The Easter Sierras are my favorite part of California, particularly down by Bishop where the Sierras get really high and really impressive. This is where Mt. Whitney is, at 14505 ft, the highest point in the lower 48, and a group of peaks called the Palisades that look so beautifully rugged and dramatic.
We camped on the eastern side of the valley at around 8,000 ft. and we had beautiful views across the valley to the Sierras. It was also a full moon so it was just perfect. Admittedly the photo below of White Mountain itself is not very inspiring - it isn't a pretty mountain - but trust me the views in the other direction were awesome - I just don't have any good photos.
On the Saturday we climbed White Mountain - at 14252 feet - quite a high altitude slog for us lowlanders. I must admit, I was not feeling very comfortable at all when I got to the top, and although our summit photograph shows us all smiling, I think it doesn't quite reflect our actual condition. I had quite the headache from the altitude and the thought of the 7 or 8 miles back to the trailhead did not make me feel any better at all.
White Mountain is the third highest peak in California, and it is known as the easiest of the Fourteeners (peaks over 14,000 ft). I think when I heard it was the easiest fourteener, I somehow translated that to it being easy. Well it was nothing of the sort and we all were pretty exhausted at the end of the day. There was not much light conversation going on on the way down, just a lot of gritting of teeth and putting one foot in front of the other. Why do we do this?
Of course later that night at the campsite, with food and wine inside us, we were all a bit more positive about the whole affair. Strange how you forget the bad bits and only remember the good bits. While I am not ready to tackle something like that for a while, give me a couple of months and I will be ready to do it all over again.
More photos here.
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