Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion ...new army pass, old army or cottonwood pass?? ....

Hello out there...If anyone might have some good information on which of these routes....at this point is the best , please let me know. I am leaving on july 22 out of cottonwood lakes TH. I plan on summiting Mt Langley, then head over guyot pass , past guitar lake and mt whitney. I have heard that new army has still been full of snow...if there are any recent reports on either new or old army pass, it would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to have to take cottonwood pass, if at all possible..I will be traveling with an ice axe, microspikes and waterproof boots, thanks.

This picture was from the previous Saturday. The trail is beautiful and mostly free of snow, and very wet. You'll want crampons for Old Army. Trust me...please...when you're there, Old Army looks and is a lot more difficult than this picture (clickable) suggests:

ok, great. i really appreciate the pic, and the info. Every time i look at that old army route, my thought is to stay left , and cut up the side of the crevice, since that seems to look like th easiest way, and least steep. I figured it must be tougher than all the pictures have indicated though as you said, thanks.

Norcal,
I'm no mountaineer and don't know your experience level. I will tell you that someone with my limited experience would find Old Army impossible without crampons. I went up the main chute at Whitney to Trail Crest last month and this thing was far more intimidating; maybe it's the thought of slipping into that icy lake that scares me. I smiled looking up the chute at Trail Camp. Old Army just looks a lot more big and intimidating than pictures convey. I wouldn't feel safe with Microspikes. The entire way to Old Army is clear of snow though (but not clear of horse and donkey poo!). Good luck!

I would not use mircospikes going over Army Pass, they do not offer enough bite...and I do own and use them for trail walking.

Cottonwood Pass is the safest route when snow is clogging the other passes. Going over Cottonwood will allow you to summit Cirque Peak before doing Langley. Just exit the PCT when you see Cirque and head straight for it. When you leave Cirque stay as close to the edge as you feel safe till your reach the New Army Pass area then head for Langley.

Wow, that is a great alternative. I wasn't sure how traversible, that area is, as far as getting from the cottonwood pass to cirque and on over to new army and langley. Do you know if the area of new army pass is clear of snow ....on top? My concern in that area is being able to pick up the trail(after summiting langley), and continue on down to the rock creek and guyot pass area. Thanks

Here's a link to a TR that was posted on the San Gabriel Mtn hiking forum of Cottonwood, Langley, and mentions both new & old army pass. The pictures should give you an idea of the conditions of the overall area of Cottonwood from a week ago.

Hi Norcalhiker67 and anyone else with sound summiting advice,

After 1 derailed Whitney summit plan already, (due to snow) my new plan is very similar to yours. As of now, I'm planning to head out of Cottonwood Lakes on July 23 to summit Langley first. From what I'm reading above, I guess it's best to use New Army Pass. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

1. How many days are you planning?

2. Are you exiting at Whitney Portal or back the way you came? I'm thinking WP and it looks like maybe 30ish-35 miles???? I need to work on the mapping.

I hear this is a beautiful way to summit Whitney but I am wondering what my options will be to get back to my car if I exit WP.... maybe a Bishop taxi service that welcomes dirty, smelly hikers???

I'm getting pretty impatient waiting for the snow to melt. I'm all good with the waterproof boots and trekking poles but I have no interest/experience with crampons or an ice axe... which is why I passed on my original and permitted Whitney dates in late June. I'm really... really hoping to make this work.

Norcal,

Once you move towards NAP, everything will come into focus. As you move toward the NAP area, you will see the trail that descends, which will eventual take you to the upper part of Rock Creek, two junctions you will go through are very well signed. Just check you map and this will all make sense.

Given my druthers, I would use Army Pass to approach Whitney from the west, NAP is second and Cottonwood last. I love Army Pass because its direct it's 300' lower than NAP. NAP is my second choice because I can cut a mile off the distance by using the South Fork drainage and going x-country through the South Fork Lakes and, finally, my least favorite is Cottonwood Pass because the trail is like a roller coaster, extremely sandy and there is very little protection from the sun, until you drop off of Siberian Outpost.

wazzu, Thanks for the link, it provided me very good information.

iteach4th, hey i am glad to see you are heading out around the same time as me. We are exiting @ whitney portal, we plan about 5 or 6 days for our trip. I am ALSO impatient with the snow melt, as well. Things are looking a lot better now, than back in June as far as snow melt. We still aren't sure where we will end up camping our first night yet or not....orignal plan was long lake, but they may end up being lower soldier lake or perhaps somewhere around rock creak below guyot pass...or chicken spring....I'M really not sure yet.....maybe we might see you, if you catch up with us. We have 6 in our group....Eric.

wbtravis,after looking at the routes, my preference would also be old army, but since i don't have crampons, and only micro spikes, it could present a danger. Also everyone in my group also does not have even micro spikes....we may have to take cottonwood pass...i guess we will just have to see what the conditions are, when we get to the area. Thanks for all the very usefull information. I am very determined to get to the summit this time, since last year we ran into too much snow....Eric.

The summit is everyone's goal. The best pass to accomplish your goal based on the gear your group has and current conditions is Cottonwood Pass, since it has been either free of snow or passable since mid-June.

If you bypass Langley, your first big decision is to stay at Chicken Spring Lake or head for Lower Rock Creek because there is little to no water sources between the two. Personally, I would stay at CSL because the trail just beats the living crap out of your legs because of its roller coaster nature and the sand. If you choose to stay at CSL, you can do either Cirque Peak or Trailmaster Peak to fill out your day, Trailmaster is the high point over CSL.

If you are determined to bag a few more peaks along the way, the low hanging fruit are Guyot, Young and Hale.

Lots or great information here... thanks. Any suggestions as to which is the best map to use of this entire area? I have never hike in the Whitney zone but am familiar with a lot of the trail names because of this message board and some great TRs. I also use a Garmin, but while at REI today, I'm thinking a map might be a good idea.

Eric, I'll keep a look out for a party of 6. My pack is a Gregory and is a darker bluish color. I'll be hiking with a friend of mine... her pack is also a Gregory but is a sand color with blue zippers.

Debbie

Norcal - I have a crew of four also heading for Cottonwood Lakes/Langley on the 22nd. Some with crampons, some with Kathoola spikes. Planning to camp around lake 4 or 5 and then summit on Saturday. Should be fun. Perhaps we'll see you there.

Well, let's see, that is again very great info. I have a mars 80 REI pack, greenish color, maps: tom harrison mt whitney trail, golden trout wilderness map. This covers the whole route from cottonwood lakes TH, to mt whitney. I also have detailed topo maps covering the mt langley , cirque peak and mt whitney areas i will be bringing with me. Regarding the cottonwood pass "slog" as it sounds...that is another thing my group will have to look at, prior to our decision on which pass to take...i initially wanted to hit langley, mt guyot and whitney....i guess we will see. We hope to hit the trail somewhere in the time of 8:30am or so Friday morning..we"ll see...hope to see you all up there......