Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney from Mt. Baldy?

I did a hike up Mt. Baldy yesturday and as I was taking pictures on the summit, I could see the snow capped Sierra (first time ever!). I think I could see Mt. Whitney, so can anyone postivly identify Mt. Whitney or any other mountains?



Large Size

Additional Pics

I have heard reports of Whitney summiteers being able to see Mt. Baldy.

It is hard for me to discern, but I think you got Whitney! My guesstimate is that it is somewhere to the right in the picture.

Great picture GigaMike!! Did you do the Sierra Hut trail? What are conditions like as far as snow/ice? We plan to hit it this weekend for a final warm-up. thanks!

It would be useful to have compass bearings to the peaks in your picture. For example, the bearing from Baldy to Whitney is 347 degress per Topo software. Thanks for posting the pictures!

AdventureGirl - I started at Manker flat and went up the fire road to the notch, then I took the devil's backbone to the summit and then down the Ski Hut trail back to Manker flat. The only snow I ran into was a patch on the summit.

Richard - Unfortunately I didn't think about getting the bearings. If it helps any, I think that is Rogers Lake bed in the middle of the pics.

There is a good chance the righthand set of Mts is the Whitney region. Whether you can pick out Whitney from Langley or any of the other high 13ers in the area is another story.
Eric

GigaMike, I can help you, but I need your help first. I have a computer program that tells where virtually all the Sierra and non-Sierra peaks are with respect to Baldy. The catch-- apparently you did not take your photograph from the exact summit of Baldy. Did you head down the Ski Hut Trail, then take the photo? Regardless, if you can give me a better idea where you took the picture--how far from the summit--I can give you exact coordinates for any peak you would like.

Hi Wayne, that picture and many others were taken on the summit. I was standing a few feet from the summit plaque.

Okay, I admit the two photos that should be alike, that is, they both feature the snow-capped peaks on the skyline, are throwing me a curve. The reason is the width-to-height aspect ratio. When I print off your photo with arrows, I get a different ratio than the photo without the arrows. Which brings up my next question, did you alter the size of the photos? I'm asking this because I'm getting very divergent readings from the two photos side by side, which is driving me a bit nuts...

GigaMike, let me explain the technique I use. First, I print a mountain photo at the top and center of a sheet of paper. Then, I draw a vertical line through the photo and down the rest of the page. Then I take clear acetate, with compass bearings already drawn on the acetate for known mountain bearings. Then I move the acetate up and down the center line until the bearings match what is known in the photo. When the bearings fit, bingo. I've found the focus point. Once that is done, you can pretty much figure everything else in the photo. However, with your photos, I was stumped, as I could not find logical fits, which would enable me to pinpoint your mountains.

All this being said, Mr. Whitney is near your LEFT arrow--not the right arrow. Mt. Langley is to the right of Whitney. In fact, I think Langley dominates the area in front of Whitney, and all you would be able to see of Whitney's summit is a little point above Langley's shoulder.

Here is an amazing thing about your photo and its perspective. VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE 14ERS ARE LINED UP WITHIN ONE DEGREE OF MT. WHITNEY, except for White Mountain Peak and Mt. Shasta. Yes, I mention Mt. Shasta, although it is 551 miles from Mt. Baldy and well below the horizon, but it is only 12.6 degrees to the left of Whitney. White Mountain Peak is 234 miles from Baldy and is 4.6 degrees to the right of Whitney.

When using my acetate technique, you always go from the known to the unknown. For example, you can easily see the ski-lift platform on Wright Mountain, down in the righthand corner of the photo, and you can see Pine Mountain directly ahead. I know the compass bearings to each of these. Wright Mountain's bearing is 13.4 degrees (TN) and Pine Mountain is 3.7 degrees (TN). But, inexplicably, I could not get my acetate bearings to match what we see in the photo. Since I couldn't make the match, I am giving you a few readings from my computer program, and maybe you can make them work.

Mt. Whitney is 347.2 degrees (TN) and 162 miles from Baldy. Langley is 348.0 degrees and 158 miles. Of the 14ers, except Shasta, Thunderbolt Peak is the farthest from Baldy at 346.1 degrees and 200 miles, but hidden by Starlight and North Pal. Like I already said, the 14ers are all lined up within one degree of each other, so are virtually indistinguishable.

The mountains below your right arrow look like billowy white clouds to me, rather than mountains. One of the clouds is higher than Mt. Whitney, so could not possibly be a mountain, as no mountain around here is higher than Whitney. Furthermore, my acetate bearings show nothing significant in that area.

However you cut it, you took a fascinating picture. As others pointed out, if you should ever be lucky enough to be on top of Baldy and witness that beautiful scene again, do us a favor and take a compass bearing. Thanks for posting your awesome picture!

Wow Wayne thanks for all the info! That’s pretty amazing that almost all the 14ers are lined up. I think I understand your acetate technique and I'll give it a try.
The only picture that is modified (cropped) is the one with the arrows. The large size has been untouched. After looking at more of the pics, I think your right about the "mountains" under the right arrow being clouds. There is a good chance I’ll be on Mt. Baldy again this weekend and if it’s clear enough again, I will take pictures AND get the bearings.

Thanks again for all the help.

Mike

First of all, great picture! I am a volunteer lookout host at the Butler Peak fire lookout just above Big Bear Lake. Although we are somewhat lower than Baldy, (8,537 ft), we can see Mt Whitney on a real clear day from the lookout tower. I have located Whitney using the Osborne Fire Finder in the lookout tower. No computer technology, just a 1911 mechanical device! Since your perspective is different than Butler, I would hesitate to say with certainty which peak could be Whitney. However, from Butler, Whitney is at the extreme right end of the string of peaks visible along the crest.
I'll be going up Whitney on July 6, but don't expect I'll be able to see the tower!

Alan

Thank you all for this Info.
It's very interesting (at least to me)

hi,
thank you GigaMike for great images and Wayne for infos.
I just enhanced contrast of the image and white area to the right in the image came clear and looks to me like Telescope Peak in Death Valley NP. Could be, there is still snow on it.??? Left side Mt. Langley and Whitney area. When I checked the maps it is showing exact locations related to the Roger's Lake in front, when viewing from Mt. Baldy summit.
Other option for the right, if is not a cloud, White Mountains?
cheers

Alan, the perspective from Butler Peak, which is about 37 miles east of Baldy, is totally different from Baldy's. The 14ers spread out by 2 degrees from your vantage point, and Whitney is to the left of the center of the 14ers. Please realize, I'm only talking the 14ers, not all the other peaks around the 14ers. From Baldy, Whitney is 162 miles, but from Butler the distance is 176 miles.

By the way, 10 of the 14ers are to the right of Whitney from Butler Peak! And Whitney appears only 2-100ths of a degree (.02 degrees) higher than Langley, which I think would require a powerful telescope to detect.

If you are interested, and still do tower work, I would be happy to send you a computer listing of all the named peaks you can see from Butler. The listing shows exact compass bearings in true north and magnetic north readings to the nearest 10th of a degree (based on spherical trigonometry), the exact mileage (also using spherical trigonometry), and how high above or below eye level each mountain is from Butler Peak, in three-digit decimal degrees. I could give you the listing in Excel or Word format.

Since you have access to such a professional sighting instrument, my list could be a lot of fun for you. You'll probably discover mountains you thought were somewhere else! Just drop me an email if you are interested.

this is a fascinating thread. never thought i would find someone as ****y as me when it comes to lining up peaks and bearings, etc.

awesome!

Wayne,
If you look at the LEFT side of the photo you'll see the water holding pond at the top of Mtn High and to the right of it the electronic towers on the peak east of Mtn High. Using Topo! I drew a line from Whitney to just west of the summit of Baldy and it intersected the road section on Blue Ridge where it makes a direct southerly jaunt - also clearly visible in the photo as directly below the peaks in the left arrow. As you said, Whitney should be at the left arrow. Of course, Topo! is a flat mapping software and the curvature of the earth over this distance must make a difference somewhere. Interesting topic.

Thru-Hiker--You gave me the key to the riddle when you said Mountain High. Somehow I had missed Mountain High in my Topo! software.

Mt. Whitney is not under either of the arrows! The first white on the left, marked by GigaMike's left arrow, appears to be Olancha Peak. The next white peak to the right of the left arrow looks like White Mountain Peak.

If you count bumps on the Sierra skyline, Mt. Whitney is bump #6 from the left. The bump to its right is Mt. Langley. The next bump to the right of Langley is Olancha Peak (the first white peak), and the bump to the right of Olancha is White Mountain Peak.

After White Mountain Peak, the bumps are Mt. Inyo, Cerro Gordo, Red Mountain and Thimble Peak.

Telescope Peak is not in the photo, as it is to the right of Wright Mountain. (Right of Wright?? Interesting.)

Thanks for your observations, Thru-Hiker!

If anyone can improve on IDing the peaks, please do.

Give me the latitude, longitude and hgt of these two peaks and I can tell you the precise bearing and slope distance between them. I can give you the vertical angle as well.