The snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains are featured in this low-oblique, south-looking photograph. Two major national parks are visible—Kings Canyon National Park near the center and Sequoia National Park to the south from which the Kern River Canyon extends southward. The three branches of Kings River in Kings Canyon National Park join to form the main branch of the Kings River, which flows west toward the San Joaquin Valley. Between the upper Kern River and the southern fork of the Kings River is Mount Whitney [14 494 feet (4421 meters)], the highest peak in the Sierra Nevadas and the second highest peak in the United States. Apparent north to south along the bottom third of the photograph are the Owens River Valley and to its east the Inyo Mountains.