Mountaineering in the Sierras

[Ecurb]

Clarence King, the author of the classic book on Sierra climbing, "Mountaineering in the Sierras" made the first (known) ascent of Mt. Whitney. Whitney was formerly the highest mountain in the U.S., back before Alaska became a state. I climbed the "Mountaineers Route" last week. It was pioneered by an explorer and writer even more renowned than King -- John Muir. Here's a picture of the summit, and the route, which follows the obvious gully and then goes left up the ridge. The route picture was taken from 12,500 feet, which is about 2/3 of the way into the climb.

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[loe]

Very cool!

As I'm used to landscapes with more trees and meadows such a big rocky landscape frightens me a bit. Wouldn't want to get lost there. :)

[Ecurb]

The gully our route took is often filled with snow untill late July. However, this was a very dry winter in the Sierras. Mt. Whitney is only about 50 miles from Death Valley -- so it's quite dry.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Fantastic!
Closest I've come to that is a little over 13,000 ft, the highest point reached during a 7 day backpacking trek in the San Juan mountains Colorado.

[Nick Capozzoli]

I still like the book, A Climber's Guide to the High Sierra, which I used when I first began hiking into the Sierra from the eastern (US 395) side in 1971. It's got great descriptions of the various classic approaches and routes to the summits of the peaks in Kings Canyon and Sequoia. My favorite region is still the Evolution Valley.

[Ecurb]

The Whitney climb was my first trip to the Eastern Sierras -- and a whirlwind, long weekend trip at that. When I was younger I did a lot of climbing in the Rockies, from Colorado to Robson, and I did live in Yosemite Valley for 8 months one time -- but didn't have a car. Great time, and, as is generally the case int he Eastern Sierra, perfect weather!