Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 9/14 4 day Cottonwood -- Whitney & back

We are planning a 4 day hike w/3 nights in the soldier lake area.

Thought was:
Day 1: backpack horseshoe meadows to soldier lake
day 2: day hike mt langley
Day 3: day hike mt whitney
day 4: hike out to horseshoe.

We thought camping 3 nights in same spot would make things easier.

day 5/6 death valley

Our first time out in this area, have hiked tetons & most of longs peak.

Any advice / tips would be appreciated.

What are your proposed routes to Mt. Langley and Mt. Whitney?

You might be best served summitting Mt. Langley on your way in if you are planning to go over New Army Pass.

There are three passes entering this area, Cottonwood, Army and New Army. Knowing which way you are going would also help getting the response you want.

And where is Soldier Lake? The only one I can find is west of Virginia Lakes, northwest of Mono Lake.

It's north of Rock Creek and is shown as an unnamaed lake in southeast corner of the Mt. Whitney Quad.

The following is the UTM coordinate for the middle of the lake 11S,0386415,4040391

I hiked thru this area last year. It would be better is bag Langley from New or old Army Pass on your way to Solider Lake. Whitney in a day from Solider Lake is not recommended. It is a very challeging cross country including "the sand hill" south of Discover Pinnacle. Up and down and some route finding delays. Camping at Sky Blue Lake or the unnamed lake above Sky Blue gives you a better chance but many have turned back without reaching the summit. Whitney in a day is best done from the Portal on the east or Guitar Lake on the west. Lots of books on the subject, none perfect but most are helpful. The trails have quotas, so best to reserve a permit.

Solder lake, just below The Major General, is a very nice place to hang out. You can climb class 3 up to the Major General and then on to Mt. Langley from there, although that is not the easiest. Most camp at one of the Cottonwood lakes and then hike to Langley from New Army or Army pass on the way to the other side..

Getting to Mt. Whitney from there is much more of a concern. It is estimated that a round trip from Sky Blue Lake to Mt. Whitney and back over Crabtree pass can take up to 12-14 hours. From Soldier lake it would not be practical to attempt Mt. Whitney in a one day hike. It is just too far away.

Go read Kashcrafts report of summiting Whitney from the Miter Basin. He has some pictures and links to discussion of the difficulty from Crabtree pass to Discovery Pinnacle up the dreaded sand hill.

http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=163

His son Matthew posted the pictures of their two trips in the area, in the follow up to the link I refered to above.

Here are the pictures.

http://client.webshots.com/album/225902303LpAqHk

In some of the books, they recommend going through the Cottonwood lakes and over New Army Pass to Soldier Lake. This makes sense if you are doing Mt. Langley as a side hike.

I personally like going over Cottonwood pass. It is about 10 miles to Soldier lake. The advantage is that Cottonwood pass is lower in elevation then New Army pass. You can use this route on the way back to Horseshoe meadows and save an extra 800 feet or so in elevation.

I would agree about using the Miter basin route to Mt. Whitney. Although it is a beautiful area and very remote feeling, the distance from Sky Blue Lake to Discovery Pinnacle is difficult cross country & slow going.

It would be nicer to spend the extra time around Cottonwood lakes/ Soldier lake and perhaps throw in Cirque peak instead of Mt. Whitney.

OK Thanks all!

We revised the plan taking the more standard route 4/5 days from horseshoe meadows, stay at guitar lake and exit the main trail.

Got the permits, looking forward to a good time.

Thanks Again.

My wife and I this exact route last year via Old Army Pass. We hiked from the Cottonwoods Trail head, then to lake #4, up the pass, then up to Mt. Langley, and then down to lower Soldier Lake. Hiked the second day to Guiter Lake, then summited on the third day, and had a late dinner at the Portal Store.

Great hike.