Back in early August 2010 some friends and I put together a six day backpacking trip with the highlight being the summit of Mt Langley. Mt Langley is a 14,052 ft summit near Mt Whitney. As the crow flies, from peak to peak, Langley is only about 4 or 5 miles from Whitney. Outside of Marine Corps boot camp, physically, this was probably one of the most difficult tests I’ve put my body through. We started conditioning for this trip over eight months in advance. We did treadmill training with backpacks, hiked up and down Cowles Mtn and hill 533 in San Diego, and did several summits of smaller elevations working up to Langley to get used to the altitude effects. I must say that even with the conditioning it kicked most of our butts.
The entire group but me drove up to Lone Pine on Tuesday (8/3) to spend a night at the Best Western and get an initial night of acclimation (3750’). The idea was to go up a few thousand feet each day to allow our blood to adjust to the higher elevation’s thin air. I drove up and met the group at the second nights acclimation point on Wednesday (8/4) because I had to work on the 3rd. The second night was spent at the Whitney Portal campground (7850’) at the base of Mount Whitney. The plan was to do a day hike from the Whitney Portal campground to Lone Pine lake (10,500’) and back prior to crashing for the night to get a taste of the higher elevation. The hike up to Lone Pine Lake was spectacular. The lake is amazing.
On the way back we decided to stop at the Whitney Portal store for a bite to eat. We decided to pack in the food so we were prepped for the big hike to Langley summit. Whitney Portal Store is known for two things, its moose burger and its pancake plate. That evening we were each going to tackle the moose burger and then go back the next morning to tackle the pancake plate to carb up.
When we got back to camp for the evening we discussed the plans for the remainder of our adventure. We made a fire and relaxed for the night. There was an awesome river flowing right next to our campsite. The sounds of the flowing water made for a great night of sleep.
One of the major issues in the mountains is bear activity bear containers and bear boxes are not options. All food and garbage must be locked up in one or the other. In the campsites you must keep your bear canisters and trash locked up in the provided bear lock boxes at each site. If not, you WILL have a visit from Yogi and Boo Boo in the middle of the night. If rangers walk by your car and see food or food enticing items in your car, the will fine you and have your car towed. If Yogi and Boo Boo find the stuff in your car first they will open your car like a can opener and get whatever interests them.
The next morning we woke up and packed our gear for the drive to the next campsite at an even higher elevation. On the way out we stopped by the Whitney Portal Store again to enjoy that pancake plate.
So now with it being Thursday (8/5) our next destination is Horseshoe Meadows campsite which is also where we’ll be leaving our vehicles behind and step off on foot for three days of full blown backpacking. To get to Horseshoe Meadows we need to drive back to Lone Pine then head south up a set of rapidly climbing switchbacks to the Horseshoe Meadows campsite. The drive up was spectacular. It is a very popular place for hangliding. From the top of the switchbacks, hangliders will jump off and catch the up drafts then beeline for a ride over to Death Valley. I can only imagine what this must feel like but I bet it is amazing.
Upon getting into Horseshoe Meadows Campground we set up camp for the night. After getting set up, we all decided to take a hike to Horseshoe Meadows proper to take some pictures and do some trout fishing in the small streams that run through the meadows. Horseshoe Meadows is a rather large meadows in the shape of a horseshoe (I wonder where it gets its name?). It’s large and open and offers a great view of all the vast peaks around it. It gave us a good view of the Langley peak which we were headed for.
Here’s a shot of Langley from Horseshoe Meadows
After a few hours of fishing and photographing we decided to pack it up and head back to camp for some dinner and shuteye so we could be rested up for our full pack trudge to our next campsite the following day. We had to be up early to step off and get to our next camp to get acclimatized for the summit run on the 7th. After getting back to camp we ate some grub, talked about the plan for the next day, and then hit the tents for some shut-eye. We woke up before sun up the next day, packed our gear, secured our vehicles, and set off for a three day hiking trek. Here’s some shots of our trip to Cottonwood Lakes where we’d set up camp for the next two night.
When we got to camp we were starving. We set up camp and ate some grub. The views from camp were phenomenal. We topped off our water then took a little hike to scout the trail for the summit approach next day.
After doing some scouting we went back to camp and grabbed our fishing poles for some trout fishing. We relaxed and got ready for the summit run the next day. Since no fires are allowed up there, we went to bed when the sun went down. We woke up early the next day, carbed up, hydrated, donned our day packs, and left base camp to tackle the Langley summit. Here are the views from the hike and the summit. This proved to be one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life but it was more than worth it.
Our path (Old Army Pass) to the summit is up the face on the back side of the lake you see below.
Here’s a shot of the group working their way up the initial face.
Here’s the group standing on top of the first face with the lake behind us down below.
We made our way over to a rock outcropping for lunch. You can see the guys eating lunch at the base. If you look to the top of the rocks you’ll see me setting up there enjoying the view.
Here’s the loose terrain we have to cross. That’s Langley in the distance. We have to make our way across the loose sand and rock and up that face to the summit.
The views on the way up were spectacular.
After getting our butts kicked we finally made it and the views made it all worth while. Of the 9 that started out, 6 of us made it to the summit. Those of us that made it signed the log and enjoyed the views.
The highest peak you see just right of center is Mt Whitney.
There’s Mt Whitney again in the distance just to the left of the group.
After we enjoyed the summit for awhile it was time to head back down to base camp. We were beat and the trek down would be nearly as brutal as the trek up and it could prove to be more dangerous because we were tired and might get complacent. There were a few falls and slides in the group but we ended up making it back to camp in one piece. When we got back to camp we filled our water bladders for the next day, hydrated, ate supper and crashed for the night. When we woke up we broke camp, packed our big packs, and headed back to the Horseshoe Meadows to our cars. We relaxed at Horseshoe Meadows for a bit then headed to Lone Pine for some Carl’s Jr. Man that tasted good. The drive home from there was uneventful.
We are currently figuring out what our next big trip will be in 2011. We have all kinds of ideas we just need to pick one. I’ll let you all know what we decide to do.
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