Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board mt langley

this question is for doug sr (or anyone else who may have input):

several of us are going to do a 1 day langley climb in late july..........we'll all in our mid 50's and have done 1 day climbs of shasta & whitney in the last couple of years.........what is average climbing time for doing langley? it took us about 20 hrs to do shasta and 18 to do whitney........would snow/ice be a concern this year (low snowfall)....would we need crampons/ice axe in late july?

many thanks in advance.

gk

Hey Mr. Hollywood: Mileage wise it's almost the same as Whitney. For a day hike it might take slightly longer just for the simple reason that the last part of the hike there is no trail. We had to back track a couple times and do some class 2 scrambleing because we lost the class 1 route. Also you start hiking at 10K so even less time to aclimatize. Spend a few nights at the trailhead and you should be fine. Snow in late July is sometimes an issue but most likely this year you will be OK. It's been a really dry year.
Good Luck. Mt.Langley is my favorite becuase Whitney feels like Disnleyland sometimes. Too many people!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Hard question sounds like your group can travel as fast on trail as crosscountry so going the most direct class 2/3 after the split at the Cottonwood lake I would say r/t about 12 hours many miles are flat and on trail and the crosscountry is out of the boulder fields so travel is fast also, wild card is then you gain the last 3000' in several miles but then on the go home you drop this amount quickly. Check on the search Bob R.(7 19 05) posted the various routes to Langley several years ago If I recall the direct route is in blue , east of the lakes and before the ridge running south'ly.Thanks Doug

I was up Langley in early July 2002, the last dry winter. We went up over New Army Pass and did about every thing to add time to the trip that you could do. We could have gone up Army Pass that year without a problem and taken the direct route up to the summit but I followed the easiest of the 100 or so paths to the top.

Last year, we went up AP and took about as direct a route as you can take to the summit, which includes about 100' of light class 3. It cut off a ton of time vs. 2002. There are two light class 3 moves on Army Pass which should not present any problems.

Figure your time to be slightly less than your Whitney time if you conditioning is the same.

I can't comment on the ice axe and crampons because the Sierra winter is not over.

Although the winter could still put up a fight, I wouldn't count on it. It would take a huge shift in the weather or a big late winter to catch back up to normal.

You can follow the snow content here, bottom graph....within a month or two there will be no question.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/current/PLOT_SWC

The weather forecast for the next ten days out shows little storm activity.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USCA0630?from=search_10day

By the first of July, snow is not really much of an issue....except perhaps the cornice which builds up on New Army Pass. Army pass always has snow later, since it is north facing.

This picture was taken from Cirque peak looking toward New Army pass and Mt. Langley on July 3, 2005....a normal snow year. We left all snow gear home and just walked across a snow field here and there. You would be there 3-4 weeks later in a much dryer year.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1385721738061435028uXgeNd


When we did Mt. Langley as a one day hike, the time for us was a few hours shorter then 1 day Mt. Whitney. The vertical is only 4000+ feet but it is still a long 20 mile walk. The trail up to the Cottonwood lakes area is a good one...easy to follow even in the dark.

I've done the Whitney main trail in 16 hours and Langley in 14 hours. When I did Langley I went up New Army pass and came down "Old" Army pass. This adds more distance to the trip but it allows you to see more of the areas beautiful lakes. The first several miles have only about a 1,000' of gain so they can be done at a good pace. For me the distance over New Army pass to the summit was brutal and reeeeeaaaaaly sloooooow because of the altitude and the sandy soil. It's a great mountain and you don't have to deal with permits if you hike it in a day. Personally I like it more than Whitney.

Rafael...

You asked for times. I last did a day climb of Mt. Langley when I was 63, and the ascent took six hours. My prior ascents have taken between six and seven hours, although once I was showing off and managed 4:55.

My ascent times for Whitney that summer when I was 63 were 6:44, 7:15 (storm), 7:01, 5:55, 7:00, 5:20, 5:50. My descents are around four hours when I skip Muir.

So Langley is a similar effort. But the descent takes me perhaps an hour longer than Whitney, because so much of it is flat. On Whitney, gravity keeps you moving well even when tired, but you don't get that assist on Langley. The last few miles seem like they will drag on forever.

Even if we get a "March Miracle" similar to several years ago, you won’t need ice ax or crampons in late July.

The link Doug referred to is <a href=http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003453;p=0&r=npwm#000000>Best Route for Mt. Langley</a>.

LOL
Good times at any age BobR.
All I can do is hang my head in shame.

Rafael...

Compared with New Army Pass, using Old Army Pass involves 1,000 feet less of altitude gain. That is because NAP is 500 feet higher, and you have to pass the top entrance to OAP.....thus you have an extra 500 feet each direction.

However, I would certainly agree that the most scenic route would go up the South Fork, over NAP, bag the peak, down OAP, and out the "standard" trail.

For me (and this is going to sound counterintuitive), I find it much easier and faster for me to hike on a flat surface as opposed to a downslow on a down climb, so I tend to go faster whenever I hit flat stretches (which Langley caters to).

The reason is that by the time I'm to that point on the downclimb, I'm tired and I'm beat, and it requires energy to take some of those stair steps down that Whitney's trail seems to be littered with. The down part also takes a toll on the back and joints, though trekking poles mitigates this. When I was climbing down from the Whitney summit on August 12 of last year, my only major problem was that my quad was cramping badly, and it hurt especially when I had to step down. On the flat, I have no such problems and I'm able to hike alot more comfortably as a result.

I have to agree with ForceInfinity. I'm good on flats and the steeper or rougher the downhill is the slower I go. I can be just as slow going down as going up.

Rafael...

While Army Pass is actually a more direct route, snow can be a bigger issue. Even late in the year there can be snow & ice near the top of the pass.

Ken is correct about the extra 1000 feet going over NAP, when compared to Army Pass.

Times of a few hours shorter then Whitney 1 day are more likely for the more direct Army pass route. Up and down NAP it might be closer to the same time, taking into account the extra 1000 feet.

Time is running out for a March Miracle, with nothing like that in sight on long range weather forecasts. Would 10-20 feet of new snow make sense in April and May? I don't think so.

Hello everyone. I will be visiting California the first 2 weeks of April and wanted to find out if it is even remotly possible to attempt a climb up Mt. Langley at that time. I know there may be road closures such as at Horseshoe Meadows and I know there may be too much snow to attempt a hike. I do not consider myself a winter hiker even though I would enjoy learning. Of course I also do not want to puy myself in danger by trying to "learn" in bad conditions that are out of my league. I also need to allow my body time to adjust to the altitude since I have never been above 12,000 feet. If Mt. Langley is out of the question then I plan to stick to locations such as Mt. San Gorgonio and San Jacinto.

If anyone has any information and/or advice I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

Mutt, from a snow perspective, it might work. However, I suspect that the road might still be closed.

You might consider a climb of Mt. Olancha, a bit south. You can go to the trailhead right now, and unless we get a dump, should be fairly snow free by then.

Ken,

Thanks for the suggestion. I did not know about Mt. Olancha but so I looked it up after you told me. That sounds like a nice location and a good alternate option to Mt. Langley. I have always wanted to do a 14er but I know this time of year there are limitations. Plus I may not be ready for that yet until I get a little bit more experience. I'll add Mt. Olancha to my list and see if I have a chance to try it while I am visiting the San Diego area in April. Thanks again.

Mark "Muttdog"