"Cause baby, there ain't no mountain high enough Ain't no valley low enough..." (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell) Did something off the charts crazy, on my birthday. An epic California road trip and mountain climb with some hard core trail runner/hikers from WA State. Within a 24-hour span, we went from the lowest spot in North America (280 ft below sea level) to the highest point in the contiguous United States (14,505 ft) - Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney. Day-1 was a photo op in Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth where temps have hit the 130s. It was a chilly 111-degrees during our visit. Day-2 we hiked to the summit of Mount Whitney--Over 21-miles and 6640-feet of elevation gain! The Mt Whitney high altitude/sickness, 550' of elevation gain per mile and rocky terrain combined to make this one of the toughest physical and mental endurance challenges I've ever taken on. Total time on trail (started with headlamps at 1AM) was nearly 16-hours.
