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[pct-l] Mt. Whitney
>>Does anyone know when the recorded elevation of Mt. Whitney
>>changed from 14,496.811 feet to the number now being used
>>(14,497.61 feet) on maps, T-shirts, etc.? Is this the result of
>>improved measuring techniques?
Damn, those rocks keep piling up! On page 22 of Paul Hellweg and Scott
McDonald's excellent guidebook titled "Mount Whitney Guide for Hikers and
Climbers," published in 1994, I read on page 22 that "...Mt. Whitney being
the crown jewel at 14,494.6 feet." Of course, in the previous paragraph we
also read that the land east of the Sierras is gradually dropping, and that
"Though the last major drop was some two million years ago, this is an
ongoing process, with the latest movement taking place in 1872 when the
floor of the Owens Valley dropped almost 20 feet near the town of Lone Pine."
Maybe Mt. Whitney ain't gettin' taller, the valley floor is just gettin'
lower!
Joe G.
Joe's PGP key may be found at the public PGP key archive:
PGPKEYS.MIT.EDU
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