There have been 27 previous trip reports for Mount Whitney, so I won't repeat my words.

On a typical year, I take a day or two at high altitude to get ready for the Mount Whitney Trail. This year, I had more time on my hands, so I spent about five days at some of the higher spots between Yosemite and Lone Pine. When I stopped in the White Mountains east of Bishop, I had intended to take a short 5-mile dayhike up to the Barcroft Lab. This lab, operated by the University of California, does high altitude physiology research, and is located up around 12,500 feet. However, once loaded up with camera gear and on the trail, my objective changed. From the hill above the lab, I saw my real objective, White Mountain Peak, at 14,246 feet, in the distance. It was kind of interesting to see the summit lab, but I did not want to be up there in a lightning storm, and the storm was approaching. By the time I returned to my car, the short dayhike turned out to be 16 miles!

There was time for a quick visit to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest just south of there. There are trees older than 4000 years there, and the bristlecones were all gnarly and bent. The wood grain had a lot of character. Sagebrush was dotted all around, and a little snow was scattered here and there, having fallen while I was up on White Mountain Peak.

I made stops at Onion Valley and then historic mines around Manzanar, including the Reward Mine. However, running around out in the hot desert sun was not my intention, and I drove on to Whitney Portal to get into the mood for my twenty-eighth hike on the mountain.

For some reason, the Sky Pilots (purple high-altitude wildflowers) were not fantastic this year, but the Alpine Gold (yellow high-altitude daisies) were photogenic. I made it up to the Whitney summit, but another storm was approaching, so I headed down early and shot a few photos on the descent.

This is a "window" between two of the Whitney pinnacles, and this looks down to Lone Pine in the Owens Valley.

Alpine Gold (Hulsea algida) growing at 14,000 feet.

Alpine Gold

This is a view from the summit looking north toward prominent Mount Williamson. A little to the left and way off in the distance is Mount Goddard.

After returning to my car that afternoon, I was faced with a seven-hour drive to get home. I don't know whether I was stiff from the hike or stiff from the long drive.