[pct-l] Whitney Portal Question

[Aaron Wallace]

You will also need a "Wag Bag" (available at the USFS offices in Lone Pine) if there is a chance you'll be reliving yourself between Whitney Portal and the Crabtree Ranger Station.  As of this year, the Whitney Zone is officially "pack it out" instead of "walk off the trail a few feet and leave it (and the TP of course) in a crevice for the next hiker to find."  The solar never-really-composting toilets at Outpost Camp and Trail Camp (and the "throne with a view" at the summit) have been removed.  Since there is no backcountry disposal of said wag bags, in theory you'll have to carry said bag, and contents, through the backcountry, or at least dispose of the contents (in good LNT style: 6" deep, nowhere near water, organically active soil, etc.) outside of the Whitney Zone--although it's not clear that the odor-control gel in the wag bags is suitable for backcountry disposal.

The above doesn't affect the PCT per-se, since it never enters the Whitney Zone.  Wag Bags are also available at the Crabtree RS junction in an impossible-to-miss (or say you missed) location, but must be disposed of elsewhere.

Horseshoe Meadows is an alternate trailhead that avoids the Whitney Zone permit issue, the wag bag issue, and the climb over Trail Crest (13,600').

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net 
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Donna 
> "L-Rod" Saufley
> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 3:22 PM
> To: Sam Harbuck; pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Whitney Portal Question
> 
> If you're starting out of the Whitney Portal, you have to 
> have a permit.  The permit is required for hiking the Portal 
> Trail -- not to summit Whitney.  It is one of the most-used 
> trails in the US, and is controlled through the permit 
> process described at the website below.  
> 
> http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml
> 
> You may be able to pick up an unclaimed permit at the USFS 
> office in Lone Pine. If you are trying to get a permit in 
> advance, however, it's done by lottery, and applications have 
> to be submitted in February each year.  
> 
> I have seen a ranger checking for permits and bear cans on 
> the trail, and turning people around that didn't have both.  
> 
> L-Rod
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Sam Harbuck <samwise3929 at yahoo.com>
> >Sent: Aug 13, 2007 2:54 PM
> >To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> >Subject: [pct-l] Whitney Portal Question
> >
> >Hi,
> >   
> >  I had a permit question. I've gotten some different 
> information from websites and books, and was wondering if 
> anyone here could answer it for me.
> >   
> >  I'm planning on starting my hike at Whitney Portal, and 
> heading north on the JMT, then continuing on the PCT. Is the 
> PCT Thru-Permit all I need to get me through the Whitney 
> Portal area? I'm NOT climbing Mt Whitney.
> >   
> >  Thanks,
> >   
> >  Sam

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