09 Jul 25 - Trip/Conditions Report: Mt Langley (14,032 ft) via New Army Pass

This is a roughly 22 mile long hike with an elevation gain of 4,800 feet. You may choose to day hike it like they (note: the store owners) did, or backpack to a high alpine lake and then day hike the rest of the way up Mt Langley from there. See below to read about their adventure!

Trip/Conditions Report: 

Current As Of: 09 July 2025*

Activity During Report: Hiking, off-trail travel at high altitude

Conditions: 

We started the hike at 7AM just before the main Horseshoe Meadows area. In the last big left turn of the road, there is a hidden trailhead with roadside parking (make sure your vehicle is entirely off the pavement while not destroying plants). If you start from here, the hike is shorter than from the main trailhead, which is nice if you do the entire thing as a day hike.

The mosquitoes are still at their worst in the forests below 10,500 ft elevation. 

The trail is pretty sandy at first, but deeper in the forest, the ground gets more rocky. The first creek crossing was a little hidden, GPS certainly helped with confirming that we were headed the right way. After that, we joined the main trail coming out of Horseshoe Meadows.

At the first Cottonwood Lake, we got our first glimpse of the day's goal: Mount Langley.

"Only" 6 miles to go...

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Mt Langley seen from Cottonwood Lake Number One

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Passing Long Lake and High Lake, the mosquito situation improved a lot! If you want to camp somewhere, it is best to stick to the highest water sources to avoid the little pests.

Just after High Lake, there was one more creek crossing. From there, it is about a 7 mile round-trip to the summit and back with no water source (unless you want to melt old snow). So, we stocked up and filtered some more water.

Right after that came the final push up New Army Pass. It is absolutely gorgeous this time of year - there are tons of different wildflowers all along the mountainside.

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Sierra Primrose creating just one of many wildflower bouquets below New Army Pass

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The very top of New Army Pass still held a small snowfield, but there was a little scrambly bypass (2nd class) that some hikers had marked with a few cairns. That way, we could avoid the snow.

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On the switchbacks ascending to New Army Pass

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Bypassing the snowfield right below New Army Pass

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Once on New Army Pass, we entered Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park and finally had Mount Langley in view again. 

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New Army Pass, with Mt Langley in the background

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For the next quarter mile, we lost elevation by going downhill to Old Army Pass. Quite frustrating when you know you still have a long uphill hike before the summit... Old Army Pass used to be the common trail for crossing the High Sierra in this area, but it is north-facing near the top and holds snow for a very, very long time. After too many rescues, the Forest Service and Park Service built a new trail over - you guessed it - New Army Pass.

Here, we took another quick break to rest our legs and fuel up before the big push up Mt Langley. The route up the mountain is well-marked by huge cairns - rather, pyramids that are 3-6 feet high. Usually, there is also a visible trail, so route-finding is not tricky up here, but be aware that this is not a regular hiking trail.

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Should we name it "Mt Cairn"?

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There was one single snowfield on the route up Mt Langley, but it was in a fairly flat spot, so we simply walked around it.

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The one and only snowfield on the Mt Langley route - we just walked around it

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At some point, we scrambled up a steep section of the mountain. Here, it is advisable to look out for the easiest route and also turn around and have a look behind you, so you can recognize the area again during the descent. If you get into 3rd or 4th class terrain, you are off route!

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Again, the area was dotted with wildflowers - mostly Skypilot and Alpine Gold (pictured here)

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From there, the route gets less steep again and it is a fairly quick walk up to the summit of Mount Langley at 14,032 feet or 4,277 meters elevation. At the very top, the winds were quite strong and icy, so we just took a few quick summit photos and turned around.

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A panoramic view from the summit of Mount Langley (West-North-East)

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There is unfortunately no summit register book with empty pages, so if you read this and have some extra room in your backpack, consider bringing a fresh notebook.

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USGS marker on the summit

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On the descent, we took a much-needed lunch break in the saddle below the steep section of the route. 

This time, we turned onto the Old Army Pass route, but it only took 100 yards and a corner to find out that there are still multiple steep snowfields across the "trail". Without an ice axe and some snow traction, these are too risky, so we turned back and retraced our steps via New Army Pass.

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Snow on the Old Army Pass Route

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After some more water filtering near High Lake and lots more miles, we finally reached our car at 5PM, 10 hours after heading out. 

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Wildflowers above High Lake

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Sore, but happy, we drove back into the Owens Valley, where some much-needed burritos waited for us!!!

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