Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt Langley/Mt Whitney July 7-11

Hello all,
I have a few questions:
1. I will be climbing Langley on July 8-9 and was wondering what the conditions have been like the last few days and what to expect if anything different in 2 weeks when I will be there?
2. We are also hoping to do Whitney as a day hike on the 10th of July. What are the chances of the switchbacks being navigable by then or would it be more advisable to go with the mountaineer route?
3. What degree sleeping bag would you recommend?
4. Is it hard to get camp sites at Whitney portal as a walk-up and what would be the best advice as far as securing a site- there are 8 of us in the group?
5. How long should I expect the drive to lone pine to take from Sacramento?
Thanks for in help you can provide.

Per this thread you should be fine with a 30° F bag and possibly even less than that.

Sacramento to Lone Pine, I'd say about 6 hours. Quite a few twisties, but essentially no traffic.

John, are these two separate trips or are you planning from hiking from Langley to Whitney and out the portal? I attempted this last year and the snow over the cornice at New Army was prohibitive.

John, on Sat. the 26th went up Langley from cottonwood pass traversing Cirque to Langley. We hit no snow until the lower part of Langley which was soft and easy to get through. The main shoot that is the "normal" route to the ridge was still covered in snow so we just picked our way through the rocks to the left of it and enjoyed an empty summit, different than the 17 people on Cirque last weekend. The weather was in the 50s at the summit at 11:00 am and the just a slight breeze.Oh yeah the mosquitoes are here. Here is a link to some pictures. http://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Hikers-and-Peakbaggers/photos/969024/

1. Conditions...There was snow ~500' below the top of New Army Pass on the 6/19 with a cornice at the top. This was viewed from the summit of Cirque Peak. Once to pass level getting to the summit should not present any problems.

2. MMWT vs. MR...The reports are the switchbacks are open.

3. Bag Rating...It depends whether it 10* F or 50* F where you plan to camp. This is a question best answered by a NOAA/NWS forecast for your camping elevations.

4. Walk-in Campground...each site will take ~ two tents, there are a total of about 16 sites in the hiker-in, you will need 4. Your chances of snagging 4 are slim.

5. Sac/LP...I haven't a clue.

Thanks Eugene for the info.

Two separate trips. The plan is to arrive at cottonwood trailhead on the 8th around 11 and hike to lake 3 to camp for the night. Then hopefully summit on Langley on the 9th and return to trailhead. Drive to Whitney portal and sleep and then get up early and do a long day hike on Whitney. Thanks for your help.

J
Thanks for the info on your trip. What time did you leave from cottonwood pass, what time did you reach summit on cirque, what was the total distance for the trip. Where were the mosquitoes the worst? Thanks for your advice.

Wb Travis
Thanks for your help.

John H is your basic speed demon and was hiking royalty of speed demoness this past weekend.

It's about about ~9.5 miles to Cirque Peak from the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead. This what my GPS recorded. My moving speed, according to the GPS was 1.9 MPH but I had a remnants of a URI slowing me down a bit. Time wise, I'm at a loss. We spent time set up camp and eating lunch at Chicken Spring Lake before heading up to Cirque.

The trail to Cottonwood Pass is near water most of the way. The skeeters will be worse from from about 1 mile in to the climb out above Chicken Spring Lake. Pray for wind and cold weather. The previous week, there were not any skeeters about.

Any ideas on conditions up Army or New Army passes for this weekend? I'm planning on doing Langley as the beginning of a weeklong trip. My plan was to do Army presuming that both Army and New Army will be snowcovered, possibly corniced at the top? Cottonwood seem a lot farther.

Also on footwear- Plan was leather hiking boots with 10 point crampons (BD Contact Strap) vs. spring mountaineering (single) boots & 12 point crampons.

A group did a day hike of Langley last weekend. Their TR and photos - which are very good - can be found Here

I just saw Snow Nymph's action photo of the avalanche that let loose this last Saturday on NAP - pretty sobering considered half their group had just crossed the same on this section of the trail below the cornice. Still need to use extreme caution as snow melts away.

We left Cottonwood pass trailhead at 4:00 am hoping to hike in the full moon (didn't know there was going to be an eclipse) We traversed Cirque's ridge at around 7:00 (Left it for the way back) and reached the summit of Langley at around 11:00. My GPS said the round trip was about 24 miles and 6000 ft.gain. The mosquitoes were only out at the meadow in the evening when we returned.(around 7:30) Saw where those cornices fell on NAP when we were on Cirque in the afternoon.