Mt

Mt. Whitney

General Information

At a towering 14, 494 feet tall, Mount Whitney stands proudly in the Sierra Nevada at 34', 45" N, and 17', 30" W. Because it is the tallest mountain in the "lower 48" states, it is one of the most frequently climbed peaks in the Sierra Nevada, if not in the US. Because many of the snowcapped peaks in the Great Western Divide reach altitudes of 12,000' or higher, it is impossible to see over them to view Mt. Whitney from any of the roads on the west side of the Sierra. The best place to see Mt. Whitney is the Interagency Visitor Center on Highway 395, just south of the town of Lone Pine on the East Side of the Sierra. Rain falls mainly from October through April. At higher elevations, much of it comes in the form of snow. During the winter, the snow above 8000' can total up to 25 feet. Winter temperatures are below freezing and summer temperatures are above 100 degrees. Clouds can build up during the summer to produce thunderstorms. One of the associated rocks on Mount Whitney is granite. The peak is named for U.S. geologist Josiah D. Whitney, who surveyed it in 1864. The Sierra Nevada, where mount. Whitney is located, started forming when subduction began about 200 million years before present time. Then, the formation of granite rock mass (batholith) began about 195 million years before present time.

Climbing Mount. Whitney

Because this peak is so well known and liked, the National Park Service and the US Forest Service have created a permit system to minimize the impact of the day hikers. Ice axes and crampons are needed in spring and early summer, but technical climbing equipment is not usually necessary between mid-July and early October. Mt. Whitney can be most directly reached by a 10.7 mile trail from Whitney Portal, 13 miles west of the town of Lone Pine on the east side of the Sierra.

First Group to Spot Mount. Whitney

This is a picture of the first group to spot Mount Whitney and to decide that it was the highest mountain in the areas that they had seen. They were the California Geological Survey field party of 1864.

Some of the members of this group tried to climb the highest peak in the range several times but were unsuccessful. The first time they tried, two of the men, King and Cotter, climbed Mt. Tyndall, then realized that there were higher peaks a bit further south. They ran out of food and had to go back to base camp. Two more times, King tried to climb Whitney, but didn't make it. One time he thought he had made it but he really didn't because the fog had ruined his view of Whitney. Before he realized his mistake, three fishermen climbed Mount. Whitney and named it Fisherman's Peak.
This incident started up a problem because the California Geological Survey field party of 1864 had already named the peak Mt. Whitney. Officially, the first people to climb to the peak of a mountain are supposed to have the right to name it. Since the fishermen spread their name mostly by word of mouth, and the CGS had lots of publications about it, their name eventually stuck.

Erosion occurs a lot on Mount. Whitney because of weathering and water. There are many landslides of rock and dirt as well as crumbling peeks all over the place. Below are two examples of erosion. The example on the left is of a crumbling peek, and the picture on the right is of a rock landslide.

Pictures!!!

Mount. Whitney

Mount. Whitney at first Light!

Bibliography