Mount Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States at elevation 14,494 feet (4,421 meters). It is located at the boundary between California’s Inyo and Tulare counties. The western slope of the mountain lies within Sequoia National Park.
Mount Whitney is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 miles (340.9 km) from Yosemite Valley. Mount Whitney was named after Josiah Whitney, the State Geologist of California. It was first climbed in 1873 by Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas (fishermen who lived in Lone Pine, California.)
Mount Whitney is just 76 miles (123 km) west of the lowest point in North America, in Death Valley (282 feet (86 m) below sea level).Hiking The most popular route to hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney is the main Mount Whitney trail (MMWT) whose trailhead originates in Whitney Portal at 8,360′ (2,548 m), 13 miles (21 km) west of the town of Lone Pine, CA. (Access from Tulare County, on the west side of the Sierra Crest, involves a much longer, multi-day excursion.) The hike is about 22 miles (35.4 km) round trip with an elevation gain of 6,100 ft (1,859 m). This trail is extremely popular and its access is restricted between May 1st and November 1st, permitting 60 backpackers and 100 day hikers daily for the MMWT. [edit]Climbing The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges.
The “Mountaineer’s Route”, a Class 3 gully to the north of the east face, was first climbed by John Muir. The East Face route, first climbed in 1931, is a classic easy climbing route of the Sierra; mostly Class 3, with the hardest parts at only 5.4 (YDS). Other routes range up to 5.10 in difficulty.[4] To the south of the main summit there are a series of minor summits that are completely inconspicuous from the west, but appear as a series of “needles” from the east. The routes on these include some of the finest big-wall climbing in the high Sierra. Two of the needles were named after participants in an 1880 scientific expedition to the mountain: the Keeler Needle and the Day Needle; the latter has now been renamed Crooks Peak after Hulda Crooks, who hiked up Mount Whitney every year until well into her nineties.
