Slippin' and Slidin' in the High Sierra

“Still had to much snow on it. We were so close to the top...probably at or above 12,000' but the trail disapeared into very steep snow/ice with a nice big cornice overhead. We looked around for other options but found none. We were having a snack on the trail when a man came down the steep grade over snow and ice with his ice axe and crampons....my sons looked at me and said...." no way dad!" So we dropped back down to the highest South Fork Lake and stayed there with a couple of hundred thousand skeeters ;)
Trip photos are up at Webshots...
Cottonwood Lakes/ New Army Pass”

“well at least you know when to turn back.

As always your pictures are wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking about anouther Dinkey Lakes Trip this week to get my mind off my troubled jeep. I'm probably going to head in from Courtwright Lake on Tuesday Morning.”

“That was fun--THX :)”

“Some stunning photos there, Wind Walker. The weather looked great too.

Alpine lakes, wide open views, lush meadows, and the quiet serene beauty ever beckons you onward.

Incredible.”

“Some friends climbed Langley a few weeks ago, doing the Secor's route up, but came down NAP. Secor's was too icy/slippery to come down, and they were trying to outrun a storm (hair standing on end). So they were forced to come down NAP. They had 1 ice axe, and the trekking pole didn't work the same.

You made the right choice turning back. Great photos as always!”

“Great photos WW! It's tough to change plans on a trip (something I'm getting used to), but it looks like you guys made the right choice.

Snow/ice changed our trip plans to Matterhorn Peak last weekend too.”

“Thanks for the pictures WW! That area is so pretty. Sorry to hear that the bugs are biting. I'll be prepared with my big bottle of Deet when I head up to Kearsarge Pass/Charlotte Lake on the 29th.”

“Makes me want to go back sooo bad.”

“Nice shots, WW. Not much snow on the Death Valley side, eh? Did you see many folks?”

“Cool thanks a lot”

“Wind Walker - Nice. Thanks for sharing them.”

“So, if New Army Pass was snowed in, how come you didn't try Army Pass? Sometimes I just crack myself up!!

Too bad you had to turn back, the views just get better from there.

No doubt, you still had a great time with the guys.”

“Army Pass(one exist to the south west)is worse than New AP.the back side would be a killer with that much snow.”

“Thanks for the photos. Takes me back to last summer. I loved those boulders as big as a house. Solitary Hiker and I went about half-way up Old Army Pass just for grins (lots of good political discussions, as you can imagine!) and there was even snow then, in early August.”

“Yes, uncliff, thus the joke.”

“Hi Pepper.”

“Hi Navi - Looking forward to Montana?”

“Wingding0, the skeeters weren't to bad at Cottonwood #2 but it's much drier there than around South Fork Lake with all the meadow around it, they were a problem all day long not just at dusk/dawn.

Roseymonster...Just at the top!There were no other campers at Cottonwood #2 the 1st night and no other campers at the South Fork lake we stayed at the 2nd night. We saw more folks on our way out Sunday than we had seen all weekend. The reserved permit quotas were filled but there are so many lakes in that area everyone is pretty spread out.

Navi...I got it :) Talked to some folks on the way out that said Army Pass was like one big ice shute :)”

“or maybe it was a chute”

“I prefer Old Army Pass. The rangers don't recommend it, but there's nothing wrong with it. Last year we climbed Langley and took the chute north of OAP (Secor's). I imagine that one would be a lot tougher without the snow.”

“Snow, I looked down Army Pass (I think it was Army Pass). That's not one I want to go down, or up.

Pepper, looking forward to seeing you again. And hiking too.”

“Navi, is this what you looked down?
Old Army Pass

See the snow angling to the left? Its really not that bad. It switchbacks down, and you can't really see it til you get there, but its a decent trail. There was only one boulder that blocked the way near the top. We just climbed over/around it.”

“I can't tell from that angle.
I got to the top of New Army and walked over to the low spot to the northeast and looked over the edge, straight down. And I MEAN straight down!
By the way, the reason there is a NEW Army Pass is because OLD Army Pass was snowed in for too much of the year, and the army wanted a way to get over the mountains.”

“The above is a tidbit of triva for your vast warehouse of useless information.”

“You probably looked at the "V" shaped chute in the middle. I've seen people go up it when the trail was not passable. Last year it had too much snow so we went north to the next chute from 5th lake.”