Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt Langley Questions.

Hello, Three of us our going to climb Mt Langley Oct. 8th returning and leaving Oct. 10th. We plan on arriving and picking up our permits on Oct. 8th, camping the first night at horseshoe meadows and then backpacking Sat. morning to Cotton wood lakes to set up camp. We would then get up early sunday morning at 4 a.m. and start hiking to the top at 5 a.m. Could any of you experienced hikers answer the following questions:

How long of a hike is it from H.M. to cotton wood lakes ?
Cotton wood lakes to the top of Mt. Langley ?
Should we take new or old army pass?
What is the difficulty of the hike? We did Mt. Whitney three weeks ago on a one day permit and made it.
Is there good fishing in the cotton wood lakes ?
What lake should we camp at.

Thanks in advance for answering our questions !

How long of a hike is it from H.M. to cotton wood lakes ?
about 6 mi, depending upon where in the basin you go

Cotton wood lakes to the top of Mt. Langley ?
about 6 miles, depending upon where you camp and start from

Should we take new or old army pass?
Different experiences, I prefer old, it is about a thousand feet less of gain, up and back. Also nice to go up one, down the other.

What is the difficulty of the hike? We did Mt. Whitney three weeks ago on a one day permit and made it.
This is easier, there is less elevation gain, you start from about 10k, instead of 8k.

Is there good fishing in the cotton wood lakes ?
Not my experience, had to work to catch them, there are special rules.

What lake should we camp at.

Depends on your itinerary.

If you are going up and down NAP, High Lake (desolate rocky area) or Long Lake (in trees, but .7 mi further down)

If you are going up and down OAP, there is a bluff area to the east of Lake #5 (the one below OAP), where there are lots of flat areas. You go to bed and wake up looking at the pass-neat)

If you are going to go up NAP, and down OAP, you'd want to camp in the wooded area to the east of Cottonwood lake #4 (the long one), one of the nicest areas to camp in the basin, I think. It adds 1.5 miles to the climb up NAP as opposed to Long Lake, but you will walk right by the camp on the way down OAP.

Please use rigorous leave-no-trace technic--this whole basin is very fragile and subject to damage.

If you spend the night at Cottonwood Lakes you won't need to leave at 5 unless you want to. A few weeks ago we went from the parking lot to the top via Old Army and back in 10 hours at a casual pace.

Thanks guys, really appericate the advise. Is there plenty of water to filter along the way ? Thanks again !

Hey Casey,

I did the Mt. Langley hike last year (also mid-Sept). I was surprised by how beautiful the Cottonwood Lakes basin was - especially as you come upon the first lake and see Mt. Langley towering above it. It was awesome. We also saw a handful of deer along the way. It was brisk in the early morning. We did it as a day hike - I'm definitely not the fastest guy out there, but we left from the HM parking lot at ~4:30am and were back by 4pm (casual pace also - apparently more casual than snowman!).

We took OLD Army Pass - if you go that way, the unmaintained trail will be on the RIGHT side of the lake.

LAST WATER = the last lake before you ascend the pass. Don't expect any water above that... (It's 4 more miles to the summit from the last lake via Old Army)

The ~6miles from HM to the last lake: pretty easy. From the lake to the summit - pretty steady uphill.. not as hard as Whitney though, but the sandy hills seem unending!

Enjoy it!

If you can make it to Whitney and back in one day, you can handle Langley as a day hike too.

The last water is lake #4. (Or is it #5?) Not sure The one just underneath Old Army Pass.

Don't take Old Army if you are subject to vertigo or fear of heights. Halfway up my wife almost refused to go any further on account of being too scary. (She got over it, fortunately.)

To answer your questions...

1. HM to Cottonwood Lakes...it depends on the lake, what you are carrying and which route you intend to take.

2. CL to Langley...It depends on the pass and if you are going with someone who knows various routes or you are a new to this mountain.

3. Army or New Army...As long as there is no snow, Army Pass is the most direct way to the mountain.

4. Difficulty...It ain't all that difficult. It's a I came, I saw, I conquered type of mountain. Everything lays out in front of you.

5. Fishing...I don't know. I've seen fish in Lakes #3 and #4.

6.Camping...For NAP, the west end of Long Lake. For Army, Cottonwood Lakes #3, #4 or #5...pick your poison.