Misplaced Pages

#320679

35-740: The wilderness contains some of the most spectacular and highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, with 57 peaks over 13,000 feet (4,000 m) in elevation. The peaks are typically made of granite from the Sierra Nevada Batholith , and are dramatically shaped by glacial action. The southernmost glacier in the United States, the Palisade Glacier , is contained within the wilderness area. Notable east-side glaciated canyons are drained by Rock , McGee and Bishop Creeks . The eastern escarpment in

70-408: 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 be first. On August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas, all of nearby Lone Pine , had become the first to reach the contiguous United States' highest summit. As they climbed the mountain during

105-599: A fishing trip to nearby Kern Canyon, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak. In 1881, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory founder Samuel Pierpont Langley remained on the summit for some time, making daily observations of the solar heat. Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party consisting of Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales. In his memoirs, Wallace wrote, "The Pi Ute [Paiute] Indians called Mount Whitney Too-man-i-goo-yah , which means 'the very old man.' They believe that

140-404: A gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by John Muir , is considered a scramble , class 3 ( PD+ ). 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, California . The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges. The East Face route, first climbed in 1931, is one of

175-735: Is a large batholith that is approximately 400 miles long and 60-80 miles wide which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California , exposed at the surface as granite . The batholith is composed of many individual masses of rock called plutons , which formed deep underground during separate episodes of magma intrusion , millions of years before the Sierra itself first began to rise. The extremely hot, relatively buoyant plutons, also called plutonic diapirs , intruded through denser, native country rock and sediments, never reaching

210-544: Is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east. The rise is caused by a fault system that runs along the Sierra's eastern base, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the granite that forms Whitney is the same as that which forms the Alabama Hills , thousands of feet lower down. The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause

245-658: Is located 2 miles south of Mount Whitney . Mount Williamson is the second-highest peak in the wilderness, at 14,375 feet (4,382 m): it rises in one continuous sweep of granite from the floor of the Owens Valley to a peak just east of the main range. The John Muir Wilderness contains the largest contiguous area above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the continental United States. It contains large areas of subalpine meadows and fellfields above 10,800 feet (3,300 m), containing stands of whitebark and foxtail pine . From 9,000 feet (2,700 m) to 10,800 feet (3,300 m),

280-566: Is no weather station at the summit, but this climate table contains interpolated data for an area below the summit. 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. 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

315-539: Is ranked 18th by topographic isolation . Mount Whitney's summit is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide . It lies near many of the Sierra Nevada 's highest peaks. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley , sitting 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over 2 mi (3.2 km) above the town of Lone Pine 15 mi (24 km) to the east, in the Owens Valley . It rises more gradually on

350-483: The Fifty Classic Climbs of North America routes , and involves technical free climbing ( class 5.7 ) but is mostly class 4. Other routes range up to grade 5.10d. South of the main summit is 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

385-454: The Basin and Range Province : the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched. 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

SECTION 10

#1732869156321

420-490: The Forest Service issues a limited number of permits between May 1 and November 1. It holds an annual lottery for hiking and backpacking permits on the 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. Most hikers plan to stay one or two nights camping along the route. Those in good physical condition sometimes attempt to reach

455-708: The Cenozoic. Geologic evidence in the form of erosion surfaces, paleo-canyons, and related deposits suggests the majority of the uplift was achieved prior to 4-10Ma. The plutons associated with the Sierra Nevada Batholith intruded into pre-existing rocks on the North American Continent. As the plutons intruded into these rocks, many were altered or metamorphosed. The "host rocks" include passive margin sequence units, deep water sediments, and shallow-water passive margin units. There are several locations that

490-509: The Earth's crust over the span of 100 Ma , forming several plutons , or a chain of volcanoes if the magma reached the surface. Most of the granitic rocks formed between 105 and 85 Ma, during the Cretaceous , with pluton formation ending around about 70 Ma. Erosion from 85 until 15 Ma removed the volcanic rocks and exposed the granitic core. Around 80-76 million years ago, subduction beneath

525-560: 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 . Another variation is Too-man-go-yah. In 1891, the United States Geological Survey 's Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize the name Mount Whitney. Despite losing out on their preferred name, Lone Pine residents financed

560-454: The Owens Valley. Based on the range from the highest average high of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C) to the lowest average low of 4.2 °F (−15.4 °C) for winter temperatures in the table (December to March), every 1 inch (25 mm) of liquid precipitation equates to approximately 15–40 inches (380–1,020 mm) of snow, with lower temperatures producing the greater snow depths. There

595-400: The Sierra Nevada batholith transitioned from steep-angle to shallow-angle . This shut down arc magmatism , moving the volcanic arc westward and leaving the Sierra Nevada block in a forearc setting. Apatite and Sphene fission track thermochronology done by Dumitru (1990) revealed a period of rapid decrease in geothermal gradient (>270 °C to <70 °C from 80Ma to 60-50Ma) as

630-812: The Tulare Basin into the San Joaquin River , which flows to the Pacific Ocean. From the east, water from Mount Whitney flows to Lone Pine Creek, where most of the water is diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct via a sluice . Some water in the creek is allowed to continue on its natural course, joining the Owens River , which terminates at Owens Lake , an endorheic lake of the Great Basin . The estimated elevation of Mount Whitney's summit has changed over

665-456: The beginning of unroofing and uplift of the Sierra Nevada block to approximately 30-15Ma. Fission tracks – destructive remnants of radioactive decay in Uranium -bearing minerals – were shorter than expected in samples taken from several Sierra Nevada plutons . This implied a late-Cenozoic residency at depth, meaning the unroofing and uplift of the Sierra Nevada block happened rapidly near the end of

700-565: The block cooled, followed by a relatively stable period of subnormal geothermal gradients (5-15 °C/km) throughout the Cenozoic . Modeling of the rapid decrease in geothermal gradient returned a crude estimate of depth to the subducting plate of about 35–50 km, with a hard upper limit of 60 km. This is much shallower than the more typical ~120 km depth to the subducting plate in volcanic arc regimes. Using data from his thermochronology analysis, Dumitru (1990) also constrained ages for

735-896: The boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, and 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of North America's lowest topographic point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park , at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. 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 . The eastern slopes are in Inyo National Forest in Inyo County . Mount Whitney

SECTION 20

#1732869156321

770-643: The butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch . The mountain is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide . Waterways on the peak's west side flow into Whitney Creek, which flows into the Kern River . The Kern River terminates at Bakersfield in the Tulare Basin , the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley . Today, the water in the Tulare Basin is largely diverted for agriculture. Historically, during very wet years, water overflowed from

805-459: The contact between the granitic intrusions and the now metamorphosed sedimentary units can be seen. These unique contacts are called roof pendants. Mount Whitney 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). It is in East – Central California , in the Sierra Nevada , on

840-557: The first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the summit. In response, Marsh began work on the stone hut that became the Smithsonian Institution Shelter , completing it in 1909. A movement began after World War II to rename

875-631: The forces of erosion eventually wore down the material which had covered the batholith for millions of years. The exposed portions of the batholith became the granite peaks of the High Sierra, including Mount Whitney , Half Dome and El Capitan . Most of the batholith, however, remains below the surface. The Sierra batholith was formed when the Farallon Plate subducted below the North American Plate . The resultant molten rock rose through

910-527: The mountain for Winston Churchill , but the name Mount Whitney persisted. The most popular route to the summit is by way of the Mount Whitney Trail , which starts at Whitney Portal , at an elevation of 8,360 ft (2,548 m), 13 mi (21 km) west of the town of Lone Pine . The hike is about 22 mi (35 km) round trip with an elevation gain of over 6,100 ft (1,859 m). Permits are required year-round, and to prevent overuse

945-492: The species. The wilderness contains 589.5 miles (948.7 km) of hiking trails, including the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail , which run through the wilderness from north to south. The John Muir Wilderness is the second most-visited wilderness in the United States, and quotas for overnight use have been implemented on virtually all trailheads. Sierra Nevada Batholith The Sierra Nevada Batholith

980-482: The summit and return to Whitney Portal in one day. A one-day hike requires a day-use permit that prohibits the use of overnight camping gear (sleeping bag and tent). Day hikers often leave Whitney Portal before sunrise and hike from 12 to 18 hours. 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 . The Mountaineer's Route,

1015-408: The surface. At the same time, some magma managed to reach the surface as volcanic lava flows, but most of it cooled and hardened below the surface and remained buried for millions of years. The batholith – the combined mass of subsurface plutons – became exposed as tectonic forces initiated the formation of the Basin and Range geologic province, including the Sierra Nevada. As the mountains rose,

1050-496: The west side, lying only about 3,000 feet (914 m) above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake. The mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides. 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. The only animals are transient, such as

1085-407: The wilderness is dominated by lodgepole pines . Below the lodgepole forest is forest dominated by Jeffrey pine . Common animals in the wilderness include yellow-bellied marmots , pikas , golden-mantled ground squirrels , Clark's nutcrackers , golden trout , and black bears . The wilderness area also includes California bighorn sheep zoological areas, which are set aside for the protection of

John Muir Wilderness - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-457: The wilderness rises from 6,000 to 8,000 feet (1,800 to 2,400 m) from base to peak, in 5 to 6 miles (8 to 10 km). The Sierra crest contains peaks from 12,000 to 14,000 feet (3,700 to 4,300 m) in elevation, including Mount Whitney , the highest peak in the continental United States . Other notable mountains in the wilderness area include the Palisades and Mount Humphreys . Mount Muir

1155-464: 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 14,494 ft (4,418 m) 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

1190-457: Was estimated using the older vertical datum ( 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 ( NAVD88 ) the benchmark is now estimated to be 14,504 ft (4,421 m). Whitney's eastern slope is far steeper than its western slope because the Sierra Nevada is the result of a fault block that

1225-457: Was pushed up, enabling glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today. Mount Whitney has an alpine tundra climate ( ET ) under the Köppen climate classification . Summer temperatures are highly variable, ranging from below freezing (32 °F (0 °C)) to highs near 80 °F (27 °C) during extreme heat waves in

#320679