Home » United States » MT. WHITNEY, CA

This trip includes information about a one day hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states.

MT. WHITNEY, CA

Dave
2004-02-21 15:17:05

Displayed times (last time: )

good road for being at such a high elevation. However, watch those brakes coming down the eastern part of Tioga pass. This part of the road drops quite quickly compared to the climb from the western part of the Sierras.

Interstate 395 is a great road and you can make some good time on it. It is a divided road in places with two lanes per side. If you are driving from the Los Angeles basin, note that the 395 hits the 15 just north of San Bernardino.

If you are driving from an area bounded by Paso Robles in the north, and Santa Barbara in the south you most likely will pass through Bakersfield. Highway 178 cuts over from Bakersfield through the Kern River Canyon, past Lake Isabella and over Walker pass before coming out on Highway 14 just a few miles south of Interstate 395. (Highway 14 is a good route into the northern Los Angeles area) Highway 178 is a very good road except for the narrow curved portions just outside of Bakersfield in the Kern River Canyon. The road is quite narrow in this area, although there are pull outs on almost every turn. Lake Isabella is human made and very very blue on a clear day. Walker Pass is one of the lowest passes in the Sierra Nevada. At a touch over 5000 feet you barely feel like you are climbing in elevation. The pass area supports a nice community of Joshua trees. Also on the western side of Walker Pass you will see an area that supports Digger Pines and Joshua trees growing together. This is the only place in California where this occurs.

When you first drive out of Lone Pine you will see several mountains that look very tall. In fact Lone Pine Peak to the far left of Whitney looks much taller then Whitney itself. This is an illusion stemming from the fact that Lone Pine Peak is much closer in the foreground. Lone Pine Peak in actuality is about 13,000 feet. Mt. Whitney is the spire situated on the right side of all the other sharp jagged spires. It is 14,496.811 ...