Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Anyone been up Army Pass recently?

Hi All,
Planning a hike up Army pass next Friday. Any recent
condition report would be appreciated.
Happy Hiking
Rick

Wondering the same thing. Anyone been up OAP in the last day or 2?

Hi,

I went over Army pass 2 days ago (Friday July 15). There is no snow on the trail. For an unmaintained trail it is in great shape.

Jim

Sounds like Thompson Pass is feasible this year, too...

Hightinerary,

Absolutely. Currently the Thompson Kirk Route from Lake 6 up to Thompson Pass likely is snow free, except possibly for an easily avoidable small snow patch at the top. Of course, one does not know for sure the condition of that Route until one has arrived at Lake 6.

Friday, I started at the Cottonwood Lakes TH headed for the Miter Basin and possibly beyond. As clouds started to show, the decision was made to bypass the Thompson Kirk Route and Mt Langley and to take the more direct route over Old Army Pass. From a distance, it was easy to see Old Army Pass would not be a problem.

A couple of hours after crossing Old Army Pass, I was hit by hail.

Jim

I did the loop on Sunday from Cottonwood Trail Head, over New Army, down Army (Old) and back to the trailhead. No problems, except old age trying to step down, bending around boulders, etc. I am not very flexible any more.

Long day.

A little rain and good cloud cover to kept it cool.

Met a couple descending with me, well, bypassed me... they were a lot younger, they left at 4:45am and I met them at 12:20pm

Paul

Thank you all.
Going up to Langley Wed morning after spending the night just below
Thompson pass. ( now that I know it appears passable) on to Soldier lake for THursday night and back to the traihead Via Chicken Spring
lake route. I'll update with a trip report Friday.
Thanks again for your timely info.
Happy Hiking to all, Rick