The issue with large charges at Lone Pine are multiple:
- The climb up the hill is significant. Even with a big charge, I tend to arrive in Mammoth with little remaining.
- The weather in Mammoth can be quite cold, resulting in major vampire losses overnight.
I often try to grab a quick charge immediately upon arrive at Mammoth for both of these reasons, especially if the battery is warm. Sometimes though, I am in a hurry to hit the slopes and do not have the time (and those I am traveling with are annoyed by all the stops). BTW, the new restaurant Bleu (the old Charthouse) is directly across from the Mammoth superchargers and is excellent, with a gourmet wine and cheese market inside)
Then, since most people do need a good charge at LP, they might as well walk to the nearby restaurants. By the time they walk to the Pizza Factor, order, eat and walk back, that's about a full hour. Personally, I like to leave as soon as I have a sufficient charge with a decent safety margin. Given my points above though, I am not in a hurry to leave, as the bigger the charge I get in LP, the better. My biggest pressure to to make room for others. Not everyone is as concerned as most of us here are.