Mount Whitney, Year 30
There have been 29 previous trip reports for Mount Whitney from me, so I don't need to repeat my words.
August 2005
Local Hiker Summits High Peak
Lee Ng, of San Jose, recently hiked to the top of Mount Whitney, the highest
U.S. peak outside of Alaska. The single-day jaunt required a pre-dawn start
due to the 21.4-mile round trip distance, as well as allowing for over 6000
feet of elevation gain.
Mount Whitney, on the border of Sequoia National Park and the John Muir Wilderness,
stands as California's highest peak at 14,497 feet elevation. The summit
was first reached in 1873, and now a couple of hundred hikers per day attempt
it. Most hikers go halfway, camp overnight, and then reach the summit on
the second day, allowing a third day for the return to the bottom. Lee did
this in one day, just because she knew she could.
Accompanying Lee was Whitney veteran Bob Gross, for whom this was his thirtieth consecutive annual hike on the mountain. "Once per year, every year, beginning in 1976," he remarks. "I've
led a lot of Sierra Club hikers up and down the peak over a lot of years.
We won't talk about the few who went ahead and beat me to the top over the
years. Lee is a strong hiker, so she can do a lot when she puts her mind
to it."
On August 1, the two took all morning on the rocky trail to reach the
summit, did their celebration in the thin air, and then took the rest of
the daylight hours to descend.
Here is a panoramic view from the summit. Lone Pine is the green patch
on the left. South is on the right. It's quite a view when the weather is
nice.
My favorite yellow-bellied marmot getting ready to do some snowboarding at 12,000 feet.
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