitney trip. I thought the approach to Forrester was tougher then Guitar to Whitney.

For good reason. The final 5.2 miles to Whitney, from Guitar, is a 2900 foot climb later in the hike, after a day of not much climbing. The last 5.2 miles to Forester is 3300, earlier on, usually the day after Glen.