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| Hiking | 27.14 Miles |
6,916 AEG |
| | Hiking | 27.14 Miles | 10 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.89 mph |
| 6,916 ft AEG | 58 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The Mt. Whitney hike on Saturday went well and I was done early, so I decided to try for a weekend 14'er doubleheader and go for Mt. Langley on Sunday. The drive from Lone Pine to Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead took ~40 minutes. The parking lot was packed despite an early start, and I was on the trail just after 3AM. The early miles were flat, easy, and desolate--I went hours without seeing anyone and occasionally paused and turned off the flashlight to enjoy the stars.
The trail crosses Cottonwood Creek a few times in the early miles, and it was still dark as I passed Cottonwood Lakes #1 and #2 and just barely lightening as I passed through the big boulder field southwest of the lakes. I didn't realize it at the time, but in the half-dark, I missed a subtle turn and stayed on the east side of Long Lake, which has a fairly obvious use trail from backpackers, but that died out quickly. I had to push through some brush and circled around the north side and past a campsite, but still hadn't picked up the trail.
I planned to filter water at High Lake since that was the last water source before Langley, so I continued off-trail in that direction until I reached the lake. I finally saw a few other people and topped off my water as the sun lit up New Army Pass. From there, I picked up the (obvious) trail and started up toward the pass, which looked like a long climb from the bottom but wasn't as bad as it looked thanks to the switchbacks, and the view of the lakes was great.
Langley came into view from New Army Pass, and the trail descended a few hundred feet on the way down to Old Army Pass. I saw a few marmots along that stretch, and Old Army provided great views of Cottonwood Lakes #4 and #5. Hiking up Old Army Pass would've been a shorter route, but I'd read the trail isn't maintained, it stays snowy later in the season, and it can be sketchy depending on the conditions.
From the pass, the climb resumed and became much steeper over the last mile and a half to the peak. The tread turns to looser sand closer to Langley, and there's a sign asking people not to build or knock down the established (giant) cairns to try to keep hikers on a single route. The cairns seemed mostly unnecessary at first--the trail was easy to follow, just steep. After clearing a ridge and getting a better look at the true high point, the route became more ambiguous and the cairns more sparse.
One particularly rocky area required a short class-three scramble, and any semblance of a single trail disappeared over the last ~3/4 mile. There were footprints in the sand all over, so I tried to spot the next cairn high up on the ridge and chose the path of least resistance/best footing to get there. That section felt especially steep with the elevation closing in on 14,000'. The high point finally came into view and the grade eased up a bit, and I reached the summit just after 8:30AM (again, could've slept in ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") ). I had the peak to myself, and it was cool to stand on Langley, looking north at Mt. Whitney when I'd been standing on Whitney looking at Langley exactly 24 hours before.
[ youtube video ]
There were three ammo/register boxes on top, and signed and sat down in the shelter of the rocks to get out of the wind while I ate a snack and enjoyed the views. With a long hike out still ahead, I didn't spend too long up there before I started down. I passed three separate people coming up the steepest part, and they all looked understandably miserable...I got a lot of silence and one mumbled "hello" when I said hi as we passed  .
Needless to say, going down was much, much easier. The route-finding was still a little challenging near the top, but after the scramble, it was easier to half-jog down some sections of trail rather than trying to slow down. Back at New Army Pass, the switchbacks were empty as I descended, and I stopped again at High Lake to refill water and took a longer break there
[ youtube video ] .
When I got going again, I stayed on the trail this time, following the west shore of Long Lake. I eventually spotted where I'd missed the turn in the morning near a tiny sign, and everything beyond Long Lake was essentially new territory, seeing it in the light for the first time--it was nice to get a good look at the boulder field and the two Cottonwood Lakes. I was heading for an early finish, so I added a few more miles with an out-and-back at the Cottonwood Lakes intersection. I didn't get to see any new lakes, just a different vantagepoint of Cottonwood Lake #1, but it was a nice area.
I eventually returned to the main trail and finished off the last few miles, passing some Forest Service workers doing trail maintenance along the way, and I was back at the trailhead a little before 2PM. This was another fun, scenic, and challenging hike with perfect weather, I'm glad the doubleheader worked out. On the drive back to Lone Pine, I stopped at one of the scenic overlooks above the remains of Owens Lake. |
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