Mt Langely (14,042 ft) by Brian Schultz Tuesday June 27, 2006
On Monday Tim and I flew from our respective cities, Colorado Springs and Minneapolis, to Las Vegas. We drove from there to California, stopping briefly in Death Valley to snap a few pictures in the stifling hot 121 degrees F heat. A toasty 100 F also greeted us in Lone Pine when we arrived and we immediately proceeded to the ranger station to secure our backcountry permit for Wednesday in case our climb of Langely ran late on Tuesday. Tim had called the ranger station in Lone Pine before we left home and was told crampons and ice axes were highly advised due to the heavy snowfall in the Sierra so we made sure to pack them, but when we asked about current trail conditions, the rangers didn't know much of anything. We ended up talking to some fellows at the local sporting goods store who knew of a fisherman camping up at Cottonwood Lakes who said that the trail to those lakes was free of snow. We also checked the internet and found recent postings of successful climbs on Langely so everything looked in order for our first peak.
Our plan was to dayhike Mt Langely and then do a three day backpack to climb Mt Williamson and Mt Tyndall but the weather forecast of thunderstorms had us quickly contemplating revisions to the itinerary. Which was unfortunate because three years ago we had sunny days and blue skies when we climbed Mt Whitney and other peaks and we were hoping for more of the same. After loading our packs, I called the front desk for a 2:45 AM wake-up call and the young lady who answered asked if we were crazy. I told her yes.
We left Lone Pine at 3:05 AM for the Horseshoe Meadow trailhead and arrived about 45 minutes later. Headlamps beaming, we began at 4:00 on a great trail but under completely overcast skies. The forecast for thunderstorms had us concerned because even though the elevation gain for Langely is only 4,000 feet, the roundtrip mileage is 20 miles. We'd also have to select which pass to ascend once we reached Cottonwood Lakes- either Old Army Pass or New Army Pass- knowing that the gullies to both were full of snow. Our travel along the sandy trail went quickly and we made the first creek crossing in 30 minutes, the second 40 minutes later, and reached the Muir Lake cut-off trail at 6:00 AM. The weather was improving nicely. We decided at a trail junction to take Old Army Pass, the shorter route, and continued ahead by weaving around the lakes comprising Cottonwood Lakes. The approach brought us to the last lake and we reached the base of Old Army Pass shortly after 7:30. The trail was indeed free of snow thus far but not the gully to Old Army Pass.
After a break to rest, eat, and put on crampons, we started up the steep snow filled gully at 7:55. The distance up the gully wasn't terribly long but it was a grunt after such easy elevation gain to the lakes. I could really feel the altitude at this point and had to rest for another break after we topped out of the gully at 8:30. Of course, we had to take off the crampons anyway but I sure didn't expect to be so short of breath already. The steepness of the gully also had me complaining to Tim about descending it on the return. He didn't care much for it either and we discussed taking New Army Pass for the descent as we headed across the basin to Langely.
Much distance remained to Langely's summit ridge and the ups and downs along the way were taking their toll on me. At 10:00 the weather took a turn for the worse as skies turned dark. By 10:30 thunder was rumbling and lightning flashing in the valley two miles to our left. Tim was extremely worried about the activity and I suggested he make a run for the summit because I was nearly spent. But he said we either go forward together or turn back together. We watched the storm track up the valley just far enough away to feel we could continue on and finally reached the summit ridge via a class 3 chimney (Colorado rating). We pushed ahead to find the high point. Tim believed the far right end of the ridge was the summit but I felt the rocky point above us was the high point. I'm usually wrong but I wasn't this time. Tim scampered up first and called down to say it was indeed the summit- he'd found the benchmark. At 11:05 we were standing on top of Mt Langely, supposedly one of California's easiest fourteeners, but considering it took 7 hours to attain the summit, I wouldn't call it easy. From a technical standpoint, yes, but as a dayhike, no.
Our stay was short. Another storm was brewing behind the first one so we headed down at 11:15 to safer terrain. Tim flew down the ridge and I kept up behind him as we hurried back to Old Army Pass. We got there in an hour. We agreed to descend New Army Pass and headed for it as the second storm, much to our relief, ended up following the other one up the valley and away from us. But New Army Pass was just as problematic as Old, with even more snow, and it had cornices to contend with also. We found only one manageable way down without using crampons, by scooting under an outcrop and using ice axes to reach another outcrop before stepping shortly to the trail. At 1:00 we were safely below New Army Pass and began our descent to the lakes for the long haul out.
We took many long breaks and talked to several people who were hiking up to the lakes, some surprised to hear that we climbed Langely. Hordes of mosquitoes annoyed us the entire way back to the car so we were mighty glad to finally pull into the parking area at 4:50 to get relief from them. I dreaded our next day's backpack if the mosquitoes were as bad as what we put up with today. This was a long day on Langely and a tough first peak after going 10 months without climbing.
Trailhead to summit- 7 hours
Summit to trailhead- 5 hours 35 minutes
Start to finish- 12 hours 50 minutes