Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt Langley or White Mtn Peak, June 3-4

My father-in-law will be in town starting Sunday. With it being a low snow year, I was hoping that we'd be able to hike Mt. Whitney with just trekking poles and microspikes June 3-4. Our trip last years was cancelled due to the government shutdown.

Based on Bob Rockwell's last set of pictures, I think it's safe to say that a Mt. Whitney summit attempt shouldn't happen. We don't have experience with crampons or ice axes, so the chute is not an option. I am looking at Mt. Langley and White Mtn Peak as alternatives now, and have a few questions.

White Mountain
1. I am told that the road is closed at the Patriarch Grove turnonff. If we park at the turnoff, we may try to hike to Barcroft Gate on Day 2, camp for the night, then try to make the summit for sunrise. Would you be worried about leaving a tent and overnight pack at Barcroft with all the marmots running around?

2. Is it ok to car camp anywhere along White Mountain Rd?


Mt. Langley
3. Is New Army Pass the route that will most likely allow us to summit (snow conditions)?

4. Is New Army pass the safest route?

5. What is the preferred route when nearing the summit of Langley?

6. Is there any cell coverage on Langley? Is it likely that we will be picked up at the trailhead, so it would be nice if we could call or text our family at some point.

7. If we hike Langley, my family will be hanging out in Lone Pine for the day. Is there anything to do with an adventuresome 2 year old?

My past experience:
White Mountain (September 2012) - A bit of a hike from Patriarch Grove to the gate, but I don't recall the elevation changing much between the two, and there isn't any gate between the two, so if you can get to Patriarch, you can likely get to the gate. Whether the road is plowed past Patriarch may be the issue. While up there, saw nary a creature (no marmots) at the Barcroft Gate. Only Mountain sheep close to the mountain. There are many "wide spots" to pull off the gravel/dirt road and camp;

Langley (July 2013) - We took old Army Pass then (because it is shorter than New Army Pass), but north facing keeps it in snow longer. If there is snow (there is right now) it will be icy and there are some scrambles over rock in a couple locations, so care is the word. Our group made the mistake of going too far east as we approached Langley, and ended up climbing the nose (east face). Not wise. Much easier to go west a bit, but in most routes up you will hit scree, so it is a trade-off how far west. No cell coverage that I can remember, even at the Horseshoe Campground. And all of us two-year olds at heart were on the mountain so not sure what is in Lone Pine for the youngster.

Good luck in your decision-making.

For White Mtn, maybe bring mountain bikes to bike to the lab (past the gate)? This is a very long and potentially boring slog. I wouldn't want to do it. Actually, could probably use mountain bikes all the way across the large plateau above the lab that leads up to White, or possibly even to the summit....

In Lone Pine, the film museum would be a blast for a 2 year old.

Langley: when you close get to the rocky section at the summit pyramid (the last couple hundred feet), follow the path across the sandy wash betweem you and the summit pyramid that has the most most foot traffic, and then look for cairns. The cairns will take you through an easy class 2 (class 3 lite?) chute. If you go to the right, you end up on class 3. If you go to the left, you will end up in scree. But there truly is an easy chute with no exposure though a little scrambling is required. The chute spits you out onto the summit plateau, where it is an easy 10 minute or so walk to the summit itself.

I was able to text at Horeshoe Meadows, but not phone. I saw a guy use his phone. Very intermittent, would not count on it. Past the Meadows to Langley, I had no coverage (not even on the summit).

New Army Pass on Sunday 5-25-14

Which brings me to a question I haven't bothered to find an answer to...

Are bikes still allowed now that White is in a Wilderness?


Phone calls made from the summit of Langley many times. Phone also worked from the top of both passes and various other spots along the trail.

I've seen bikes on White Mtn at least twice, but I haven't hiked it since 2010, so if it gained a Wilderness designation since then it may have changed. Probably best to check with the USFS if you really plan/hope to use a bike to/near the summit.

Late October, 2011. Haven't a clue when it happened... or if they make a special case for the Research Teams that (used to at least) go to the summit.

I think they left out the road when they designated the area as a wilderness in 2009. It's too bad they don't leave more of those backcountry roads out when they designate wilderness areas.

Map:
http://www.wilderness.net/map.cfm?xmin=-...ax=4562284.7763

Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it.

Did you end up doing Langley? If so, what were the conditions like? I am heading up tonight and wondering if I need to bring crampons/ice axe?

Thanks!

Sorry, I just saw this post. We ended up hiking Whitney instead.