My wife and i will be finishing the trail in mid-july and we are trying to figure out the best way to get from whitney portal to san fran. If anyone has any suggestions, your help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
Hump
Transportation Questions
system
#2
In August 2006, we hitched from Whitney Portal to Lone Pine and spent the night at the Dow Villa motel. Early the next morning, we caught the CREST bus to Bishop. We hung around there for a few hours and caught another bus to Mammoth. We spent the night in Mammoth, and the next morning we caught the YARTS bus to Yosemite Valley. From there, we caught the afternoon Amtrak shuttle bus to the train and took the train to Emeryville. Amtrak has shuttle buses back into San Francisco. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, and it sort of eased us back into life after two awesome weeks on the JMT. We met another couple who had hitched from Lone Pine up to Mammoth without much trouble, so that’s a slightly faster, more adventurous option. Have a great hike!
Doughgirl
system
#3
A friend came up with this idea, and my husband and I did it last summer. Worked great! You need at least two drivers.
Reserve a room at one of the motels that have YARTS pick-up. Or at the campground, if your budget is tight.
Drive to the Mammoth airport via Tioga Road and pick up your permit en route (in case you arrive late the next day and they have given it to someone else), rent a car, drive your car and the rental to Whitney Portal, leave your car.
Drive the rental back to Mammoth, get a ride to your hotel from the airport/car rental place with the car rental folks (a ride to town is part of the rental deal).
Spend the night, take YARTS to Happy Isles in the morning.
It was great to come out at Whitney Portal and have our car there.
wannabp
system
#4
I got lucky. I had been leapfrogging a family from Bakersfield for a few days. We talked a bit every time we met. When I got down to Whitney Portal I ran into them again and talked them into letting me ride in the back of the pickup to Bakersfield. They put me on the bus to SFO. It was a very abrupt transition and I would have preferred to take my time a bit more - waking up in the shadow of Whitney and going to bed in the din of the city was really wierd - but it was convenient. Bottom line - be nice to the people you meet on the trail and you may be able to get a ride.
Ginny