Mount Whitney

This article is about the mountain. For the former town with this name, see Lone Pine Station, California. For the ship, see USS Mount Whitney.
Mount Whitney
Fisherman's Peak
East Face close-up seen from the Whitney Portal
Highest point
Elevation14,505 ft (4,421 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence10,075.2 ft (3,070.9 m)[2]
Parent peakPico de Orizaba[3]
Isolation1,647.2 mi (2,650.9 km)[2]
Listing
Coordinates36°34′43″N 118°17′31″W / 36.578580925°N 118.29199495°W / 36.578580925; -118.29199495[1]
Naming
EtymologyJosiah Whitney
Geography
Mount Whitney is located in California
Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney is located in the United States
Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney
Location
Parent rangeSierra Nevada
Topo mapUSGS Mount Whitney
Geology
Rock ageCretaceous
Mountain typeGranite
Climbing
First ascentAugust 18, 1873 by Charles Begole, Albert Johnson, and John Lucas[7]
Easiest routeMount Whitney Trail (class 1)

Mount Whitney (Paiute: Tumanguya; Too-man-i-goo-yah) is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421.2 m).[1] It is in East–Central California, in the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, and 84.6 miles (136.2 km)[8] west-northwest of North America's lowest topographic point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level.[9] The mountain's west slope is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley.[10] The eastern slopes are in Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. Mount Whitney is ranked 18th by topographic isolation.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference ngs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Peakbagger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peakbagger_KeyCol was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "California 14,000-foot Peaks". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  5. ^ "Sierra Peaks Section List" (PDF). Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club.
  6. ^ "Western States Climbers Qualifying Peak List". Climber.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Farquhar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates". Federal Communications Commission. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2016-12-21. Coordinates of Mount Whitney = 36.578581, -118.291995 and Badwater Basin = 36.250278, -116.825833
  9. ^ "Death Valley National Park, Frequently Asked Questions". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2016-12-21. Badwater Basin-282 feet below sea level...the lowest in North America.
  10. ^ NPS (ed.). "John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails". Archived from the original on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2015-05-07.