My second Sierra trip last year was a combination of Mount Whitney via the Main Trail and Mount Langley via Cottonwood Lakes, October 2 to 6. (Although we stayed overnight in Lone Pine between those two parts, I still count this as one Sierra trip.)
A couple of friends from Houston had an overnight permit for the Main Trail and asked me if I'd like to go. “Sure!” I flew out a few days early to acclimatize, staying in Bishop and taking long day hikes. Then I drove to the campground near the Bristlecone Pine Forest to meet the other two. The next morning we hiked part way up to White Mountain to get some altitude. We knew we didn't have time to reach the summit that day, but now that I've seen it, hiking to the summit of White Mountain is definitely on my to do list. We drove to Lone Pine just in time to get our permit, had dinner at the Bonanza, and stayed at the Dow Villa Hotel. In the morning we packed-up and drove to Whitney Portal.
Day 1: The hike to Outpost camp was as pleasant as could be. The few times I've been on the Main Trail I'm always impressed at how well maintained and unspoiled the area is considering how many people use that trail every day. We set-up camp and rested for our summit attempt.
Day 2: This day started at midnight. After some coffee, oatmeal, and a packet of Gu, we hit the trail for the long hike. The air was crisp and cool and that made the hiking go a little easier. We found ourselves on the summit ridge as it started to get light and got to see the sunrise over the White Mountains through the windows. We were the first ones to sign the summit register that morning – First Ascent! (well, for the day anyway). While the hike up seemed uneventful and went by relatively quickly, the hike back down took forever and packing-up camp seemed to take even longer than that! But we eventually got down and drove to Lone Pine for the night.
We caught the sunrise from the summit ridge.
The final push to the summit.
Heading back down from the summit.
Day 3: We were up early and after breakfast at the Alabama Hills Cafe one of the Houston friends departed for the airport in Las Vegas due to work obligations. The remaining two of us headed to the VC to get our permit for Cottonwood Lakes. We hiked in and set-up camp in the area between Lake 4 and Lake 5, in view of Old Army Pass. We could see from there that the pass was clear of snow so we knew we wouldn't have any difficulties in the morning.
Day 4: The sun was up when we started hiking. At the top of the pass we met a guy from LA who was out for the first time in many years and was wanting to get back into backpacking and climbing. As we hiked to the summit he told us about the things he had done years before, even climbed Mount Rainier, but as happens, work and other responsibilities had kept him away from the mountains for awhile. I was in that situation about 16 years ago so I could relate, and I enjoyed talking to him about new ideas of where to go and about how gear has changed for the better in recent years. When we came down from the summit we stopped on the ridge and debated for a few minutes about whether or not to hike to the high point between New Army Pass and Old Army Pass and take in the view. But we decided “Naw, let's get back to camp and kick back.” With two 14er hikes out of the way we really just wanted to relax.
A rest break on the Sierra Crest on the way up Mount Langley.
Day 5: We packed-up camp and had a leisurely hike out to the trailhead. After an espresso in Lone Pine we drove all the way to Las Vegas since my friend's flight home was early the next morning. We didn't exactly whoop it up in Vegas. Rather, we had a quick dinner at Applebees across the parking lot from the motel and went to sleep.
This was my fourth time up both Mount Whitney and Mount Langley. In 1998 Mount Langley was my first 14er ever. For a time I had no desire to climb Mount Whitney, as busy as I thought it would be, but when I eventually went there I found that the wilderness experience is not lacking. And to me, the social aspect of the hike – spending time with other Whitney enthusiasts – has become as much a part of the mountaineering experience there as enjoying the wilderness.
