Four Extremes: Climbing Mt. Whitney

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:59:59 -800

At 11,000 feet, it's quite amazing to look upward at our galaxy. The view of
all the little stars and the denser cluster in the middle of the band is simply
spectacular. Stripped of all but about the 15 pounds of water, food, and
clothes that we figured we'd need for the ascent, we clambered up the rocky
trail like madmen, stopping occasionally to look down the canyon at
all the little stars we were leaving behind. I was sure that there was plenty
that we were missing, but at 3 in the morning you can't really see much beyond
your headlamp. We passed Trail Camp (12,000') some time around 6am, about in
the middle of the pack of climbers in that camp had decided to wake up and head
up.