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View Full Version : 5 adults seeking shuttle from Southlake TH to Bishop 2nd week in Sep



GR82Hike
08-14-2010, 20:26
Does anyone know of a shuttle service or someone with a van (in/near Bishop), willing and RELIABLE to shuttle 5 adults (w/backpacks) from Southlake Trailhead into Bishop - for payment? The person I contacted has to work and unable to take the time off. I was quoted $50 to pick us up at the TH and transport us into Bishop. We are not large people, and our packs are average size - not huge, overstuffed, packs, and not external frame packs with a bunch of extraneous gear.

Helmuth.Fishmonger
08-16-2010, 10:54
$50 for all 5? Wow, that would be the best deal in the Eastern Sierra. Take it! If it is for each, you probably can do better, but there aren't many carriers who are legally providing these services with insurance and license. I don't know anyone in Bishop doing that, and Bob Ennis from Lone Pine would be too expensive because of the long trip he'd have to take to get there.

GR82Hike
08-17-2010, 18:24
Thanks Helmuth - I was afraid of that; that no one else was doing this out of Bishop. I'll look into a taxi seervice out of Bishop.

Have you had any expereice hitching out of there?

Several years ago a friend and I hitched from Southlake to Northlake to begin our southern hike on the JMT, and had no problems.

To the remaining readers/posters out there - if you know of someone in Bishop who can shuttle 5 adults from Southlake into Bishop, post the information here for me.

Helmuth.Fishmonger
08-19-2010, 10:39
Have you had any expereice hitching out of there?


I've been up there 15 summers, but never saw a reason to hike across Bishop pass or even visit these lakes. I generally am on the JMT and the Bishop Pass route is at best an emergency exit, but makes absolutely no sense from a resupply point of view.

I know everything about getting from Lone Pine to Yosemite, but nothing about Bishop area stuff. Perhaps if you call Bob Ennis in Lone Pine (www.mtwhitneyshuttle.com (http://www.mtwhitneyshuttle.com)) he can connect you with somebody he knows is reputable and does this stuff up there. He is a great guy and will give you the straight story on what is available up there. I know he sometimes hires other drivers when his own trips overlap, so he may have a driver up there.

sbhikes
08-21-2010, 22:38
I've exited the trail at Bishop Pass twice. It's a really pretty hike.

I've had some success with hitchhiking. There are lots of fishermen on the road so there's a lot of traffic but not all of it is going all the way to Bishop. They tend to drive from fishing hole to fishing hole. So I had to piece together rides the first time I tried it. Once I ended up on the bigger highway, it was really hard to get anyone to stop, but eventually somebody did after I walked down the highway to a spot that had a big pull-out.

There's a resort called Parcher's Resort a mile from the Bishop Pass trailhead. This last trip I walked down there and took a nice $5 shower. The lady in the store was willing to give me a ride to Bishop after she got off her shift at 6pm. Then she said one of her co-workers was going into Bishop before 6 and could give me a ride. Lots of people drove up to the place to buy something from the store and I could have gotten a ride from them. (Also, a JMT thru-hiker was resupplying there -- they hold packages.) I ended up hitchhiking and got a ride to Bishop after about 10 minutes of waiting. But I was a solitary woman, not a group.

I'd say it's worth taking a chance. You might be able to yogi a ride in the trailhead parking lot or else get rides not as a group but individually or in groups of two. It's a really busy trailhead with day hikers, boyscout groups and others. Plus all the fishermen along the road. It's a busy road.