Resilience and Raw Beauty on White Mountain Peak

   

    It has been said that on a clear day from the summit of White Mountain Peak, the view stretches from the crest of the High Sierra clear across the state of Nevada towards the distant contusions of the western terminus of the Rocky Mountain in Utah. While it is dubious to say that such a singularly immaculate atmospheric visage has ever existed it is for the views, albeit perhaps not in such dramatic fashion, that many trekkers continue to press themselves forward to the highborn summit. Although not technically consigned, White Mountain Peak deserves due credit for its sheer height, escalating rapidly over from the graben Owens Valley to its sky-scraping summit of 14,252'  This height places it in several distinctive categories as the third highest peak in California, the preeminent mountain in the contiguous United States between the Sierra Crest and Colorado, the highest point in Great Basin and Range geographical province, and the 44th tallest peak in North America.

     Reaching the summit streaked in bleak, raw beauty, is a task requiring dedicated resilience over adversities.  The natural surroundings in the range though themselves act as prophets for both of these ideals.  For indeed all of nature is beautiful, and in geographical locales such as in the arid White Mountains, that beauty is manifested in the convicting reality of resilience of life.  Consequently, for the trekker, the journey to the summit is fundamentally a journey steeped and totally resigned in the beauty of resilience.     

   

Fixed in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, the White Mountains, boast some of the clearest and driest air in North America. In the higher reaches of the range above treeline, the mountains transitions to a climate on par with the other dry high-altitude steppes of the world such as Mendoza Province in Argentina of Andes and the Tibetan Plateau of the Himalaya.  The stark life the lives here needs to be specially adapted to survive in such harsh conditions

 Elevation: 10,000': On the lower slopes of White Mountain Peak, around 10,000', the oldest living non-clonal organisms on the planet thrive.  Here, some specimens of  the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine have been growing since 3000 B.C.  For perspective, this is to say that some of the trees were saplings before the Great Pyramid of Egypt was built.  These awesome relics of the ancient world in fact live so long precisely because few other pathogens and potentially harmful life-forms can survive here.  Essentially, their resilience is their salvation.   

Elevation: 10,800': The drive to the 11,700' trailhead is  an endeavor to be reckoned with.  It requires a thirty-two mile round trip on a fair to poor dirt road. Sharp dolomite, steep downgrades, rough turns and a desolate location over two hours from the nearest town of Bishop, makes the drive an adventure in itself. However, with proper timing and speed, White Mountain Road can usually be traversed to the trailhead by a standard car; just do not be out for breaking any speeding records, the average speed of driving is twelve MPH.  Patience in this raw landscape is key.

     Elevation 11,300': Patience pays off in the early morning on White Mountain Road as the rising sun over the state of Nevada illuminates the volcanic rock, and the distant zenith of the range, White Mountain Peak.   

Elevation 11,700': After sixteen miles of grueling and dedicated dirt road travel, the primitive White Mountain Trailhead is reached as the last jump-off point for the trip.  From here, no cars without special authorization are allowed, but conversely here begins the adventure. 

Elevation 12,400': The highest point of continuous human residence in the state of California is the University of California Barcroft Research Station, passed by en route to the summit.  Studies research topics here include astronomy, meteorology, and elevation physiology.   

Elevation 12,400': Hardy domesticated research sheep find a home on the shoulders of White Mountains; a testament to the adaptability and endurance of an otherwise thought quite ordinary species.  Here an individual sheep notes the passing of a biped mammal. 

Elevation 12,800': A trekker bound for the summit pushes through above the research station, and despite the difficulty, takes a respite to enjoy the natural beauty of being so high in the troposphere.  

Elevation 12,600': After cresting a small pass, the trail descends into a wide plain, offering fantastical afternoon views of the mineral-rich summit of White Mountain.  Around here is the mid-point of the hike in miles, but the crux is yet to come.    

Elevation 12,800': While the entire trip is in the Inyo National Forest, the final few miles are located within the White Mountain Wilderness.  Under the 1964 Congressional Wilderness Act, this area is to be preserved forever in its natural state. Man can only remove memories and lessons from this land.

Elevation 13,000': Perhaps no other organism at high altitudes best exemplifies the meaning of both beauty and resilience as alpine wildflowers.  Here in mid-August, this specimen is enjoying the final stretch of its life, before the frozen world alpine world returns in a matter of weeks.   

Elevation 13,600': Here, the weary trekker could note the beauty of the deep blue sky resting over the summit, while garnering energy to continue towards it.  Snow often lingers on the slopes until late summer.  Certainly, this section represents the crux of the trip.

Elevation: 14,000': The state of Nevada begins near the terminus of the lower valley, and continues to the end.  By this point, most trekkers are exhausted in this boulder-strewn landscape.  The stark alpine landscape becomes invigorating the higher ones climbs.  The final summit push is the ultimate test of resilience. 

Elevation: SUMMIT, 14,252': Once on White Mountain, the view of the Sierra is spectacular stretching from Mount Whitney in the far south, past the Palisade Crest and its glistening glaciers, to Mount Ritter and Yosemite National Park. Directly below you is the upper end of the Owens Valley, the steepest gorge in North America, with mountains surging 10,000' over both sides of it. Eastward lies the Great Basin and the quiet desert haunts of rural Nevada, while just south lies the northern section of Death Valley National Park.  This forlorn beautiful summit is the reward, the ultimate prize for dedicated resilience. 

Elevation: The Return.  Hiking down a mountain one oft sees the landscape he passed in a new light juxtaposed to construction of that land he had in the steep climb upward.  A more reflective journey can take place on the descent towards civilization.  It is a time to reflect on the lessons learned on a particular trip.  How does this marmot represent White Mountain?  What does it tell about its landscape? Is is resilient because it is beautiful, or beautiful because it is resilient?  In this way, the legacy of a trek is enduring. 

      White Mountain Peak is not the most well-known mountain in California, nor is it even perhaps the most stunningly spectacular.  It is though an enduring testament more than any other mountain in the state, to the raw power, the stark forces, and everlasting beauty of nature.  Likewise, it also harbors the idea that life, including that of the visiting trekker, needs to be adaptable to change and dedicated to reality of living.  Thus, the inner resilience of each life is exposed on the slopes of this peak.  In this way, White Mountain is a perfect teacher of beauty and living resiliency; lessons indeed that transcend and fulfill the human spirit.