Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Mt. Langley during fall season.

Hi,

Thinking about 2day trip to Langley within next month.
How is it up there during fall season?
When does it become too cold and too dangerous to go up there without crampons or ice axe.

Thanks

It is probably only too cold during stormy weather, as long as you have enough layers.

And any time will be good in the fall, until there is enough snow on the ground to make progress too slow to make the distance.

I once day hiked Sawtooth Peak in early November, and it was great, since no significant snow had fallen.

It depends on weather. October can be stinking cold at 11,000', where you will be camping. If you have the clothes and a warm enough bag you will be ok. You might want to consider using a closed cell foam mattress as a second pad. Two years ago in mid-October, I could not get my feet warm utilizing a BA Insulated Air Core.

Snow is anyone's guess. Once it comes late in the fall, it ain't going anywhere until the spring up high.

I did it once on New Year's Day from Tuttle Creek. It was a dry year. I needed crampons above 13,000 feet, but the snowshoes were a waste of time. The view from my bivy sack at 12,500 was spectacular.

I just did Cottonwood Lakes (stayed at lake 3) with a day hike to Langley via OAP this weekend; the night time temps were getting down in the 20's, ice on puddles, and frost on my sleeping bag the first night, when I slept outside my tent. I remarked to myself that I was closer to the limits of my equipment than I preferred. It was T-shirt weather during the day until up on the plateau, then windy and colder. A few folks who showed up at the summit were unprepared for the wind and cold. The experience reinforced/increased my caution about margin of error in cooler Fall weather.