Bee: Dr. Antony volunteered the information, saying she is still curious if her Whitney experience contributed to her being intimidated by heights. I have assured her that she is not the only one affected by those fears, since we often see discussions here about those issues.
I am really glad she passed all of the information along, so we could put it on the web for all to see.
Kevin: The hut was originally built in 1909 as a shelter for scientists so they could stay at the summit and make various weather and astrophysical measurements. I think the part about its being "John Muir's abandoned weather station" is erroneous.
Here's an interesting article from Smithsonian.com about the hut,written just before its 100th anniversary in 2009:
The Mount Whitney Hut Turns 100. Amazingly, it was built in
four weeks! And they had a sixteen-inch horizontal reflecting telescope up there. There is no mention as to why it was abandoned, although it does say bad weather made it difficult to use their telescope.
Also, from Wikipedia:
Smithsonian Institution Shelter
