It's About the (RV) Journey....: Mt. Whitney Portal..............

The Mt. Whitney Portal Road opened for the season just a couple of days before we set out for it. Each year, the road needs to be cleared of snow, boulders and trees that have fallen over the winter. This year, additionally, there is road construction, so delays can be up to 30 minutes before the "pace car" comes. So far, we have not waited much longer than 5 minutes when we have traveled on the road.

following the pace car up Mt. Whitney Portal Rd

there's the road up ahead, zig-zagging up the mountain

The road was very steep and the views were awesome. There were no guardrails, but there did seem to be a bit of a shoulder at parts, so it was bad....but could have been a whole lot worse. Hahha. Actually, the scary part is where the boulders are just hanging on....looking ready to slide into the road.

pay attention Tom :)

the views are amazing

Mt. Whitney up ahead (on the right)

looks like the rocks are ready to roll-eeks!

We finally reached the Mt. Whitney Portal, which is the starting point for a few different hikes, one of them being the climb up Mt. Whitney. It is the highest peak in the continental U.S., and does not require any technical skill to reach the summit. Therefore, it is an extremely popular hike....a "must do" for serious hikers. In order to hike to the summit, you need to get a permit, and only a certain amount are given out so it could take a year or more for you to actually get to do this hike. The hikers going up to the summit usually camp out at the Portal, or above, to climatize themselves to the altitude before hiking up to 14000+ feet!

We didn't want to wait that long for a permit, so we decided to try the hike to Lone Pine Lake instead, about a 3 mile round trip. Hahahah! Actually, I was hoping against hope that I could even DO this short trail to the lake. It is a 1700 ft elevation change, over a mile and a half of the trail leading to the lake. And....its hiking at high altitude. I actually had every confidence I could do this, based on some of our previous hiking experiences.

the trailhead for Lone Pine Lake too! (after that, you need a permit!)

I'm ready Tom!

The starting off point for Mt. Whitney Summit is a walk through a wooden "hallway", with bulletin boards posted with information on low impact hiking/camping and important warnings to heed, such as: make sure you have a permit! There is a scale to hang your pack on to see just how heavy your pack is. Its a good way to determine if you would want to take some stuff out of your pack and putting it in your car before heading up the trail to the summit.

Even though Tom and I were just planning on the short hike to Lone Pine Lake, it is the same trailhead. I had a few fears of my own before starting out....starting with getting up to the Portal on Whitney Portal Road. Then, there was the elevation.....about 8500 feet. We walked around a bit first and felt pretty good in the altitude, normal actually, so we decided it was a go and to just take it easy up the trail. Our hike was about a 1700 foot elevation change, in just a mile and a half. Well, guess what? My fear of heights won...and it won early. The trail started out okay. Once we got about a quarter mile in or so, I just knew I would have major issues. Tom was thinking the same thing (about me). The trail was too narrow and slippery, with too much of a drop off for me.....and that was going up. Its always worse going down....so....we turned around and came back. I know.....SUPER WIMP!! We hadn't even gotten to the switchbacks yet. I think Tom was actually relieved that he didn't have to have another Susie adventure on the trail! Poor guy! I felt terrible.

starting up the trail

Can you smell that pine Tom?? Its soooo fragrant! Nice!

so far so good

doing OK there Susie?

check out those feet

we can turn around if you want

We went a little farther from here, but then my fears started ramping up. Hence, no pics until we started back down.

heading back down

still heading down....much better trail here

Wonder if we would have had snow to deal with on the trail? There is snow directly across from us on those hill

I couldn't take a lot of pics on the trail until I was feeling "safe" again, but I must say the views were really nice once I got it together. On our way back, Tom spotted the waterfall across the way. It was a beauty! Once we got back off the trail, we walked across the parking/camping/picnic area and saw the little lake, and the waterfall! There is also a little store/cafe, but it wasn't open yet. This early in the season, it is only open on weekends.

Look....over there....

a beautiful waterfall!

too bad about the hike

I am always so disappointed in myself when I can't overcome my height issue. I do try hard though. And the funny thing is, I am the one that usually picks the hikes. I guess I'd be an even bigger loser if I didn't even try. The portal area itself was very scenic and there were things to explore. We were happy to enjoy the area. I wish you could smell the pine through this blog....it was so strong and sweet. Lovely. One of my favorite scents. Reminds me of being outdoors (duh!).

lots of little streams

snow melt runoff

the little store-only open weekends (Th-Sun) and it was a Tuesday

We headed past the lake, and went directly to the waterfalls. It was flowing pretty well....I guess that is the good part about being early in the season. The snow is still melting, so the water is flowing nicely. By the summertime, it may not have much water, depending on the snowpack I guess.

the first robin we've seen this spring

this little lake is stream-fed and has fish in it

very scenic - especially since we have the place pretty much to ourselves

pretty nice!!

lovely waterfall-surrounded by snow

mesmerizing-want to eat here?

We were thinking it would be nice to have our lunch here (we were planning on lunching at the lake....), and spotted the bear warning signs everywhere. In this area, visitors are warned to have their backpack not more than arm's length away. Also, warnings to not store any food or anything with a scent in your car, as it could result in extreme damage to your car by a bear breaking in. The bears are smart enough that they recognize what a cooler is, so you are also warned not to leave an empty cooler in plain sight in your car. The pictures we've seen of some unfortunate incidents were incredible. A bear can actually "total" your car by breaking in and foraging.

the last of the snow for the year?

they are serious here about the bear/food issue!

these snow mounds are as tall as I am!

the pine trees are huge

love love love the scent!

the pine cones are a nice size too

Since there were only a few other visitors, we basically had our pick of picnic spots. We chose the lakeview, and sat across from each other so we could see if we had any "uninvited guests" waiting for some peanut butter. The only wildlife that joined us were the jays....waiting patiently for any crumbs.

a prime seating location for lunch :)

Tom-you have my 6 right? Any hungry bears behind me?

I got your back too....no bears waiting for some peanut butter

so pretty....but sort of pesty

watching us....waiting for some crumbs

the little lake is spring fed from the snow-melt off the mountains

aren't they striking? their hairdo's and their color?

checking out another view

the lake is so shallow you can see the fish

see the fish?

We I was very disappointed that I couldn't manage my fear of heights to get to the lake, but we had a fine time enjoying the Portal area anyway. I'm sure in the summer, it is quite different, but we had the place to ourselves and it was very peaceful. The smell of pine was intoxicating!

taking a little stroll along the river

its so peaceful here

nice clear running water

looking up at another trail

As we drove down the mountain, we spotted some houses on the side of the hill. Not sure if they are actual houses, or bare-bones cabins, but the location was gorgeous. We stopped at a pull out and enjoyed some more views .... this time looking down into the valley and the backside of the Alabama Hills. You can also see the Inyo/White Mountains directly across. Just beautiful.

wonder how you get to those houses? (they are across the mountain from the Mt. Whitney Portal Rd)

a view of the Alabama Hills from behind, and the Inyo/White Mountains across the Owens Valley

beautiful views of the mountains from high up on the road

gorgeous scenery

we've been on worse roads, right Tom?

Owens Lake down below

could use some guard rails

the road snakes down the mountain

heading behind the Alabama Hills, with the Inyo/White Mts. in the distance

art

Inyo/White Mountains.....love the colors and patterns

A few days ago, we took a trip to Independence, a couple of towns north of Lone Pine, to check out the Copper Top BBQ-highly recommended by our friends Peter and Karen. It is also voted the top restaurant in the country on YELP, so off we went for lunch. As we traveled north on 395, we felt like we were driving through the remnants of a spewing volcano. Well, we were! The scenery along 395 is just unbelievable!

that looks like a lava field

oh, and there's a cinder cone

and volcanic rocks everywhere

looks like the road was built right through this volcanic spill

the flowers are starting to make their home here....

and this cindercone looks well on its way to supporting vegetation

The Copper Top was awesome! We each had a giant meal of BBQ sandwiches, with chili and potato salad as sides. Woah! Way too much food. All of it delicious. A very very popular place too! We arrived on the early side...about 11:45, but by the time we left there were a lot of folks waiting to eat lunch. Some of Lone Pine's finest were there (fire dept), another indicator of the quality of this cute BBQ place.

there it is .... the Copper Top BBQ

Voted Number 1 Restaurant in the USA on Yelp

local brew

Wow! Looks good!

this is waaay too much....but everything is really delicious

I took a few more pics of the volcanic activity on our ride back to Lone Pine. We would have liked to have stopped to explore a bit, but the roads were dirt, and we weren't sure if you needed high clearance or 4-WD to travel on them. We don't want to get stuck anywhere!

scenery heading home

nice volcanic landscape

While taking a final walk around the campground at dusk, we got a nice view of the moon over the Inyo/White Mountains, right from our scenic campsite. It is just beautiful here (though it can be incredibly windy!). We are thoroughly enjoying this area!