Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Old Army Pass Conditions - Mid July

What kind of hiking conditions would I expect in mid July for Old Army Pass? My wife and I are starting our journey to climb Mt. Whitney via Cottonwood Lakes, with a side trip to Mt. Langly. In addition, can anyone provide some helpful tips for the trip.

It's been almost 20 years, but when we did Langley and Cottonwood Lakes in mid-August, most of the snow was gone. There was still snow covering the east side of Old Army Pass with the trail in disuse and dangerous looking. There's potential rockfall and some scrambling on loose rock. I'd take New Army Pass, definitely. Only a 400' high hill makes the difference for bagging Langley.

The area is beautiful, but I've never been back. Read this board for more accounts.

I've done this route up Langley several times, and find it much preferable to NAP, which I've also done. In June, I think that there might be a problem with residual snow, hopefully people enlighten us as your time approaches. However, the snow is melting quickly in the Sierra, and I suspect there will be little in OAP by that time.
Otherwise, the trail is good, except for a small amount hit by rockfall, but easily negotiated by people not trained in rock climbing. I'd call it class 2.
You save 500 feet of needless climbing, over NAP.

I'd drop your packs a but above the pass, but beware: there are a LOT of marmots active in this area, and if your food is not protected, and your packs not fully opened, you will return to a mess.

This is a nice trip you've planned.

Thanks for the responses. We are experienced hikers and have done over twenty-five similar trips. We want to continue to practice safe and enjoyable hikes. Planning is the key.

We went up to Langley in early July two years ago via NAP, a light snow year, and all that was left was a snow cornice at the top. We met folks who came up AP and they said they had to travel through a snow field which required nothing more than trekking poles for balance.

What you need to factor is the energy expended going up the unmaintained trail vs. a maintained one. I don't see a lot of difference in the two for people hiking through, unlike those base camped in the lakes basins below. To me it's a pick your poison situation.

Bill

We're climbing Langley via OAP on June 26th. We're going to camp by the Cottonwood Lakes for a couple days. I'll post the conditions after we get back.

We welcome and look forward in the feedback. Have a safe and great trip,

Having done both AP and NAP, I'd say the AP is a much better way to go *if* the snow is clear. If the snow is clear, it is a perfect trail (or was last October), not class 2, class 1. Any hiker can do it.
However, if there is snow on it, you will need the confidence to be able to climb and traverse steep snow (~40 degrees, from my foggy memory). The snowy part is short. Also, I expect that there will be snow in mid July. The top part of the trail is tucked under a north facing wall. A few years ago (in a typical snow year) I passed it after crossing NAP and there was snow (and footprints) in the 1st week of August. It's definitely the best way to go, for everyone, late in the year. Earlier, it's still the best route for those that don't mind steep snow.

-Greg

We went up to Mt. Langley via Old Army Pass on Saturday. There were a few sections of snow to cross but it was easy to kick steps and hike through. We had crampons but didn't need to put them on, but we all used trekking poles. Here's a photo of the pass below. There are more <a href="http://gary.mggm.net/photos/langley/" target="photos">photos from our trip online</a>.
--GaryM

<a href="http://gary.mggm.net/photos/langley/" target="photos"></a>

I just came back from a trip up and over old army pass this past sat 6/26. We were able to make it up the pass in our tennies. There were three short snow fields to cross with one longer one at the exit with a steep entrance that was avoidable with some scrambling. Snow is melting fast. I would expect at this rate that the snow will only be evident in the chute to the right of the trail in mid July. Enjoy...

I climbed Langley on Friday 6-23 via NAP. Just a small cornice at the top requiring about 20 steps in the snow. At about 4:00 it snowed on the summit. I checked-out OAP and didn’t see any footprints across the snow on the trail or in the chute.

On Saturday I went back to climb the chute on OAP. I may have talked to Gary’s wife while she was looking for him on the pass from the end of the lake 4?. I definitely saw his fresh footprints in the snow on the trail. Going up the chute I used ice ax and crampons. The surface was soft and easy to kick steps and the subsurface was firm, so I never slipped an inch. It was steep, but I had fun and managed not to soil myself.

While resting at the top of the pass I saw a guy in tennies head down into the pass, probably climbit. The trail looked like it had a lot of snow on it and I thought he was nuts at the time. Based on the posts above conditions were better then I thought.

BJ

Hi BJ - Yes, I'm sure you talked to my wife at the end of Lake 4. She and my daughter were hanging out around lake 4/5 on Saturday while I took my son up Langley for his first 14er. He really enjoyed it, especially picture taking, he carried his Canon SLR all the way up.

Thanks GaryM, climbit and BJ for your help and photos. They look great and give my wife and I a level of comfort for our trip. We will start our trip by hiking and climbing over Old Army Pass on July 19, summitting Langley, then hiking to summit Muir and Whitney and ending up at the Whitney Trail Portal on July 23.

If anyone would have any tips or warnings that we should be aware of, we would be greatful.

Thanks GaryM for the great photos. I Enjoyed looking at them while I couldn't be there. I would like to offer a little correction though, so other don't get confused if going there. In the photos, you were actually camped at Cottonwood Lake #3 not #4 as labeled, Lakes 4 and 5 set just below OAP and are the ones viewed directly below whilst climbing the pass. Lake 6 sets off by itself above 5 in a small cirque below the steep face of Langley. The confusion probably stems from the small seasonal pond that you questioned wether it was Lake #1. Again, thanks for sharing the photos.

Glad you liked the photos. Unfortunately there is some confusion about the lake numbering. According to this topo we were at the NW end of Lake 4. Bob R mentioned that there was some discrepency in the lake numbering also. What are the right numbers?

Hi Gary,
Sorry, I don't have the ability to post a corrected map. But her goes. On your topo the lakes listed as #4 and #5 are actually #s 3 and 4. You camped beside lake #3 if that helps. Also, the un-numbered lake beside the one printed as #5 on your map is the real #5 and and lake #6 is the smaller lake off to inself on the upper right from the real #5. Does that make sense. Hope i was clear enough.

Did the trip last year in late June. The meadows were green and spring was in full force. There is a wide strip of snow that covered the trail from Guitar Lake to Trail Crest. Does not require crampons but trekking poles were very useful. Start early and be in camp early in anticipation of afternoon showers. Enjoy your trip.

To GARYM
Thanks that was a great set of posts & pictures. It sure makes the trip look exciting and doable.

I agree, trekking poles are a must. We have used them on other hikes. They are a "life" saver. They came in handy when we did the Main Portal Route two years ago. We got the bug then, and we have not stopped. Since then we have hiked over twenty summits.

My wife and I are only four days away from our five day trek from Cottonwood Lakes to the Whitney Portal. Can someone give us an update of snow conditions on the back side of Mt. Whitney and Old Army Pass? I have not read much regarding the typical snow field on Mt. Whitney. However, I have seen a number of older reports with respect to Old Army Pass.