Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cottonwood Pass trail to Soldier lake

Thinking of doing Cottonwood Pass trail to Soldier lake for a weekend trip. Is the hike in doable in 1 day? Is it a worthwhile place to hike to and camp at?
thanks

What you are suggesting is about 10 miles. With a light overnight load we did it once in about 5 hours, trying to get to Solder Lake before it got dark. A more leisure pace with a larger backpack could easily be 6-7 hours.

Sure it could be done. It is a nice place to hang out. The only real hike from that lake would be the Major General

Here is a Kashcraft photo of Soldier lake

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225905911061435028TFEQna

That was our first day on a trip I took this summer, taking a scout troop over Whitney. It took us seven hours to reach camp just below Soldier Lake, but that includes taking a hobbling scout with a sprained ankle that last two miles.

Too bad for him, he went back out to Horseshoe Meadow the next day, along with one adult who was really dragging (some scout fathers want to accompany their son, and think they can just jump back in to backpacking after a 20 year hiatus, and are not prepared for it).

The trip along the PCT, a side trip to Cirque Peak or Mt. Langley will make it very much worthwhile.

Can you make it in a day? It all depends on your physical conditioning and pack weight.

Along that trail is Chicken Spring Lake...out about 4 miles, near Cottonwood pass....that is a nice place and much closer then hiking all the way around the back to Soldier Lake. If you don't have a lot of time, it is a closer alternative.

From there, you can hike/ climb the ridge northward over Trailmaster peak, or hike further north across the ridge to Cirque peak.

In the basin, before you hike toward cottonwood pass, is Trail Peak. That is toward the south, with an elevation gain of 1500 feet.

Webtravis has a good recommendation. Spend a night at Soldier lake. On the way back take the other trail, over New Army pass trail. That would give you access to Langley and Cirque Peak. If you have a second night, you could hang out around the Cottonwood Lakes area, before hiking out the final 6 miles to the car.

I was thinking of Cirque on the way in and Langley on the way out.

I think your goal is very attainable. IF you've done some hiking at altitude. It's a long stretch for one day, but very doable.

This summer, I also took a Scout Troop up that way. First day, we went from Horseshoe Meadows, up the Cottonwood Pass, and down to the heart-shaped lake just past Soldier Lake (I think that's the name). We were in a beautiful valley meadow---no other campers near. Altitude hit almost everyone in the group, but we were fine the next morning. There are bear boxes at the opposite end of the lake (Southwestern side).

That camping spot was at about 10,000 feet.

Next couple of days we went up Whitney and out through Trail Crest. We had 3 Scouts, ages 12 and 13, and two adults on the trip, and they all did great. Beautiful way to see the back country, away from many of the crowds on the MMWT.