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Mt Langley in a day (via Old Army Pass, 20 miles RT)

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Mt Langley in a day (via Old Army Pass, 20 miles RT)

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[Cross-posted, you must leave a comment so I know you aren't a bot]

This is going to be a tough day hike to Mt Langley (14,032'), the ninth highest mountain in California. We'll take Old Army Pass (aka just Army Pass) instead of New Army Pass. At the cost of a little scrambling and perhaps some exposure, that will cut a few miles off the trip. Note that I'm not that familiar with the Sierras and I've only read reports of Old Army Pass, but they say it's now snow-free and some complain about rock scrambling and exposure. However, lots of people do it so it can't be that bad.

The stats will be about 20 miles RT and 4500' of gain. That's similar to what I did a couple days ago on San Gorgonio, and I survived.

However, you'll need to at least be acclimatized to 10k' and you'll need to have done a long hike recently. San Gorgonio via South Fork is a good candidate and I assume via Vivian Creek would work too. Or, at least something like Mt Gleason via the PCT from Mill Creek Summit.

Note that I tried to do this as a backpack a few weeks ago but only made it to New Army Pass. No mas! I'm going light this time. I'll only be carrying 1L of water for the beginning, then filtering water at the last lake before the pass. I'll be carrying electrolyte and caffeine packets, pepperoni, and a pouch of peanut butter (~1000 kcals in 6oz).

The schedule is to meet at 1pm on Saturday August 9 at the parking lot of the McDonald's in Lone Pine (601 S Main). Then, we'll drive up to the Cottonwood parking lot. You can tent camp at their walk-in camp (it's a very short walk) but I'll be sleeping in my car.

Bears break into cars at the campground, so make sure you don't have anything with a scent inside your car. You might want to vacuum it before you arrive. But, there are bear boxes if you need them.

We'll set off for the peak around 3 or 4am on Sunday. So, you'll want to get to sleep before nightfall. You'll also, of course, want a headlamp or two.

Bear in mind that the last four or five miles of the return practically define "interminable", and it includes several uphill sections. Of course, when I did it I was under a heavy pack so this time it might be better, but the caffeine should help if not.

We'll turn around if there's bad weather, and I'll postpone this if there's a bad forecast.

[I extended this a week because I'm going on a San Jacinto Class 3 trip on Aug 2]

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