My 1st 14'er (Mt. Langley) & Miter Basin TR! :)

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Day 1: Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead to Cottonwood Lake #4

I planned this trip with Justdropin’ aka Cris... I drove over Walker Pass and up 395 to Lone Pine and then up to the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead on the Inyo National Forest on Wednesday the 24th. I wanted to spend the night there before hiking out the next day so as to get acclimated. The trailhead is at 10,000’ in elevation. And the road going up there out of Lone Pine is crazy! It is quite an engineering marvel as it switchbacks right up the side of the mountain climbing from 4,000’ to 10,000’ in the span of only a few miles. I picked up a hitchhikin backpacker along the way, his name was Mike and he gave me some good advice about acclimating to high elevations.

At the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead there are a few walk-in campsites that are $6 per night. They are close to one another so I was glad that there was only one other party camped there that night. There is also a larger equestrian campground and a pack station at the trailhead.

On Thursday morning I awoke at sunrise, packed up my tent, and began organizing and packing my gear. Cris arrived an hour or so later and he brought me breakfast! I ate and finished packing up and then we were off!

Most of the first day was pretty easy hiking. The first 2 miles of trail go up and down a few moraines, you see a few meadows, and you cross the South Fork of Cottonwood Creek and then the main fork. Then the trail starts climbing rather steeply up to the Cottonwood Lakes Basin, elevation about 11,000'. Once you get there it’s incredible – the meadows and lakes and surrounding forests and mountains are breathtaking!

We stopped and ate lunch at the edge of the basin then pushed on to get up to Cottonwood Lake #4. This way our next day goal of Old Army Pass and Mt. Langley were relatively nearby. We found a campsite above the lake a ways and had one other guy camped nearby. His name was John and he was a nice guy who turns out was also planning on hiking up Langley the next day.



Day 2: Cottonwood Lake #4 to Old Army Pass to Mt. Langley to Upper Soldier Lake

In the morning we got an early start (but not as early as John) and up up up we went up Old Army Pass. I’d heard a lot of different opinions as to how hard this pass was. It is no longer being maintained but I think it’s in pretty good shape. It is steep and rocky but the trail is easy to find. The views you get of the Cottonwood Lakes Basin on the way up are great!

The top was announced by a sign that we were entering Sequoia National Park and the views looking west to the Kern River Canyon and the Great Western Divide were amazing! I could identify several of the mountains over there as I’d seen them many times from the west, but never from this direction. It was windy up on the pass but not too cold. Immediately after the sign I found a use trail contouring north up the ridge and I took it remembering the directions that I had to climb Mt. Langley. We stayed to the left of several prominent rocks on this ridgeline. Cris climbed some of these rocks and I took his picture.

We contoured up the ridgeline and headed towards a red sandy saddle. The ranger I spoke to at the Mt. Whitney Ranger Station said that this would be a good spot to drop our packs and continue our dayhike to reach the summit of Mt. Langley. It was a good suggestion as there weren’t many marmots or other dangers to our packs here. At this point we met one guy headed down and then shortly afterwards we met John headed down. They were both dayhiking up from the Lakes Basin below and weren’t carrying full packs so that’s why they were a bit quicker summiting than us!

At this point the hike gets hard. The going is really slow as the surface you’re walking on is very sandy. It’s like walking uphill on a beach! But there are many trails that all head up in the same general direction so you just have to pick one and slog on up. And whenever you stop to catch your breath the view is amazing! There are also lots of wildflowers blooming up here - a member of the sunflower family, raspberry buckwheat, lupine, and sky pilot.

At about 800 feet from the summit you reach a rock wall. At this point it’s best to stay to the left. Cris started heading to the right and I followed him although I should’ve gone with my first instinct as the left routes looked easier. When Cris couldn’t go any further we then decided to just take a look off the eastern ridge into the Owen’s Valley. I ate a snack and then we tried to decide what to do. It was 1:00 pm which was still early enough but I was getting tired. We decided to head off to the left again and just when I thought I couldn’t go on any further I just decided to push myself and hike to the top! I was exhausted but by sheer determination we found a route which at this point involved some easy class 3 climbing using our hands. We then saw a huge cairn on the skyline and headed towards it and soon enough found ourselves on the top of Mt. Langley! When I reached the top I felt much better. I was very glad I had pushed myself! We took a few pictures then headed down knowing we still had a long way to go that day.

Down down down we went down the rocky then sandy slopes of Mt. Langley. We found our packs, had a snack, then headed down into the Upper Soldier Lakes area. I was hoping there was a trail to be found going that way and there was. It was a pretty good trail, too, even thought it's not on the map! Along the way we saw lots of evidence of bighorn sheep – lots of scat and tracks. Never saw any sheep, though :(

Once we reached Upper Solder Lake we found a good campsite near the northern shore and then I just collapsed. I was exhausted! I set up my tent and wasn’t very hungry but I drank some ice tea and ate a few crackers with cheese. Then it was early to bed just as the last light was fading from the sky…



Day 3: Upper Soldier Lake to Miter Basin

In the morning we made breakfast, packed up, then headed north. After looking at the map it looked like we could contour around the mountain called the Major General and head north into Miter Basin. This ended up being a fairly easy route. We flushed out 3 grouse on the way and found ourselves at a great viewpoint of Lower Soldier Lake. Then soon enough we found ourselves in the spectacular Miter Basin… Wow. There are no words to describe this place! There are abundant meadows, streams, waterfalls, lakes, wildflowers, and marmots all surrounded by towering granitic peaks.

It was a warm day back there and when we reached the appealing waterfalls below Sky Blue Lake we decided to set up camp – and take a shower beneath the waterfalls! It was freezing cold water but it felt great! :)

After lunch we dayhiked up to Sky Blue Lake. We went swimming – well, I only could manage going in up to my waist! This is water that is very cold as there is snow right at the edge of the lake. Cris cracked me up as there he was, sitting there in the frigid water of that wilderness lake, and he found a comb in his pocket so he decided to comb his hair! lol

That night we watched the last sunlight light up the western side of Mt. Corcoran and LaConte and then went to bed listening to the waterfalls.



Day 4: Miter Basin to High Lake

In the morning we woke up, made breakfast, and packed up once again. We headed south out of Miter Basin, this time following the creek through a narrow canyon. I then decided we should try to cross a saddle and drop down into Lower Soldier Lake. This would save us from losing a lot of elevation following the creek to get to the trail that we wanted to meet that would take us over New Army Pass and back home the next day. But it ended up being a pretty interesting hike over the saddle. Going up was easy, going down wasn’t! We almost cliffed out many times. But we eventually made it and ate lunch at Lower Soldier Lake. Here the ranger stationed at Rock Creek also found us and we had a nice conversation with her.

After lunch we hiked, on a maintained trail for the first time in a couple of days, up to New Army Pass. This is a very steep trail at times and it goes right by Old Army pass and climbs several hundred feet higher than it. By the time we made it to the top my feet were protesting greatly! But we started down the pass with High Lake in sight which would be our campsite that evening. Looking back at New Army Pass I think it’s mislabeled. It’s not a pass, a low spot between two mountains. It’s just a cliff between two mountains! I think it should be called New Army Cliff :p



Day 5: High Lake to Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead

On our last morning we woke up, ate breakfast (Cris had leftovers from the night before), packed up, and we hit the trail. We moseyed on down to Long Lake where there were a bunch of people camped. I was glad for the relative solitude of High Lake! Then we hiked past the South Fork Lakes then across a boulder field to meet the Cottonwood Lakes again. At this point Cris finally ran out of film so he couldn’t take any more pictures :(

It was a long hike back. I swear the trail grew by a mile or two! After we hiked down out of the Cottonwood Lakes Basin it was a very long hike back… We were very glad when we reached the trailhead. Unfortunately it was then that Cris had discovered he’d left the headlights on in his car! So we found a nice guy who helped us jump start it. Then we drove down into Lone Pine.

When I got into Lone Pine I called my mom to tell her I made it out of the mountains alive. She told me my sister and brother-in-law were driving up to Bishop! And just then my sister rang. Turns out she was in Lone Pine, too! So I got to have lunch with my sister and Joe It was awesome as we didn’t plan it at all! We had milkshakes and burgers at the Mt. Whitney restaurant and Cris was nice enough to treat us!

Wow, I am just floored by my pictures looking back at them now... what a great trip! And I'm so glad that I found a good hiking partner to be able to do it with! I hope we get to hike together again soon, Cris :)

Lots more pics here!! http://www.tarol.com/miterbasin.html
last edited: 9/02/05 8:16:28 PM”

“Phooey :p Thought I'd at least get one comment - you guys don't like trip reports over here??”

“BearCrossing,

Thanks for the fun trip report! I was up that area in 2001 and have always wanted to go back to the Miter Basin. Maybe next year. I went to Center Basin this summer and it reminded me of Miter Basin but not as big. Your photos and trip report really brought it back. You are lucky to have found a compatable hiking partner. Congrats on summiting Langley. I know that I often come close to talking myself out of things that seem just a little too hard, but I am glad when I push myself.

Thanks again for a great trip report.”

“Hey Ziggy...nice trip report and pix!
The sky always has that wonderful blue when you are above 10,000' I love it up high!

I took my sons to the Cottonwood area a few years back...we were headed for Miter Basin but a huge cornice at the top of New Army turned us around. We stayed at South Fork Lakes and had the place all to our selves.”

“Thanks, guys :)”

“BearCrossing thanks again so much for sharing!
I LOVED every bit of it. I posted on the other board..did you see it yet?”

“Excellent report! I'm still catching up on these things after spending 8 nights (cough!) car camping.....”

“Great report and pics, I'da read this earlier but I've been busy climbing 14ers myself.”

“Which ones, Bison?

Thanks, Madeintahoe, yeah, I saw your comment over there :)”

“Bowlderman - there's nothing wrong with car camping unless it's at a KOA or something, lol”