Re: Questions for Aug JMT Thru hike

Hello all,

Been searching around the site and see some really great info being shared. I am hoping to find some of the same..

Here is what I am permitted for in Aug.

Starting at Glacier Point Trailhead, with and end date at Whitney Portal of Aug 19th.

My current thoughts... or ramblings

conditions

1. I will be driving down from Washington in hopes of leaving a car at Whitney Portal.
2. I was hoping to rent another car on the way down and have one of my party follow me to Whitney, and drive back to Merced where we can use the Yarts bus to get us into the park.

Questions.

1. Is it really feasible? or will the rental car costs kill us due to the mileage / availability (seems I see some constraints on miles when renting a car in Calif.)

2. Which would be the easiest route to get to Whitney coming fro Washington, going East or West of the mountain range on the way down?

3. Any better suggestions that would work?

4. Currently I was thinking of leaving on the 1st to head down, would that allow enough time to get to Whitney and back to Merced?

Thanks in advance, for your responses,

HikingDrew

Drew,
What is the date for the departure from Glacier Point? This will affect advice.

---

Old Dude

re the 2nd question : hwy395 is my guess . this would put you on the whitney side of the range , and i've always heard it used at least as a good route to oregon

There's a bus that runs up and down 395...you might be able to leave the car at Whitney Portal, find a way back down to Lone Pine, then take the bus to Mammoth. I understand the Yarts bus runs to Mammoth when Tioga pass is open, so there would be no need to go to Merced, just get off in Yosemite. I'll leave it to you to figure out the particulars of the schedule etc. as to whether it would work:
http://www.inyocounty.us/transit/transit.htm
http://www.yarts.com/map.html

A few years ago (last time I rented a car) they gave you 100 miles per day; I don't know the charge for excess, but IF you could rent one in Ridgecrest, and drive it up 395 through Yosemite to Merced to drop it off, that's about 300 miles, but it would cost more due to the one-way.

There have been some "Sierra" transportation enterprises in the past, but it's hard to make something like that affordable and profitable too.

For the ride from the Portal to Lone Pine, or for other suggestions, you could try the Whitney Portal store message board:
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm

Enjoy your trip!

---

Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

HikingDrew wrote:

> 2. I was hoping to rent another car on the way down and have
> one of my party follow me to Whitney, and drive back to Merced
> where we can use the Yarts bus to get us into the park.

You can catch YARTS in Mammoth Lakes. Why go all the way to Merced?