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Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext ) | '{{two other uses|the mountain|the former town with this name|Lone Pine Station, California|the ship|USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20)}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Mount Whitney
| other_name = Fisherman's Peak, Tumanguya
| photo = Mount Whitney 2003-03-25.jpg
| photo_caption = [[East Face (Mount Whitney)|East Face]] close-up seen from the [[Whitney Portal]].
| elevation_ft = 14505
| elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}<ref name="ngs">{{cite ngs |id=GT1811 |name=Whitney |accessdate=2014-01-22}}</ref>
| prominence_ft = 10080
| prominence_ref = <ref name="Peakbagger">{{cite peakbagger |pid=2829 |name=Mount Whitney, California |accessdate=2014-01-22}}</ref><br /><small>[[List of peaks by prominence|Ranked 81st]]</small>
| parent_peak = [[Nevado de Toluca]]<ref name="Peakbagger"/>
| map = California
| map_caption = Location in California, U.S.
| map_size = 220
| label_position = left
| listing = [[List of Ultras of the United States|Ultra]]<br />[[List of U.S. states by elevation|U.S. state high point]]<br />[[List of California fourteeners|California fourteener]]<br/>[[SPS Emblem]] peak<ref name="SPS">{{cite sps}}</ref>
| location = [[Sequoia National Park]] / [[Inyo National Forest]], [[California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| range = [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]
| lat_d = 36.578580925
| long_d = -118.291994950
| region_code= US-CA
| source = NGS
| coordinates_ref = <ref name="ngs"/>
| topo = [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Mount Whitney
| type = [[Granite]]
| age = [[Cretaceous]]
| first_ascent = August 18, 1873 by Charles Begole, Albert Johnson, and John Lucas<ref name="Farquhar"/>
| easiest_route = [[Mount Whitney Trail]] ({{YDS|1}})
}}
'''Mount Whitney''' is the highest summit in the [[contiguous United States]] and the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], with an elevation of {{convert|14505|ft}}.<ref name="ngs"/> It is on the boundary between California's [[Inyo County, California|Inyo]] and [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]] counties, {{convert|84.6|mi}} west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at [[Badwater Basin|Badwater]] in [[Death Valley National Park]] at {{convert|279|ft|abbr=on}} below sea level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/distance.html|title=Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|accessdate=2010-08-13}}</ref> The west slope of the mountain is in [[Sequoia National Park]] and the summit is the southern terminus of the [[John Muir Trail]] which runs {{convert|211.9|mi|km|1|abbr=on}} from [[Happy Isles]] in [[Yosemite Valley]]. The east slope is in the [[Inyo National Forest]] in [[Inyo County]].
== Geography ==
[[File:A347, Skypilot near summit of Mount Whitney, California, USA, 2011.JPG|thumb|left|[[Polemonium eximium|Sky pilot]] blooming on ridge just below summit.]]
The summit of Whitney is on the [[Sierra Crest]] and near many of the highest peaks of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. The peak rises {{convert|10778|ft}} or just over two miles above the town of [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]] 15 miles to the east, in the [[Owens Valley]].
The peak dramatically rises above the floor of the Owens Valley. It rises more gradually on the west side, sitting only about {{convert|3000|ft}} above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake. The mountain is dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides.
Mount Whitney is above the [[tree line]] and has an [[alpine climate]] and [[alpine tundra|ecology]]. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the [[Polemonium eximium|Skypilot]], a [[cushion plant]] that grows low to the ground.<ref name="Schoenherr">
{{cite book
| last = Schoenherr
| first = Allan A.
| title = A Natural History of California
| year = 1995
| publisher = [[University of California Press]]
| isbn = 0-520-06922-6 }}</ref>
The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly ''[[Parnassius phoebus]]'' and the [[gray-crowned rosy finch]].<ref name="Schoenherr"/>
=== Elevation measurements ===
The estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become more refined and, more importantly, the vertical coordinate system has changed. The peak was commonly said to be at {{convert|14494|ft|abbr=on}} and this is the elevation stamped on the USGS brass benchmark disk on the summit. An older plaque on the summit (sheet metal with black lettering on white enamel) reads "elevation 14,496.811 feet" but this was estimated using the older [[geodetic system|vertical datum]] ([[Sea Level Datum of 1929|NGVD29]]) from 1929. Since then the shape of the [[Earth]] (the [[geoid]]) has been estimated more accurately. Using a new vertical datum established in 1988 ([[North American Vertical Datum of 1988|NAVD88]]) the benchmark is now estimated to be at {{convert|14505|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ngs"/><ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Vertcon/vert_method.html
| title = Height Conversion Methodology
| publisher = U.S. National Geodetic Survey
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
== Geology ==
[[Image:Sierra nevada schematic.svg|thumb|right|Schematic of Sierra Nevada [[fault-block]].]]
The eastern slope of Whitney is far steeper than its western slope because the entire Sierra Nevada is the result of a [[fault-block]] that is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Sierra Nevada
| work = Ecological Subregions of California
| publisher = [[United States Forest Service|US Forest Service]]
| url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/ecoregions/m261e.htm
| archiveurl = http://wayback.archive.org/web/20080601101102/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/ecoregions/m261e.htm
| archivedate = 2008-06-01
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
The rise is caused by a [[normal fault]] system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the [[granite]] that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the [[Alabama Hills]], thousands of feet lower down.<ref name="Schoenherr"/> The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause the [[Basin and Range Province]]: the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched.<ref name="nps">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/the-great-basin.htm
| title = The Great Basin|work=Great Basin National Park
| publisher = [[National Park Service|US National Park Service]]
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the [[Sierra Nevada batholith]]. In [[Cretaceous]] time, masses of molten rock that originated from [[subduction]] rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In the last 2 to 10 million years, the Sierra was pushed up which enabled glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today.
== History ==
In July 1864, the members of the [[California Geological Survey]] named the peak after [[Josiah Whitney]], the State Geologist of [[California]] and benefactor of the survey.<ref name="Farquhar">
{{cite book
| last = Farquhar
| first = Francis P.
| authorlink = Francis P. Farquhar
| title = Place Names of the High Sierra
| url = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/w.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-12
| publisher = [[Sierra Club]]
| location = [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]
| year = 1926 }}</ref>
During the same expedition, geologist [[Clarence King]] attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, but having taken a different approach, he actually summited nearby [[Mount Langley]]. Upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to claim the first recorded ascent.<ref name="King">
{{cite book
| last = King
| first = Clarence
| authorlink = Clarence King
| title = Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada
| url = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/
| accessdate = 2009-02-01
| edition = 10th
| origyear = 1872
| year = 1902
| chapter = Chapter XIII Mount Whitney
| chapterurl = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/13.html
| isbn = 0-585-27432-0 }}</ref>
[[File:Mount Whitney from south.jpg|thumb|left|Mount Whitney as seen from [[Mount Langley]]]]
A month earlier on August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas of nearby [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]], had become the first to reach the highest summit in the contiguous United States. As they were fishermen, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak.<ref name="Farquhar"/> But in 1891, the [[United States Geological Survey]]'s Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize the earlier name of Mount Whitney. The name Whitney has remained, resisting a movement after [[World War II]] to rename the mountain for [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name="gnis">
{{cite gnis |id=269051 |name=Mount Whitney |accessdate=2009-02-01}}</ref>
===Locals===
Residents of Lone Pine financed the first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Just four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Bureau of Fisheries]] employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the exposed summit. In response to this event, Marsh began work on the stone hut that would become the [[Smithsonian Institution Shelter]], and completed it in 1909.<ref name="LPC">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.lonepinechamber.org/history/whitneyhist2.html
| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/67e2fTH63
| archivedate = 2012-05-14
| work = Mount Whitney History
| title = Mt. Whitney's Early Days|publisher=Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce
| accessdate = 2009-02-01}}</ref>
In 1881 [[Samuel Pierpont Langley|S. P. Langley]] remained for some time on the summit, making daily observations on the solar heat.<ref name=ea>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Whitney, Mount}}</ref>
===Native American name===
Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party, Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales <ref name="seq">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.sequoiaparksfoundation.org/2012/historic-people-and-places-william-b-wallace/
| accessdate = 2015-10-04
| title = Historic People And Places: WILLIAM B. WALLACE
| publisher = Sequoia Parks Foundation }} </ref>
Wallace later wrote in his memoirs <ref name = "paiute">
{{cite book
| last = Wallace
| first = William B.
| chapter = A Night On Mt. Whitney
| title = Mt. Whitney Club Journal
| year = 1902
| volume = 1
| issue = 1
| pages = 8-9
| publisher = Mt. Whitney Club
| location = Visalia, CA
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q35LAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=“Too-man-i-goo-yah”&source=bl&ots=nXcWIxnMDt&sig=SA5KNZYmDyiShLh45iiSfpyfJPo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAWoVChMI0_Tmyp6oyAIVg5eICh36zgwd#v=onepage&q=“Too-man-i-goo-yah”&f=false }}
</ref> that "The [[Paiute | Pi Ute [Paiute] ]] Indians called Mt. Whitney "''Too-man-i-goo-yah''," which means "the very old man." They believe that the Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain..." The spelling ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' is a transliteration from the indigenous Paiute [[Mono language (California)|Mono language]]. Other variations are ''Too-man-go-yah'' <ref name = "14ers">
{{cite book
| title=Climbing California's Fourteeners: The Route Guide to the Fifteen Highest Peaks
| first1 = Stephen
| last1 = Porcella
| first2 = Cameron
| last2 = Burns
| publisher = [[The_Mountaineers_(club)#Mountaineers_Books |Mountaineers Books ]]
| page = 55
| ISBN = 0-89886-555-7
| date = 1998
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uM6amm4BDtAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Climbing+California's+Fourteeners:&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAGoVChMI6PP3252syAIVT0WICh1txAv6#v=onepage&q=too%20man&f=false}}
</ref> and ''Tumanguya''.<ref name = "bustle">
{{ cite web
| url = http://www.bustle.com/articles/107621-5-whitewashed-american-landmarks-that-like-mount-mckinley-sorely-need-a-name-change
| website = www.bustle.com
| title = 5 Whitewashed American Landmarks That, Like Mount McKinley, Sorely Need A Name Change
| first = Lauren
| last = Barbato
| date = 2015-08-31 }}
</ref>
==Climbing routes==
=== Trails ===
[[Image:Smithsonian Hut Whitney.jpg|thumb|right|The Smithsonian Hut Shelter on Whitney's summit.]]
The most popular route to the summit is by way of the [[Mount Whitney Trail]] which starts at [[Whitney Portal]], at an elevation of {{convert|8360|ft|abbr=on}}, {{convert|13|mi|abbr=on}} west of the town of Lone Pine. The hike is about {{convert|22|mi|km|abbr=on}} round trip with an elevation gain of over {{convert|6100|ft|abbr=on}}. Permits are required year round, and to prevent overuse a limited number of permits are issued by the [[United States Forest Service|Forest Service]] between May 1 and November 1.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml
| archiveurl = http://wayback.archive.org/web/20080414042448/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml
| archivedate = 2008-04-14
| title = Recreational Activities - Mt. Whitney
| publisher = US Forest Service
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref> The Forest Service holds an annual lottery for hiking and backpacking permits on the Mount Whitney Trail. Applications are accepted from February 1 through March 15. Any permits left over after the lottery is completed typically go on sale April 1.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5150055
| title = Mount Whitney Lottery - Permit Reservations
| publisher = US Forest Service
| accessdate = 2014-01-23 }}</ref> Most hikers do the trip in two days which is still considered a strenuous endeavor. Those in good physical condition sometimes attempt to reach the summit and return to Whitney Portal in one day, thus requiring only a somewhat easier-to-obtain "day use" permit rather than the overnight permit, and allowing one not to carry overnight camping gear (sleeping bag and tent) up the mountain. This is considered an "extreme" day hike, which normally involves leaving Whitney Portal before sunrise and 12 to 18 hours of strenuous hiking,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dayhiker.com/directory/MtWhitney.htm|title=Mt. Whitney – One Day Hike}}</ref> while struggling with [[altitude sickness]], cold air, and occasionally treacherous surface conditions (because snow and/or ice are normally present on parts of the trail, except for a short period from early July to late September).
[[Image:Whitney trail at night.jpg|thumb|left|Hikers ascending Whitney before sunrise via the John Muir Trail]]
Longer approaches to Whitney arrive at its west side, connecting to the Mount Whitney Trail near the summit by way of the [[John Muir Trail]].
=== Scrambles ===
The "Mountaineer's Route", a gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by [[John Muir]], is considered a [[scrambling|scramble]], {{YDS|3}} ([[Grade (climbing)#International French Adjectival System (IFAS)|PD+]]).<ref name="Secor">{{cite Secor |pages=70–75}}</ref> The fastest recorded time up this route to the summit and back to the portal is 3 hours 10 minutes, by Jason Lakey of Bishop.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockandice.com/news/1272-bishop-local-adds-513b-crack-and-speed-solos-whitney-region|archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20101212234615/http://www.rockandice.com/news/1272-bishop-local-adds-513b-crack-and-speed-solos-whitney-region|archivedate=2010-12-12|title=Bishop Local Adds 5.13b Crack, And Speed Solos Whitney Region}}</ref>
=== Technical climbs ===
[[Image:Whitney Trail Switchbacks.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Railings on the Mount Whitney Trail switchbacks.]]
The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of [[climbing]] challenges. The [[East Face (Mount Whitney)|East Face]] route, first climbed in 1931, is one of the ''[[Fifty Classic Climbs of North America]]'' [[climbing route|route]]s and involves technical [[free climbing]] ({{YDS|5.4}}) but is mostly class 4. Other routes range up to class 5.10d.<ref name="Secor"/>
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. Keeler Needle was named for [[James Edward Keeler|James Keeler]] and Day Needle was named for William Cathcart Day. The latter has now been renamed Crooks Peak after [[Hulda Crooks]] who hiked up Mount Whitney every year until well into her nineties.
== See also ==
* [[Highest mountain peaks of California]]
* [[List of California fourteeners]]
* [[List of highest points in California by county]]
* [[List of U.S. states by elevation]]
* [[List of Ultras of the United States]]
* [[Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708]]: a plane that crashed into the side of Mount Whitney in 1969, killing all 35 on board
* [[Badwater Ultramarathon]]: a {{convert|135|mi|adj=on}} running race from the bottom of [[Death Valley]] to [[Whitney Portal]]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
| last = Thompson
| first = Doug
|author2=Elisabeth Newbold
| title = Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store
| publisher = Westwind Publishing Company
| year = 1997
| isbn = 978-0-9653596-0-3 }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{sister project links}}
{{Collier's Poster|Whitney, Mount|Mount Whitney}}
* {{cite web
| url= http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTJw8jAwgAykeaxcN4jhYG_h4eYX5hPgYwefy6w0H24dcPNgEHcDTQ9_PIz03VL8iNMMgycVQEAHcGOlk!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfME80MEkxVkFCOTBFMktTNUJIMjAwMDAwMDA!/?ss=110504&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=null&navid=110000000000000&pnavid=null&position=null&recid=20806&ttype=recarea&name=Mt.%2520Whitney%2520Trail&pname=Inyo%2520National%2520Forest%2520-%2520Mt.%2520Whitney%2520Trail
| title = Mt. Whitney Trail
| publisher = Inyo National Forest}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/
| title = Mt Whitney Hikers Association
| publisher =
| accessdate = }}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.whitneyportalstore.com
| title = Whitney Portal Store
| publisher =
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}
* {{cite summitpost |id=150227 |name=Mount Whitney}}
* [http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen18.html Panorama of Mount Whitney]
* {{Cite NIE |title=Whitney, Mount |year=1905}}
{{U.S. State Highest Points}}
{{Sequoia National Park}}
{{California Fourteeners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Mount}}
[[Category:Fourteeners of California]]
[[Category:Highest points of U.S. states]]
[[Category:Inyo National Forest]]
[[Category:Mountains of Inyo County, California]]
[[Category:Mountains of Sequoia National Park]]
[[Category:Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness]]
[[Category:Mountains of Tulare County, California]]
[[Category:Symbols of California]]
[[Category:United States National Park high points]]
[[Category:North American 4000 m summits|Mount Whitney]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext ) | '{{two other uses|the mountain|the former town with this name|Lone Pine Station, California|the ship|USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20)}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Mount Whitney
| other_name = Fisherman's Peak, Tumanguya
| photo = Mount Whitney 2003-03-25.jpg
| photo_caption = [[East Face (Mount Whitney)|East Face]] close-up seen from the [[Whitney Portal]].
| elevation_ft = 14505
| elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}<ref name="ngs">{{cite ngs |id=GT1811 |name=Whitney |accessdate=2014-01-22}}</ref>
| prominence_ft = 10080
| prominence_ref = <ref name="Peakbagger">{{cite peakbagger |pid=2829 |name=Mount Whitney, California |accessdate=2014-01-22}}</ref><br /><small>[[List of peaks by prominence|Ranked 81st]]</small>
| parent_peak = [[Nevado de Toluca]]<ref name="Peakbagger"/>
| map = California
| map_caption = Location in California, U.S.
| map_size = 220
| label_position = left
| listing = [[List of Ultras of the United States|Ultra]]<br />[[List of U.S. states by elevation|U.S. state high point]]<br />[[List of California fourteeners|California fourteener]]<br/>[[SPS Emblem]] peak<ref name="SPS">{{cite sps}}</ref>
| location = [[Sequoia National Park]] / [[Inyo National Forest]], [[California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| range = [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]
| lat_d = 36.578580925
| long_d = -118.291994950
| region_code= US-CA
| source = NGS
| coordinates_ref = <ref name="ngs"/>
| topo = [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Mount Whitney
| type = [[Granite]]
| age = [[Cretaceous]]
| first_ascent = August 18, 1873 by Charles Begole, Albert Johnson, and John Lucas<ref name="Farquhar"/>
| easiest_route = [[Mount Whitney Trail]] ({{YDS|1}})
}}
'''Mount Whitney''' is the highest summit in the [[contiguous United States]] and the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], with an elevation of {{convert|14505|ft}}.<ref name="ngs"/> It is on the boundary between California's [[Inyo County, California|Inyo]] and [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]] counties, {{convert|84.6|mi}} west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at [[Badwater Basin|Badwater]] in [[Death Valley National Park]] at {{convert|279|ft|abbr=on}} below sea level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/distance.html|title=Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|accessdate=2010-08-13}}</ref> The west slope of the mountain is in [[Sequoia National Park]] and the summit is the southern terminus of the [[John Muir Trail]] which runs {{convert|211.9|mi|km|1|abbr=on}} from [[Happy Isles]] in [[Yosemite Valley]]. The east slope is in the [[Inyo National Forest]] in [[Inyo County]].
'''''he summit of Whitney is on the [[Sierra Crest]] and near many of the highest peaks of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. The peak rises {{convert|10778|ft}} or just over two miles above the town of [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]] 15 miles to the east, in the [[Owens Valley]].
The peak dramatically rises above the floor of the Owens Valley. It rises more gradually on the west side, sitting only about {{convert|3000|ft}} above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake. The mountain is dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides.
Mount Whitney is above the [[tree line]] and has an [[alpine climate]] and [[alpine tundra|ecology]]. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the [[Polemonium eximium|Skypilot]], a [[cushion plant]] that grows low to the ground.<ref name="Schoenherr">
| last = Schoenherr
| first = Allan A.
| title = A Natural History of California
| year = 1995
| publisher = [[University of California Press]]
| isbn = 0-520-06922-6 }}</ref>
The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly ''[[Parnassius phoebus]]'' and the [[gray-crowned rosy finch]].<ref name="Schoenherr"/>
=== Elevation measurements ===
The estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become more refined and, more importantly, the vertical coordinate system has changed. The peak was commonly said to be at {{convert|14494|ft|abbr=on}} and this is the elevation stamped on the USGS brass benchmark disk on the summit. An older plaque on the summit (sheet metal with black lettering on white enamel) reads "elevation 14,496.811 feet" but this was estimated using the older [[geodetic system|vertical datum]] ([[Sea Level Datum of 1929|NGVD29]]) from 1929. Since then the shape of the [[Earth]] (the [[geoid]]) has been estimated more accurately. Using a new vertical datum established in 1988 ([[North American Vertical Datum of 1988|NAVD88]]) the benchmark is now estimated to be at {{convert|14505|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ngs"/><ref>
{{cite web''''''Italic text'''''''Italic text'''''''''Bold text'''''hft bvhgjhihf'''''''''
| ur'''mkgj hdfhuyt rjh547t85486908765
== Geology ==
[[Image:Sierra nevada schematic.svg|thumb|right|Schematic of Sierra Nevada [[fault-block]].]]
The eastern slope of Whitney is far steeper than its western slope because the entire Sierra Nevada is the result of a [[fault-block]] that is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Sierra Nevada
| work = Ecological Subregions of California
| publisher = [[United States Forest Service|US Forest Service]]
| url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/ecoregions/m261e.htm
| archiveurl = http://wayback.archive.org/web/20080601101102/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/ecoregions/m261e.htm
| archivedate = 2008-06-01
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
The rise is caused by a [[normal fault]] system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the [[granite]] that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the [[Alabama Hills]], thousands of feet lower down.<ref name="Schoenherr"/> The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause the [[Basin and Range Province]]: the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched.<ref name="nps">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/the-great-basin.htm
| title = The Great Basin|work=Great Basin National Park
| publisher = [[National Park Service|US National Park Service]]
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the [[Sierra Nevada batholith]]. In [[Cretaceous]] time, masses of molten rock that originated from [[subduction]] rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In the last 2 to 10 million years, the Sierra was pushed up which enabled glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today.
== History ==
In July 1864, the members of the [[California Geological Survey]] named the peak after [[Josiah Whitney]], the State Geologist of [[California]] and benefactor of the survey.<ref name="Farquhar">
{{cite book
| last = Farquhar
| first = Francis P.
| authorlink = Francis P. Farquhar
| title = Place Names of the High Sierra
| url = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/w.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-12
| publisher = [[Sierra Club]]
| location = [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]
| year = 1926 }}</ref>
During the same expedition, geologist [[Clarence King]] attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, but having taken a different approach, he actually summited nearby [[Mount Langley]]. Upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to claim the first recorded ascent.<ref name="King">
{{cite book
| last = King
| first = Clarence
| authorlink = Clarence King
| title = Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada
| url = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/
| accessdate = 2009-02-01
| edition = 10th
| origyear = 1872
| year = 1902
| chapter = Chapter XIII Mount Whitney
| chapterurl = http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/13.html
| isbn = 0-585-27432-0 }}</ref>
[[File:Mount Whitney from south.jpg|thumb|left|Mount Whitney as seen from [[Mount Langley]]]]
A month earlier on August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas of nearby [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]], had become the first to reach the highest summit in the contiguous United States. As they were fishermen, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak.<ref name="Farquhar"/> But in 1891, the [[United States Geological Survey]]'s Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize the earlier name of Mount Whitney. The name Whitney has remained, resisting a movement after [[World War II]] to rename the mountain for [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name="gnis">
{{cite gnis |id=269051 |name=Mount Whitney |accessdate=2009-02-01}}</ref>
===Locals===
Residents of Lone Pine financed the first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Just four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Bureau of Fisheries]] employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the exposed summit. In response to this event, Marsh began work on the stone hut that would become the [[Smithsonian Institution Shelter]], and completed it in 1909.<ref name="LPC">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.lonepinechamber.org/history/whitneyhist2.html
| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/67e2fTH63
| archivedate = 2012-05-14
| work = Mount Whitney History
| title = Mt. Whitney's Early Days|publisher=Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce
| accessdate = 2009-02-01}}</ref>
In 1881 [[Samuel Pierpont Langley|S. P. Langley]] remained for some time on the summit, making daily observations on the solar heat.<ref name=ea>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Whitney, Mount}}</ref>
===Native American name===
Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party, Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales <ref name="seq">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.sequoiaparksfoundation.org/2012/historic-people-and-places-william-b-wallace/
| accessdate = 2015-10-04
| title = Historic People And Places: WILLIAM B. WALLACE
| publisher = Sequoia Parks Foundation }} </ref>
Wallace later wrote in his memoirs <ref name = "paiute">
{{cite book
| last = Wallace
| first = William B.
| chapter = A Night On Mt. Whitney
| title = Mt. Whitney Club Journal
| year = 1902
| volume = 1
| issue = 1
| pages = 8-9
| publisher = Mt. Whitney Club
| location = Visalia, CA
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q35LAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=“Too-man-i-goo-yah”&source=bl&ots=nXcWIxnMDt&sig=SA5KNZYmDyiShLh45iiSfpyfJPo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAWoVChMI0_Tmyp6oyAIVg5eICh36zgwd#v=onepage&q=“Too-man-i-goo-yah”&f=false }}
</ref> that "The [[Paiute | Pi Ute [Paiute] ]] Indians called Mt. Whitney "''Too-man-i-goo-yah''," which means "the very old man." They believe that the Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain..." The spelling ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' is a transliteration from the indigenous Paiute [[Mono language (California)|Mono language]]. Other variations are ''Too-man-go-yah'' <ref name = "14ers">
{{cite book
| title=Climbing California's Fourteeners: The Route Guide to the Fifteen Highest Peaks
| first1 = Stephen
| last1 = Porcella
| first2 = Cameron
| last2 = Burns
| publisher = [[The_Mountaineers_(club)#Mountaineers_Books |Mountaineers Books ]]
| page = 55
| ISBN = 0-89886-555-7
| date = 1998
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uM6amm4BDtAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Climbing+California's+Fourteeners:&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAGoVChMI6PP3252syAIVT0WICh1txAv6#v=onepage&q=too%20man&f=false}}
</ref> and ''Tumanguya''.<ref name = "bustle">
{{ cite web
| url = http://www.bustle.com/articles/107621-5-whitewashed-american-landmarks-that-like-mount-mckinley-sorely-need-a-name-change
| website = www.bustle.com
| title = 5 Whitewashed American Landmarks That, Like Mount McKinley, Sorely Need A Name Change
| first = Lauren
| last = Barbato
| date = 2015-08-31 }}
</ref>
==Climbing routes==
=== Trails ===
[[Image:Smithsonian Hut Whitney.jpg|thumb|right|The Smithsonian Hut Shelter on Whitney's summit.]]
The most popular route to the summit is by way of the [[Mount Whitney Trail]] which starts at [[Whitney Portal]], at an elevation of {{convert|8360|ft|abbr=on}}, {{convert|13|mi|abbr=on}} west of the town of Lone Pine. The hike is about {{convert|22|mi|km|abbr=on}} round trip with an elevation gain of over {{convert|6100|ft|abbr=on}}. Permits are required year round, and to prevent overuse a limited number of permits are issued by the [[United States Forest Service|Forest Service]] between May 1 and November 1.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml
| archiveurl = http://wayback.archive.org/web/20080414042448/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/mtwhitney.shtml
| archivedate = 2008-04-14
| title = Recreational Activities - Mt. Whitney
| publisher = US Forest Service
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref> The Forest Service holds an annual lottery for hiking and backpacking permits on the Mount Whitney Trail. Applications are accepted from February 1 through March 15. Any permits left over after the lottery is completed typically go on sale April 1.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5150055
| title = Mount Whitney Lottery - Permit Reservations
| publisher = US Forest Service
| accessdate = 2014-01-23 }}</ref> Most hikers do the trip in two days which is still considered a strenuous endeavor. Those in good physical condition sometimes attempt to reach the summit and return to Whitney Portal in one day, thus requiring only a somewhat easier-to-obtain "day use" permit rather than the overnight permit, and allowing one not to carry overnight camping gear (sleeping bag and tent) up the mountain. This is considered an "extreme" day hike, which normally involves leaving Whitney Portal before sunrise and 12 to 18 hours of strenuous hiking,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dayhiker.com/directory/MtWhitney.htm|title=Mt. Whitney – One Day Hike}}</ref> while struggling with [[altitude sickness]], cold air, and occasionally treacherous surface conditions (because snow and/or ice are normally present on parts of the trail, except for a short period from early July to late September).
[[Image:Whitney trail at night.jpg|thumb|left|Hikers ascending Whitney before sunrise via the John Muir Trail]]
Longer approaches to Whitney arrive at its west side, connecting to the Mount Whitney Trail near the summit by way of the [[John Muir Trail]].
=== Scrambles ===
The "Mountaineer's Route", a gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by [[John Muir]], is considered a [[scrambling|scramble]], {{YDS|3}} ([[Grade (climbing)#International French Adjectival System (IFAS)|PD+]]).<ref name="Secor">{{cite Secor |pages=70–75}}</ref> The fastest recorded time up this route to the summit and back to the portal is 3 hours 10 minutes, by Jason Lakey of Bishop.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockandice.com/news/1272-bishop-local-adds-513b-crack-and-speed-solos-whitney-region|archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20101212234615/http://www.rockandice.com/news/1272-bishop-local-adds-513b-crack-and-speed-solos-whitney-region|archivedate=2010-12-12|title=Bishop Local Adds 5.13b Crack, And Speed Solos Whitney Region}}</ref>
=== Technical climbs ===
[[Image:Whitney Trail Switchbacks.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Railings on the Mount Whitney Trail switchbacks.]]
The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of [[climbing]] challenges. The [[East Face (Mount Whitney)|East Face]] route, first climbed in 1931, is one of the ''[[Fifty Classic Climbs of North America]]'' [[climbing route|route]]s and involves technical [[free climbing]] ({{YDS|5.4}}) but is mostly class 4. Other routes range up to class 5.10d.<ref name="Secor"/>
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. Keeler Needle was named for [[James Edward Keeler|James Keeler]] and Day Needle was named for William Cathcart Day. The latter has now been renamed Crooks Peak after [[Hulda Crooks]] who hiked up Mount Whitney every year until well into her nineties.
== See also ==
* [[Highest mountain peaks of California]]
* [[List of California fourteeners]]
* [[List of highest points in California by county]]
* [[List of U.S. states by elevation]]
* [[List of Ultras of the United States]]
* [[Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708]]: a plane that crashed into the side of Mount Whitney in 1969, killing all 35 on board
* [[Badwater Ultramarathon]]: a {{convert|135|mi|adj=on}} running race from the bottom of [[Death Valley]] to [[Whitney Portal]]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
| last = Thompson
| first = Doug
|author2=Elisabeth Newbold
| title = Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store
| publisher = Westwind Publishing Company
| year = 1997
| isbn = 978-0-9653596-0-3 }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{sister project links}}
{{Collier's Poster|Whitney, Mount|Mount Whitney}}
* {{cite web
| url= http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTJw8jAwgAykeaxcN4jhYG_h4eYX5hPgYwefy6w0H24dcPNgEHcDTQ9_PIz03VL8iNMMgycVQEAHcGOlk!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfME80MEkxVkFCOTBFMktTNUJIMjAwMDAwMDA!/?ss=110504&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=null&navid=110000000000000&pnavid=null&position=null&recid=20806&ttype=recarea&name=Mt.%2520Whitney%2520Trail&pname=Inyo%2520National%2520Forest%2520-%2520Mt.%2520Whitney%2520Trail
| title = Mt. Whitney Trail
| publisher = Inyo National Forest}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/
| title = Mt Whitney Hikers Association
| publisher =
| accessdate = }}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.whitneyportalstore.com
| title = Whitney Portal Store
| publisher =
| accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}
* {{cite summitpost |id=150227 |name=Mount Whitney}}
* [http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen18.html Panorama of Mount Whitney]
* {{Cite NIE |title=Whitney, Mount |year=1905}}
{{U.S. State Highest Points}}
{{Sequoia National Park}}
{{California Fourteeners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Mount}}
[[Category:Fourteeners of California]]
[[Category:Highest points of U.S. states]]
[[Category:Inyo National Forest]]
[[Category:Mountains of Inyo County, California]]
[[Category:Mountains of Sequoia National Park]]
[[Category:Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness]]
[[Category:Mountains of Tulare County, California]]
[[Category:Symbols of California]]
[[Category:United States National Park high points]]
[[Category:North American 4000 m summits|Mount Whitney]]' |
Unified diff of changes made by edit (edit_diff ) | '@@ -31,12 +31,10 @@
'''Mount Whitney''' is the highest summit in the [[contiguous United States]] and the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], with an elevation of {{convert|14505|ft}}.<ref name="ngs"/> It is on the boundary between California's [[Inyo County, California|Inyo]] and [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]] counties, {{convert|84.6|mi}} west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at [[Badwater Basin|Badwater]] in [[Death Valley National Park]] at {{convert|279|ft|abbr=on}} below sea level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/distance.html|title=Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|accessdate=2010-08-13}}</ref> The west slope of the mountain is in [[Sequoia National Park]] and the summit is the southern terminus of the [[John Muir Trail]] which runs {{convert|211.9|mi|km|1|abbr=on}} from [[Happy Isles]] in [[Yosemite Valley]]. The east slope is in the [[Inyo National Forest]] in [[Inyo County]].
-== Geography ==
-[[File:A347, Skypilot near summit of Mount Whitney, California, USA, 2011.JPG|thumb|left|[[Polemonium eximium|Sky pilot]] blooming on ridge just below summit.]]
-The summit of Whitney is on the [[Sierra Crest]] and near many of the highest peaks of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. The peak rises {{convert|10778|ft}} or just over two miles above the town of [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]] 15 miles to the east, in the [[Owens Valley]].
+'''''he summit of Whitney is on the [[Sierra Crest]] and near many of the highest peaks of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. The peak rises {{convert|10778|ft}} or just over two miles above the town of [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]] 15 miles to the east, in the [[Owens Valley]].
The peak dramatically rises above the floor of the Owens Valley. It rises more gradually on the west side, sitting only about {{convert|3000|ft}} above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake. The mountain is dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides.
Mount Whitney is above the [[tree line]] and has an [[alpine climate]] and [[alpine tundra|ecology]]. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the [[Polemonium eximium|Skypilot]], a [[cushion plant]] that grows low to the ground.<ref name="Schoenherr">
- {{cite book
+
| last = Schoenherr
| first = Allan A.
@@ -49,9 +47,6 @@
=== Elevation measurements ===
The estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become more refined and, more importantly, the vertical coordinate system has changed. The peak was commonly said to be at {{convert|14494|ft|abbr=on}} and this is the elevation stamped on the USGS brass benchmark disk on the summit. An older plaque on the summit (sheet metal with black lettering on white enamel) reads "elevation 14,496.811 feet" but this was estimated using the older [[geodetic system|vertical datum]] ([[Sea Level Datum of 1929|NGVD29]]) from 1929. Since then the shape of the [[Earth]] (the [[geoid]]) has been estimated more accurately. Using a new vertical datum established in 1988 ([[North American Vertical Datum of 1988|NAVD88]]) the benchmark is now estimated to be at {{convert|14505|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ngs"/><ref>
- {{cite web
- | url = http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Vertcon/vert_method.html
- | title = Height Conversion Methodology
- | publisher = U.S. National Geodetic Survey
- | accessdate = 2008-04-09 }}</ref>
+ {{cite web''''''Italic text'''''''Italic text'''''''''Bold text'''''hft bvhgjhihf'''''''''
+ | ur'''mkgj hdfhuyt rjh547t85486908765
== Geology ==
' |