On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
I am loving all these ponds. At first I thought I might pull up a chair and spend the day at the Whitney Portal Store – until I saw all the other photos of the ponds and the reflections in the water. ~WaterGirl
?BillinGlendaleCA
When I photographed Mt. Whitney on my visit in May the road to Whitney Portal was closed at the point where it goes up the hill and into the canyon. This time it was open. I’d visited Whitney Portal 7 years ago. It’s a flat area just before the steep increase in elevation up into the higher reaches of the Sierra. There’s a waterfall (more of a cascade) at the western edge of the flat as well as the beginning of the 11 mile Mt. Whitney Trail to the summit.
There’s a campground, a general store and a small pond there that nicely reflects the walls of granite that form the sides of the canyon. Mt. Whitney is not visible at Whitney Portal, but a great view is found a short distance down the road before it descends down the hill towards Lone Pine. I used exposure bracketing on most of these shots since there was a significant difference between the trees in the shadows and the brightly lit walls of the canyon. The final two shots were shot with my old Galaxy Camera 2, since it has a high zoom than even my 50-200mm lens.
The south fork of Lone Pine Creek descends via a waterfall down to Whitney Portal.
I used a longer exposure on this shot to give the water a more milky look.
The Whitney Portal Store and granite cliffs are reflected in the pond at Whitney Portal.
The granite walls tower over the trees and small pond at Whitney Portal.
Reflections.
Close-up of Mt. Whitney from the Whitney Portal Road, about a quarter of a mile from Whitney Portal.
Mt. Whitney as seen from the Whitney Portal road just before reaching Whitney Portal.
rikyrah
Simply gorgeous???
eclare
Beautiful photos!
Amir Khalid
Awesome as ever, Bill.
JPL
Wow, the pictures made me miss camping in the great outdoors. The picture of the reflecting pond is beautiful.
Barbara
I don’t think that 11 mile hike is in my future. California has so much natural beauty. Thanks for sharing it.
Baud
Nice.
SiubhanDuinne
You have stunned me awake with these beautiful photos, Bill.
Meant to ask you last week when the Perseids visited, but forgot: did you (or do you ever) photograph meteor showers?
Salty Sam
Wow!
Mary G
Love the creek coming over the rocks. Hard to imagine this lushness coexists with a record 130 degrees in Death Valley and the fire tornados farther north this week.
MazeDancer
Loved the waterfall!
Lovely pics.
ljt
Gorgeous waterfalls and reflections are a lovely way to start the day. Thank you.
Wag
I need to come to California to climb Whitney. Spectacular photos, as always.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: It’s real pretty up there and just a short drive from the valley floor.
@eclare: Thanks.
@Amir Khalid: Hard to take a bad picture up there.
Albatrossity
Beautiful shots of a beautiful spot! And yes, those gray-white granite peaks of the high Sierra are a tough exposure challenge if you want to include dark forests in the composition. Good work!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: In some ways I wish I had been up there later in the day, I think the pics in the pool would have been better.
@Barbara: Yeah, the 11 mile hike isn’t on my agenda, though I’ve thought of doing the first bit to Lone Pine Lake as a day trip.
@Baud: Thanks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Glad you like the pics. Madame and I made the trek to Fossil Falls last Wednesday for the Persieds.
@Salty Sam: It’s really pretty country up there.
@Mary G: Furnace Creek(where they recorded the 130 degree temp) is only about 75 miles from Whitney Portal.
arrieve
That is one magnificent mountain. And I love the store reflected in the pond. Reflections are one of my favorite things to photograph. There’s just something so magical about them.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MazeDancer: I shot photos of the waterfall the last time I was up there, but from just above the tree at the right in these photos. The waterfall was one of the main reasons I went up there.
@ljt: I didn’t shoot any pics of the pool when I visited there in 2013, but I’m glad I did this time.
@Wag: I’m not doing the climb, but if you do, you need to make reservations early.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Albatrossity: Yup, thank dog for exposure bracketing. I know HDR has a, somewhat deservably, bad reputation; but it works here.
@arrieve: I almost want to head up the trail for a closer look, but then I remember I’m old and out of shape. I probably should have shot a pano of the pool and the rock faces, it was too wide for my lens to get everything in.
donatellonerd
gorgeous. especially the reflections of the trees. and nostalgia inspiring, since my dad climbed Mount Whitney the year before i was born. i vaguely recall it was on horseback ?? was that possible back in 1950?
Denali
Beautiful photos- brings back memories of our backbacking trips out of Lone Pine.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@donatellonerd: Thanks. I’ve not been further that a few feet down the trail so I’m not sure whether you could take horses up there.
@Denali: The only backpacking I’ve done in the eastern Sierra was west of Bishop in my early teens, but incredible country.
Mike Mundy
Mt Whitney looks very different from the west.
opiejeanne
Beautiful photos, as usual Bill. I can almost smell it, just from the pictures.
And now I am nostalgic for our trips up 395 to June Lake. We used to stop sometimes at Whitney Portal, but more often at Lone Pine or Mammoth, a couple of times at Obsidian Dome, side trips to the hot springs east of Mammoth. We had plans to find the Lost Cement Mine some day, bought the guide books and ghost stories, read Mark Twain’s commentary, but traipsed through every “dog town” that was accessible instead.
Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie.
BigJimSlade
Great shots! I like the teeny patches of snow left on Whitney.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike Mundy: Actually we’ve seen Mt. Whitney from the west(though a much more distant view) here at On The Road in my post from October 31, 2018 . It was a shot from Mt. Pinos of the eastern Sierra.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Gotta go through Lone Pine to get to Whitney Portal. I’m going to try to make my way up to the eastern Sierra next month for the fall colors, but it’s a LONG DRIVE for a day trip.
@BigJimSlade: I really wish I could have gone up there in May, but as I noted the road was still closed. I’m going to try to get some pics with the snow level down to the Alabama Hills during Winter.
Dmbeaster
@Wag: If you have basic off trail skills, avoid permit hassles and do the mountaineers route. All you need is a standard wilderness permit, which is still a hassle, but nothing like the process for the main trail.
Both routes are great hikes. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the trail the one time I went that way.
JustRuss
@donatellonerd: I hiked it in 1980, I think you’d have a hard time getting a horse up that trail. Not technical, but narrow with steep drop offs in places. Would have to be a very calm, disciplined horse.
Dmbeaster
@donatellonerd: Mt. Whitney used to have a pack station for accessing the high country and the peak.
http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/chrysler_n_cook/page3.html
It is long gone, but operated until 1972 when the Forest Service restricted the route to hikers only, which was a necessity due to heavy use. It clearly was possible to ride a horse to the summit in 1950.
https://www.mulemuseum.org/the-mount-whitney-trail.html
Currently, other pack stations can take you to the backside of Whitney, such as the Cottonwood Pack Station. But you have to do the final portion on foot.
https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/california/mount-whitney-cottonwood-pack-station
Dmbeaster
@JustRuss: They took horses and mules all the way to the summit in the past.
Dmbeaster
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Love your pics.
Picture six of Whitney is a nice view – I can see the climbing route clearly. You might enjoy this similar picture showing the climbing routes overlaid on the image. You can scroll down and enlarge the picture of the east face routes.
The Whitney area was formed by a somewhat unique blob of granite (Mt Whitney Intrusive Suite) that has significant columnar jointing that is much more common in basalt (Devil’s Postpile), but rare in granite. It is really notable on the west face of Mt. Russell immediately north of Whitney. It shows nicely in your photo.