Mount Whitney is the highest point in California located in the northern Mohave desert. The mountain is one of the most frequently climbed peaks in the county. Black bears are fairly common and backpackers must carry a bear resistant cannister with them. Most people take between two and four days to hike the Whitney Trail.

The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges. The “Mountaineer’s Route”, a gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by John Muir, is considered a scramble.

South of the main summit there are 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