Here's a 28-minute video from a glider trip May 12. This pilot (Jonathan / NMERider) launched at Walt's Point on the Horseshoe Meadows road, and he worked his way north, with a number of views of Mt Whitney.
He only made it a little above 13,000 ft, and was always on the east side of the crest. He had several on-board cameras, along with sound, and he gives some narrative along the way. He landed in the pasture on the north side of Whitney Portal Road, just two blocks from Main Street / 395. (satellite view/map here)
The fisheye lens on one of the cameras makes identifying some of the peaks difficult, but he gets some good shots of Mt Whitney, Upper Boy Scout Lake, Mt Russel and Mt Williamson.
Some views: 7:16 Langley, Corcoran, LeConte (these often between 5:00 and 12:00) 12:50 Crossing the ridge sw of Lone Pine Pk 13:15 Meysan Lk (frozen) 13:49 good view of Mt Whitney 14:28 Lone Pine Lk 15:30 Lone Pine lk, Outpost camp, Mirror Lk, Consultation Lk, Mt Whitney 16:16 Upper Boy Scout Lk, and Girl Scout Lk Somewhere between 17 and 21 minutes is the Gambler's Special area.
Best watched on full-screen. Here's the Youtube link.
If you download the KML you can see how deep I was able to fly into the canyons. Normally we don't go in this deep but the weather was really mellow and the turbulence was minimal. This was my big chance to get high def video with snow and frozen lakes. The lighting is also better w/ the sun not high overhead.
Memorial Day weekend should see the maximum number of hang glider and paraglider pilots out at Walt's Point or one of the other launch sites depending on the wind direction. As Summer moves in it becomes more turbulent and pilots tend to fly at the foot of the range or over the valley. Altitudes can easily reach 18K as well.
Well, I am envious of those who are able to hike up and down those wonderful trails. I need to spend less time aloft and more on my feet or my bicycle. If anyone is interested, I highly recommend taking lessons just for the experience of learning the basics. After that point one can always decide whether to pursue the sport. http://ushpa.aero/request_information.asp?about=Lessons
If people are interested, visiting that track log site: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/605173 and then clicking the "terrain" option at the top, it gives a great view of the relief of the ridges you were flying over. Zooming in, one can really see how you spent so much time working the ridges to gain altitude.