May 28-30: Mt. Whitney, CA

A week later, Christi and Tauru headed out to Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Objective: climb the thing! At 14,494 ft, it's the highest peak in the lower 48's. Weather was perfect!

Day 1: Started at trailhead (~8400') in the warmth and "thrashed" through the gully and up to Lower Boy Scout Lake. (Left: Christi. Right: Tauru.)

Day 1: Continued up past Upper Boy Scout Lake and camped at base of headwall to Iceberg Lake (~12,200'). (Left: Christi moving up above Upper Boy Scout Lake. Right: Christi finally in view of Keeler Needle and Mt. Whitney.)

Day 2: Moved up headwall to Iceberg Lake. Decided to climb up the iced-up waterfall to get to the headwall. Here, Christi checks out the icicles and hard packed snow.

Day 2: Climbed the gully of the Mountaineer's Route and then above the notch to get to the summit. Christi takes a breather -- air is THIN!

Left: Christi pushes up the last couple hundred feet with the vast expanse in the background. Right: A bit of rock... just 25 more feet to the summit! Mt. Russell is in the background.

Finally, we made it to the summit. We then descended down to Trail Camp on the Whitney Main Trail. Day 3 was spent hiking back down and out.