Margaret Wright age 9 of Payettep Idaho
How high is Mount Whitney?
Mount Whitney is the tallest peak in the 48 states of America. Lot's get an idea of its height by comparing it with other tall peaks. The highest peak in Idaho is Mount Borah in the Lost River Ranges some 200 miles northeast of Boise. Mount McKinley in Alaska is the highest peak in the whole of North America. Tall as they area these peaks are topped by the Andes Mountains of South America And the high Ham l.ayas look down upon all the other tall mountains in the world.
A. mountain is measured from sea level. Its height is the distance in feet from the surface of the sea. Idaho’s Mount Borah is 12.665 feet high. Its bases buried deep in the Lost River Range.. is on a levels say with the water in Puget Sound midway between tides. Its snowy peak is almost two and a quarter miles straight up from this level.
Mount Whitney tops Idaho's highest by about half a mile. This highest point in continental United States is in California. It measures 14:495 feet straight up from the surface level of the Pacific Ocean. That is a distance of about 25 feet short of two and three quarters miles. It is a splendid mountains though it wears less snow than Borah. Hoods Ranier and other white peaks of the northwest.
Mount Whitney stands in a National Park east of Fresno and. northeast of Los Angeles. It is not alone in its record‑.breaking majesty. About 80 miles to the east is the lowest point in America. This is the desert of Death Valley which dips some 280 feet below sea level.
On Mount Whitney’s western slope is Sequoia National Park. Here a couple of other records are held. Here grow the huge and ancient sequoia redwood trees. In a grove in this park there is a monster tree called General Sherman. The General is the largest and possibly the oldest living thing upon earth. It is 272.04 feet high and may well be around four thousand years old.
The snows on Mount.Whitney do not pack into hard icy glaciers. They melt and run down to feed a number of rivers. Among them' are the Keen River and the Los Angeles River which help to water the rich valley of central California. There was a time$ however when Whitney was crowned with ice. The sharp eastern slope of the big mountain is polished and scarred by an ancient glacier.
Mount McKinley of Alaska is 20000 feet high over a mile taller than Mount Whitney. The Andes of South America have seven peaks over 22$000 feet high. These grim and snow‑capped mountains form the highest range in the New World.
The world’s tallest mountains stretch through Asia across northern India and Tibet. They are the proud white Himalayas. Highest of them all is Mount Everest. Records show that this tall peak may be steadily growing taller. Drifting snows make its actual height difficult to estimate. It is about 29,141 feet above sea level. Mount Everest is over twice as high as our beautiful Mount Whitney.