Mt. Whitney in the center as taken from Lone Pine off Hwy 395
Mt. Whitney as seen when driving up the Whitney Portal Rd.
Mt. Whitney in the distance
Glenn's palace! Night before climb, 2 hrs sleep, night after 11 hrs without even waking up all night!
Lone Pine Creek directly behind our base camp
Mike and Clark getting ready for the big climb in the early morning. They look so happy!
Start time! 3:30AM never felt so good!
Glenn in the early morning of the hike crossing Lone Pine Creek.
One of the few pictures of the whole group as they enter the “Mt. Whitney Zone” where permits are required to proceed.
Alisa, Michelle, Clark and Kevin taking in first light. This was a well earned view.
A great early morning picture about 5 miles into the hike near Lone Pine Lake
One of the first pictures we could take at first light looking down upon Lone Pine Lake
Mike's arrival at Trailside Meadow
Some of the gang arriving at Trailside Meadow, about halfway to the summit
Clark pumping the water filter at Trailside Meadow. This procedure was repeated several times that day.
Above Trailside Meadow was a wonderful cascade with Mt. Muir (14,014ft) in the background. Glenn climbed Mt. Muir on the way back down from Mt. Whitney.
A view of Mt. Muir from Trail Camp. Notice the little ant like people in the lower foregroud!
A much higher view of the 99 switchbacks. There are so many it took three pictures to get them all!
Here are a bunch more. Some of them are literally 3 steps long!
And the final shot to get all of them. These were taken from Mt. Muir on the way back, the only spot you can get to see all of the switchbacks.
Glenn at Trail Crest. This at the top of the section of trail known as the 99 switchbacks.
Clark and his wife Michelle at Trail Crest. They had to leave the dog behind on this one.
Mike reaching Trail Crest, the dividing line of the Sierra's at 13,600 ft.
Here are Alisa and Kevin. This is along the ridge from Trail Crest to the Mt. Whitney summit. These are known as the “windows” as the view opens up on both sides of the trail with very steep drops on either side of the 3 ft. wide trail.
Glenn taking the prior picture
The group did have to cross a small patch of snow near the summit. Here is Glenn enjoying the white stuff.
The marker at the Mt. Whitney Summit. To discourage you from prying it off as a souvenier you can buy a nicer one for $20 at the Forest Service gift shop!
Any questions?
Glenn at the summit!
Glenn enjoying the view from the summit of Mt. Whitney at 14,495 ft. We don't tell his wife that it was a 2,000 ft. vertical drop under his comfortable ledge!
Mike reaching the summit of Mt. Whitney!
Mike next to the sign commemorating the Mt. Whitney Trail at the summit.
Mike signing the log book at the summit. The stone hut was built in 1909 by the Smithsonian Institute to house instruments for scientific research. We were there for the 100 year aniversary of the building of the hut. Notice the Staples “EASY” button next to Mike's hand!
Clark and Michelle reaching the summit of Mt. Whitney with Rick to congratulate them. The back side of the mountain is not near as steep as the eastern face viewed from Lone Pine.
Clark and Michelle on top of the world!
Clark signing the log book with his finger tapping the “EASY” button.
A view of Iceberg Lake 2,000 ft. below from the top of Whitney. It looks inviting to swim in except for the snow at it's edge. Anyone want to join the Polar Bear Club?
This little critter is a marmot, also known as the “the other bear” as they will ransack your pack just like a California Black Bear! They like hanging out at the summit to catch the unaware hiker with a pack full of food. This one is saying, “Where's Greg?”
Glenn's boot in the foreground of a 2,000 ft. vertical drop down to Iceberg Lake. Yes, his foot was in the shoe when he took the picture!
A great view from the top of Mt. Whitney
This is the very inviting sign on the door to the hut telling you that if you have any signs of lightning you need to get the heck down the mountain NOW!
Clark drinks a little too much coffee and we didn't have to work too hard to get him to do some one armed pushups on the summit for us!
Michelle's foot after a little patchwork by Clark. Not to worry, we use only organic cage free moles!
Mike and Clark attempt to play hackey sack. They found their boots were too heavy, the air was too thin, the hackey sack aerodynamics were off..... whatever the story it was unbearable to watch!
The Spectrum team taking Ricoh to new highs! Clark, Mike and Glenn (left to right) on the summit of Mt. Whitney
There were reports from below that you could hear people chanting “Ricoh” that day but they are unconfirmed?
7 of the team members up top. Several had already headed back down so all eleven were not present.
A view from the top of Mt. Muir looking back toward the Owen's Valley and Lone Pine
Glenn's face in this self portrait on Mt. Muir expresses his thoughts on the climb.
Glenn signing the far less impressive log book on Mt. Muir. Less than 1% of the those who climb Mt. Whitney make the trip to climb Mt. Muir on the way. After climbing it, Glenn now knows why. It is a rather precarious climb with plenty of exposure and no defined route to the top.
Mt. Muir as seen from Trail Crest on the way back. You can see the clouds were moving in and an occasional thunder clap was heard along with some light rain.
