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| Mt. Whitney from the Eye of Alabama Arch in the Alabama Hills (Lone Pine, CA) |
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| The Permit Tag |
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| Dawn on the Peaks |
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| Rocky Trail |
Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is located in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
The summit of Mount Whitney is on the Sierra Crest and is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide. It lies near many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley, sitting 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over two miles above the town of Lone Pine 15 miles to the east, in the Owens Valley.
The mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides. Mount Whitney is above the tree line and has an alpine climate and ecology. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the sky pilot, a cushion plant that grows low to the ground. The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch. ~Wikipedia
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| View Back down toward Owens Valley |
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| Sun is Rising |
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| Near Trail camp looking towards Trail Crest |
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| Last water, near Trail Camp |
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| Looking back down some of the 99 switchbacks to Trail Camp |
The granite that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the Alabama Hills, thousands of feet lower down.
On August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas, all of nearby Lone Pine, were the first to reach this summit. As they climbed the mountain during a fishing trip to nearby Kern Canyon, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak.
In 1881 Samuel Pierpont Langley, founder of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory remained for some time on the summit, making daily observations on the solar heat. Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party consisting of Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales. ~ Wikipedia
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| An Icy part of the 99 |
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| Nearing the Top of the 99 |
Wallace later wrote in his memoirs that "The Pi Ute [Paiute] Indians called Mt. Whitney "Too-man-i-goo-yah," which means "the very old man." They believe that the Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain." The spelling Too-man-i-goo-yah is a transliteration from the indigenous Paiute Mono language. Other variations are Too-man-go-yah and Tumanguya.
In 1891, the United States Geological Survey's Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize an earlier name Mount Whitney. Despite losing out on their preferred name, residents of Lone Pine financed the first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Just four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the exposed summit. In response to this event, Marsh began work on the stone hut that would become the Smithsonian Institution Shelter, and completed it in 1909. ~Wikipedia
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| Trail Crest Above |
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| View over Trail Crest on the back side…toward JMT Junction |
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| View Back along the Crest Trail |
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| Looking back. Yes, there’s a long trail across that talus. |
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| A small patch of snow only…but it was deep. |
Today's Story
Back in February, three club members put in multiple entries to the Mt. Whitney day permit lottery…and in April found that one was a winner, obtaining four permits. So Larry Shahan, Chuck Stinnett, Laszlo Heredy and Brian Dodd left the Whitney Portal Trailhead at 0428 on September 12 to climb the mountain. The Mt. Whitney trail is ~22 miles round trip going from about 8,000 ft. up to 14,508 ft., but involves nearly 7,000 ft. of gross gain. (Think 1.5 times Mt. Charleston peak.)
While the trail is pretty good up to the area requiring permits (Lone Pine lake, about 2.5 miles in), the rest has significant difficult sections with rock and talus, as well as some hands needed. Once past the permit area, there are climbs to the Outpost camp and Mirror lake, then on up to Trail camp which is the site of the last water. From there, it’s a steep climb up 99 switchbacks to Trail Crest. Unfortunately, then there’s a downhill to the junction with the John Muir trail before the final two-mile slog to the top. For the most part the exposure is not too bad, but one very icy section thankfully has a guard rail. Anyone thinking of trying for a day or overnight permit is welcome to chat with any of us to get the nitty-gritty. ~Brian
These photos were taken by Brian and other members of the group. The narrative was written by Brian. Thanks Brian for giving us a peek at what it's like up there.
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| Brian (upper left), Laszlo (right), and Chuck (lower left) (Larry must have been shy.) |
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| Smithsonian Institution Shelter (1909) on Summit |
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| More of the Icy Section |
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