the beginning
On our way up to Death Valley last weekend we drove up along 395, which follows the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas. This side of the Sierras is much more rugged and untamed than the more foresty western slopes. And they were plastered in snow, which can be unusual for the drier side of the mountains. This picture was taken from the new and improved Lone Pine visitors center, and the view was simply spectacular. We weren't even to Death Valley yet, and already the scenery was helping me breathe deeper.
What's fun about these mountains is that I have climbed them, to their tallest peak in fact ... Mt. Whitney. Its 14,496 feet tall, the tallest mountain in the continental United States ... and just 100 miles from Bad Water, Death Valley, which at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aren't random facts like that so cool? Yes, they are.
More pictures to come!
