Mount Whitney

Mount Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States at elevation 14,505 feet (4,421 meters). It is located at the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties. The western slope of the mountain lies within Sequoia National Park. Mount Whitney is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 miles (340.9 km) from Yosemite Valley.

Mount Whitney was named after Josiah Whitney, the State Geologist of California. It was first climbed in 1873 by Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas (fishermen who lived in Lone Pine, California.)

Mount Whitney is just 76 miles (123 km) west of the lowest point in North America, in Death Valley (282 feet (86 m) below sea level), and immediately rises just over 2 miles (~3,300 m) in elevation above the floor of the Owens Valley.