Each morning between twilight and early sunrise Mt. Whitney stoically performs a show that alters on the whims of evolving weather patterns. My stay beneath the sights of the highest peak in the lower 48 was so short compared to the millions of years it has taken for it to reach an elevation of 14,500′ ASL….What struck me was that Whitney despite its elevation claim to fame, seems to team and blend in within the Sierra mountain range during the day.
But that changes during the early morning dance of light and during storming weather. During my brief stay I witnessed both of these events, Whitney’s peak turns a brush of alpine rose-pink during sunup or wears a plum of angry fog white during foul weather. These veils of shifting color are grandeur but seem isolated and remote from the flatlanders view at 6,000′ in Owens Valley.
In the Alabama Hills, Whitney is on your western side, permanently. The perspective of Whitney moves in scale and importance as you walk thru the ‘Hills caricatures of monolith stone works. These monoliths seem to dwarf Whitney based on your position and perspective, then you move 200 feet and Whitney is there again with peaks percolating with puffy clouds, displaying her eminence over all. These two natural wonders have for coexisted for millennium and any forays into their timeliness is a valued indulgence.
