Mount Whitney, Mount Russell

While we were in the Sierras this summer, we made it into the Whitney cirque for a couple days. Katie and I retraced my Dad's footsteps from the '60's on Whitney's East Face the first day. On the second day, Mike and I joined forces on Mount Russell's Mithril Dihedral. It is a gorgeous dihedral with a perfect handcrack that continues for about 300 feet. You've probably noticed that we do lots of trips with Mark and Katie--we love them!

At the Whitney Portal, there is a fish scale to weigh packs on. I opted to carry lots of food in, so my pack lost about 20 pounds for the way out. That's smart packing!

Hiking in--what an awesome Creation we live in!

Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the lower 48, at 14,495 feet above sea level. The spire to the left of Whitney (that is the east face in the photo) is the Keeler Needle.

Katie and I rose at 3am to get the base of the route by sunrise. There were thunderstorms in the preceding days starting before noon, so we wanted to summit early. We ended up summiting at 9:30 and had perfect weather the whole day.

Navigating en route on the East Face.

Proud girls on the summit!

Mike leading the fantastic Mithril Dihedral on Mount Russell.

Mike on top of Russell with Whitney in the background. The lake below is Iceberg Lake, where we camped.