Whitney

Wow.

On the way north, I planned a stop in the area of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48.  It is 14,505 feet high, is on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada range, directly east of Sequoia National Park.  This means it is made of the same medium grey granite that forms the bulk of the Sierras.

What is different is that the peaks here are unprotected by foothills.  They rise directly from the desert around Lone Pine, CA.

My first day full day here, I drove a road known as Whitney Portal Road.  On the flats just west of Lone Pine, some great views of the Whitney massif can be seen.

I was ready to stretch my legs, so at the Portal, 8400 feet up, I took a short hike along the Whitney Trail.  I would love to have reached one of the lakes, but they were out of my range.  I had to settle for this.

That evening, the peaks blocked the sunset, but I had a hint of what it might have looked like.

I got up before dawn the next morning and set up my tripod, waiting for the light.  Some cloud cover to the east blocked some of the color but it still was nice when the sun found a hole through which to peek.

The morning after that, there were no clouds.  The first few seconds of direct light on the peaks were rich with reds.

Moments after, the color muted to orange, then yellow-orange.

Not too shabby a way to wake up.