Sierra Crest is marked at 13,600 feet, already higher than I have ever hiked. The elevation puts a clamp on my lungs, and I feel a vague sense of sleepiness creeping into my head, even though my heart is pumping. The trail rolls along the ridge behind sheer pinnacles. You could stumble and fall 2,000 feet, but the immaculate trail helps prevent that. Thousands of footsteps per year have worn a nice groove in the jagged mountain

At this point I?m laboring up the trail, but it doesn?t matter. I?m a hiker that climbs to look, not conquer. The green and gold of Sequoia stretches across the horizon. Deep blue lakes sparkle beneath a cloudless sky. From here you can almost see the depths of Death Valley - the lowest point in the United States and only 90 miles from this point.

Dad and Tom are a ways ahead by the time I ascend the final slope - a gradual ramp that eventually levels off. This is the peak - flat, spacious, almost custom-designed for large capacities. A crowd of about a dozen people are scattered over the rocks. We plop next to a geographical marker - ?Latitude: 36? 35? x; Longitude: 118? 17? x,? it says - and fix some lunch. We have great view of Lone Pine - 13 miles east, of Yosemite national park, of the expansive Nevada desert, of the Sierra Nevadas stretching over the horizon.

A strong wind whips past my head and muffles the incessant chatter. If I turn my head toward the sheer drop to the east I almost feel alone. Almost. They say if you want solitude, go elsewhere. If you want to see the spectacular top of America?s biggest and brightest, go to Whitney.

Directions: From Los Angeles take highway 14 to U.S. highway 395 north to Lone Pine, about 200 miles. Turn west onto Whitney Portal Rd. 13 miles to the trail head. Permits are required for this hike and are somewhat difficult to obtain. Call Inyo National Forest, Mt. Whitney District, (760) 876-6200, for more information.

Jill Homer is a graphic artist and freelance travel writer currently residing in Tooele, Utah. She specializes in outdoor adventure writing. For more information please visit www.biketoshine.com or contact jill@biketoshine.com.