I’ve always said California has everything, and that was before I even knew that California also has the highest AND lowest points (both within ~100 miles of each other) in the contiguous U.S! Last year in Death Valley, we sauntered along Bad Water Basin, the lowest point in the U.S. at -282 feet below sea level. This year we figured we’d summit the U.S.’s highest peak, Mount Whitney, at 14,497 feet tall. By mountaineering standards, Mount Whitney is relatively easy to summit. Between summer and fall, anyone in decent shape can summit the mountain—no mountaineering experience required. As a result, the 22-mile out…