Mount Whitney, or Tumanguya in Paiute, is California’s highest mountain and the highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet, rising dramatically above Owens Valley while forming part of the Sierra Crest and Great Basin Divide. Its granite mass, shaped by fault-block uplift, erosion, and glaciation, reflects the broader geology of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. Named in 1864 for Josiah Whitney, it was first successfully climbed in 1873 by Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas. Trail building in the early 1900s, including work by Buffalo Soldiers, made the summit more accessible, and it remains a major destination for hikers and climbers.