Mount Langley
Mountain in California, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mount Langley is a mountain located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between Inyo and Tulare counties in eastern California, in the United States. To the east is the Owens Valley, and to the west is the Kern River Valley. It is the ninth-highest peak in the state and the seventh-highest in the Sierra. Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, lies 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the northwest. Mount Langley also has the distinction of being the southernmost fourteener in the United States.
- California fourteeners 9th[3]
- Sierra Peaks Section[4]
- Western States Climbers Star peak[5]
- Vagmarken Sierra Crest List[6]
| Mount Langley | |
|---|---|
| |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 14,032 ft (4,277 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 1,165 ft (355 m)[1] |
| Parent peak | Mount Whitney[2] |
| Listing |
|
| Coordinates | 36°31′24″N 118°14′20″W[7] |
| Geography | |
  Mount Langley | |
| Location | Inyo and Tulare counties, California, U.S. |
| Parent range | Sierra Nevada |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Langley |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Unknown, but prior to 1871[8] |
| Easiest route | Hike from New Army Pass on the south, class 1[4] |
History
Today, the mountain is named after Samuel Pierpont Langley. In the early 1870s, it was confused with Mount Whitney by early climbers, and called by this name. When the mistake was realized, the peak was alternately called Mount Corcoran, Cirque Peak, or Sheep Mountain;[7][9] the former two names being later attached to other mountains. But its current name became established in local usage, and was made official by the Board on Geographic Names in 1943.[7]
Climbing
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Mount Langley is one of the easiest of California's fourteeners to climb.[10] A hiking trail starts at nearby Horseshoe Meadow, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet (3,048 m), passes scenic Cottonwood Lakes, and climbs through New Army Pass. From there hikers travel cross-country to Old Army Pass, where they may pick up the recently constructed Class 1 Mount Langley Trail, which follows a series of large rock cairns for the two mile push to the summit.[11] New Army Pass is 7 miles (11 km) from the trailhead at Horseshoe Meadow and is an easier but longer approach to Langley than Old Army Pass via Cottonwood Lakes Trail.[12]
Due to the elevation, both passes are covered with snow most of the year. New Army Pass sits on a south-facing slope and it tends to clear of snow somewhat earlier in the season. Old Army Pass is only clear of snow for less than two months per year, from mid-August to early October. During the winter months, even the paved road to Horseshoe Meadow is closed, making the summit significantly harder to reach.
The first recorded climb of the mountain was in 1871 by Clarence King and the French mountaineer Paul Pinson.[9][13]
Climate
| Climate data for Mount Langley 36.5192 N, 118.2388 W, Elevation: 13,159 ft (4,011 m) (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 26.3 (−3.2) |
25.1 (−3.8) |
28.0 (−2.2) |
32.8 (0.4) |
40.3 (4.6) |
50.5 (10.3) |
56.8 (13.8) |
55.9 (13.3) |
50.8 (10.4) |
43.0 (6.1) |
33.1 (0.6) |
26.3 (−3.2) |
39.1 (3.9) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 17.1 (−8.3) |
15.3 (−9.3) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
21.8 (−5.7) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
36.9 (2.7) |
42.9 (6.1) |
42.1 (5.6) |
38.2 (3.4) |
31.4 (−0.3) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
17.3 (−8.2) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 7.8 (−13.4) |
5.5 (−14.7) |
7.7 (−13.5) |
10.8 (−11.8) |
15.1 (−9.4) |
23.3 (−4.8) |
28.9 (−1.7) |
28.2 (−2.1) |
25.5 (−3.6) |
19.8 (−6.8) |
13.9 (−10.1) |
8.3 (−13.2) |
16.2 (−8.8) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 8.48 (215) |
7.04 (179) |
6.08 (154) |
4.08 (104) |
1.49 (38) |
0.45 (11) |
0.43 (11) |
0.25 (6.4) |
0.35 (8.9) |
1.92 (49) |
2.55 (65) |
8.00 (203) |
41.12 (1,044.3) |
| Source: PRISM Climate Group[14] | |||||||||||||
Routes
Trails
- Old Army Pass
- New Army Pass
Cross-Country Routes: Western Sierra Nevada
There are basically two ways of summiting Mount Langley from the west (from the Kern River drainage): (1.) CLASS 2: via the Soldier Lake trail, connect with the main Mount Langley trail (where New Army and Old Army pass trails converge) that navigates the massive south-west side of Mt. Langley using large stone cairns built by the NPS to consolidate many use-trails into a single trail; (2.) CLASS 4: take the Rock Creek trail (near Erin Lake and Sky Blue Lake), navigate cross-country, due east, to Tuttle Pass (the start of Tuttle Creek on the Sierra Crest) and climb the north face of Mount Langley which is class 4.
Cross-Country Routes: Eastern Sierra Nevada
These cross-country routes are ordered by starting point, from lowest elevation to highest:
- Thompson Pass Route. [15] This route begins from Muir Lake.
- Diaz Creek. This route begins in Owens Valley. A long time ago, sheep were escorted up and over the Sierra Crest to graze along the south side of this creek. There's a large hill along the south side that is best navigated to the south, counter-clockwise. Source: Word-of-mouth from a resident of Lone Pine around 2000.
- Tuttle Creek. This route begins by making a "left" at the foot-bridge that crosses So. Fork Tuttle Creek. The trail over the bridge continues to the right, and ends after a short, straight uphill hike to the Tuttle Creek "Ashram" or "Stone House."
Topographic Maps
If travel along a route according to pre-trip planning is no longer possible or desirable, familiarity with the surrounding terrain is necessary. For example, if a hiker is lost, it is, of course, no longer possible to follow the trail. If two trails are to be connected by cross-country travel, having a topographic map is helpful. The United States Government provides free PDF maps for download. Double-click on the map seen at the map locator[16] and filter by map scale, if necessary.
Mount Langley is positioned in the lower-left corner of map 7.5" (1:24,000) MT. LANGLEY, CA[17] (Note: product/45962 is the same PDF as product/842850 according to GNU/Linux 'cmp' command, however the print copies are different prices as of '26Feb18). The 7.5" map to the west is MT. WHITNEY, CA, including all the lakes surrounding that peak. The 7.5" map to the south is CIRQUE PEAK, CA, and would be good to carry along with MT. LANGLEY because it includes the Cottonwood Lakes drainage and the parking lot at the end of Horseshoe Meadows Road. The fourth and last map to the south-west is JOHNSON PEAK, CA which includes the gentler terrain of Rock Creek basin.
Mount Langley is also positioned in the extreme lower-left corner of map 15" (1:62,500) LONE PINE, CALIF.[18] (Note: product/845470 is a slightly different map of the same area). Because Mount Langley is in the extreme lower-left corner, this one map provides less context than is provided by joining several 7'5" maps together.
The printed (paper) copy of a topo map can be laminated using clear packing tape available from USPS Post Offices at a reasonable price, which is both flexible and very sticky. Strips of tape can be over-lapped by a fraction of an inch from top-to-bottom and side-to-side, making the map essentially water-proof when folded with the non-laminated side on the inside. The proper way to use a topo map is to orient the magnetic North arrow on the map parallel with the needle of a compass. By paying attention to the terrain and the map(s), it isn't difficult to always know where one is at, since the escarpment east of the Sierra Crest is very rugged and each location has a distinct look and feel. Frequently, the "mental map" is all that's needed to navigate.