gimgheo: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mt.Whitney

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Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m).[1] It is located at the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, just 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park (282 feet (86 m) below sea level).[5] The western slope of the mountain lies withinSequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 miles (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The eastern slope lies in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
The summit of Whitney lies along the Sierra Crest and near many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Water that falls to the west of the crest flows into the Pacific Ocean,[citation needed] while that to the east flows into the Great Basin.[6] The peak rises 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over two miles above the town of Lone Pine in the Owens Valley below.
Due to its elevation, Mount Whitney is above the tree line and has an alpine climate and ecology. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the Sky Pilot, a cushion plant that grows low to the ground.[7] The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch.[7]