State: California

Peak Name: Mt Whitney

Mt Whitney, located in California’s Sequoia National Park, is the tallest point in the lower 48 states. The trail to the top is about 22 miles long and gains over 6,000 ft in elevation from start to summit. While possible to do in one day, my lowlander brother-in-law (and myself) elected to take on the mountain over two days. Day one started with a 6 mile hike from the Whitney Portal to trail camp, which is right around 12,000 ft in elevation.

We set up camp in the worst wind I’ve ever experienced, and after getting close to no sleep, we started for the top around 5 am. The climb to the ridge up the switchbacks was spectacular, the sunrise to our backs painted the sides of the mountains in an amazing red-orange color. Finally we crested the ridge, and were greeted with 70+ mph gusts of back breaking wind. We pushed on, making the summit after 4 hours of hiking. Mt Whitney was amazing, but the high winds and a fresh blister forced us back down the mountain. It’s funny to think the next highest mountain will be the big one (Denali).