From the lowest point in North America to the highest in the lower 48
Mt. Whitney: Badwater to the Summit
One summer, Keith took on a California two-pack: the trip began at the bottom of Death Valley — Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America — and ended on the summit of Mt. Whitney, 14,505 feet, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. Both extremes sit in the same state, an all-day drive apart; this section of the site was Keith's photo story of that climb.
Whitney's summit day is a 22-mile round trip from Whitney Portal with more than 6,100 feet of gain — a pre-dawn start, sun exposure on the switchbacks, the cable route up the granite of Trail Crest, and one of the great views in the Sierra Nevada from the top.
The original photo pages for this climb did not survive the Internet Archive capture of the site — this page keeps the story. For the full narrative and route notes, see the Badwater-to-Whitney hike guide.