Back-Packing Trip: Cottonwood Lakes to Miter Basin to Mt. Langley

At the top of Mt. Langley

My dad, sister, and I set out for this trip last Wednesday. Honestly, this was probably the least planned back-packing trip we've been on. We originally were going to start at Cottonwood Lakes and head towards Mt. Whitney and go up Whitney and then out Mt. Whitney Portal. We did that trip 5 years ago.  Then about a month or 2 before the trip, I asked if we could do something different. Dad suggested that we hike Mt. Langley just south of Whitney. That was the extent of our plans.

Lubken Road out of Lone Pine. Heading toward the trail head.

The first day, on the way to High Lake.

One of the lakes on the way.

The first day was sunny with clouds building up in the afternoon. I had heard that a cold front was going to be moving in and a ranger we met on the trail made sure to remind us of that (this was another reason we wanted to play the trip by ear). We hiked about 7 miles in to High Lake and set up camp. It was beginning to get windy and dark clouds were surrounding us. We tried to set up our rain fly but due to the barren, rocky terrain it blew over each time. Luckily, the storm never hit us, however, it was extremely cold. As we cooked dinner, we watched our breath leave our mouths. That night we made sausage and bell pepper pizza. We have found that the pre-made pizza dough holds up pretty well the first couple days on back-packing trips. We brought two packages of the dough. One package makes two 7-8 inch pizzas. We used the second package to make cinnamon rolls the next morning.

Camp at High Lake.

The next morning we got up early, packed up camp, and headed to Miter Basin. From High Lake we went up to New Army Pass down to Lower Soldier Lake and "cross-countried" over to Miter Basin. When we were at the top of New Army, we saw dark clouds around Langley so we decided against going up it. We also saw stormy clouds down the trail we were headed.

On the way up New Army with High Lake below.

Heading into the storm.

When we reached the clouds, it began to hail and snow on us.

Shooting stars along the trail.

Going up and over to Miter Basin at Soldier Lake.

Entering Miter Basin.

We hiked about 7 miles from High Lake to our camp spot in Miter Basin. We set up our rain fly and the tent right as the snow began to come down hard. We stayed in the tent for a couple hours. Luckily it cleared up in time for us to cook dinner. After dinner, dad ended up hiking to Sky Blue Lake to fish while Kara and I hung out at camp.

The next morning we made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Kara rolled out the second bag of dough we brought and sprinkled brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and melted butter on it.

Getting the butter ready. 

And voila!

We spent two nights at that spot in Miter and did a day hike to Iridescent Lake the second day we were there. That was about a four mile hike round trip.

The day started out sunny but dark clouds soon moved in.

On the way to Iridescent.

Dad fishing at Iridescent.

It was a soggy hike back to camp.

While at Iridescent Lake the clouds began to spit on us which soon turned to hail mixed with snow and rain which continued on our hike back to camp. Once again, we found ourselves in our tent huddled in our sleeping bags attempting to warm up. The storm cleared up around six and we made dinner.

That night we decided to set out for Mt. Langley the next day- weather permitting. We looked over the map and found what we thought would be a good route to get to the base of the mountain. We weren't sure how long this route would take us because it was not a marked trail but we decided to go for it.

Leaving Miter Basin.

Going up and around. Looking back at Miter one last time.

Sierra hare spotting.

 We hiked approximately 4-5 miles before reaching the gully we had to climb up to the base of Langley. We climbed 968 ft in one mile while going up that ravine. After reaching the top, we hiked a short distance and dropped off our packs to start up Mt. Langley. It was probably about 2 miles to the top of the mountain from there.

In the clouds at the top, 14,042 ft.

Heading down the mountain.

Cottonwood Lakes below.

Once we got back to our packs we headed down towards New Army Pass but soon changed our course. Instead of going up New Army, we decided to go down Old Army, which is not on the map anymore- I could see why. The trail down Old Army was covered with rock slides. It was a bit treacherous, however, I was thankful to be going down rather than up.

Getting ready to head down Old Army Pass

Looking down from Old Army at Cottonwood Lakes below.

At the bottom looking back at Old Army.

Mt. Langley.

That last day we hiked from Miter Basin up Mt. Langley, down Old Army, passed Cottonwood Lakes, and back to our car. The mileage for the day was around 16-18 miles with over 2,600 ft. elevation gain. Despite being pretty exhausted, it was hard to sleep that night. I think it was the exhilaration of being on top of a mountain. I felt like I was back in college after running a great race. Langley Mountain high, I guess. Overall the trip was fantastic but that last day was especially invigorating. I know that there are a lot of people that have no desire to climb mountains but to me there is something so thrilling about using your own two feet to travel that high up into the clouds, peering down at the earth from an unfamiliar perspective.

2 comments back-packing, summer

Share: