White Mountain (California)

Infobox Mountain
Name = White Mountain
Photo = White Mountain CA.jpg
Caption = White Mountain from trail, June 2004
Elevation = convert|14252|ft|m|0
Location = California, USA
Range = White Mountains
Prominence = convert|7196|ft|m|0|abbr=on [http://www.peaklist.org/USlists/USP5000.html High-prominence US peaks on peaklist.org] ]
Parent peak = Mount Whitney
Coordinates = coord|37|38|04|N|118|15|17|W|type:mountain_region:US|display=inline,title
Topographic
USGS White Mountain Peak
Type = Sedimentary rock
Easiest route = Road hike
Listing = Ultra

White Mountain, or White Mountain Peak, is the highest peak of the White Mountains of the US state of California. It is also the highest peak in Mono County and the third highest peak in the state, after Mount Whitney and Mount Williamson. It is the fourteenth most topographically prominent peak in the contiguous United States.

The University of California operates the White Mountain Research Station, comprising three high altitude research stations, on the mountain: Crooked Creek Station at Convert|10200|ft|m|-2, Barcroft Station at Convert|12500|ft|m|-2|abbr=on|abbr=on, and a small summit station. These stations study the effects of altitude on animal physiology.

Twice each year White Mountain Research Station opens the locked gate at Convert|11680|ft|m|-1 that leads to Barcroft Station. Open gate days are the first Sunday in August and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The normal round trip hike from the gate is about Convert|14|mi|km|0 round trip with less than Convert|3000|ft|m|-2 of vertical gain. The open gate shaves about Convert|4|mi|km|0 and Convert|500|ft|m|-1|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on of gain off the round trip. This route is often ridden with mountain bikes and has even been negotiated on a unicycle.

If the peak is California's easiest fourteener via the jeep road, it may be the most strenuous via its western ridge, an Convert|8150|ft|m|-2|abbr=on climb out of Owens Valley via a steep ridge from the end of a rough road. The peak is rarely approached from the north where it is guarded by a narrow arête or knife-edge ridge. A better nontechnical alternative to the jeep road would be to drive as far as possible up Leidy Canyon from Fish Lake Valley, then take a graded cattle trail up the broad ridge to Perry Aiken Flat. From the flats it is an easy traverse south into the cirque of the North Fork, North Branch of Perry Aiken Creek. A moderate scramble up the ridge between the North Branch and the larger cirque of the main North Fork leads to the easier upper slopes of the peak.

ee also

*California 4000 meter peaks
*California fourteeners
*List of highest points in California by county
*Mountain peaks of California
*Mountain peaks of North America
*Mountain peaks of the United States

References

External links

* [http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/38 White Mountain Peak on Summitpost.org]
* [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=3628 White Mountain at Peakbagger.com]
* [http://www.wmrs.edu/ UC White Mountain Research Station]
*Computer generated summit panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/AME/White-MP-N.gifNorth] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/AME/White-MP-S.gifSouth] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html index]
* [http://outdoorlifestyle.com/nocal/if-only-white-mountain-peak-was-100-lower-000012.html Trip report] Includes pictures shot during a thunderstorm, with the peak covered in graupel
* [http://call-of-the-mountains.freehostia.com/hike-info-07.html White Mountain Peak hike.] July 2005 trip report with photos and distance calculations.
* [http://powdercloud.blogspot.com/2008/07/white-mountain-peak-14252-ft.html Hike description] July 2008 trip report including highres pictures shot on a cloudless day.