Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Thanks Doug for the burgers and Old Army Pass info

Wanted to say that Shin and I really enjoyed seeing you and Earlene. Shin and I were talking about seeing the gang at the portal would actually be more fun than our climb. Jack and Betsy were there we had a great talk with Betsy saw pictures of the grandbaby(future climber or ball player) is yet to be seen? Maybe like Grandpa Jack be both! GigaMike was there after a Whitney day climb. Richard I think got bored by Shin's and mine pace. We were only moving at semi-warp....

Regarding Old Army it is clear now only 2 patches of snow that we did in old shoes without any traction. One group we talked to on New Army pass sadly went to Old Army got scared of the snow and went back up New Army but by that time they were spent. Pics of the trip are below
Yeti

http://sangorgonioyeti.smugmug.com/North...0924958_rZ3w3SR

Good to meet you guys on Langley, sorry I couldn't make dinner at the portal that would have hit the spot. Shin would have been driving everyone if I stayed any later.

Hey Mike, Ya good to meet you to! We'll have to do a local peak like San G or Baldy soon! Just PM me if you want to go with Shin and me. Ya the burgers for sure hit the spot Doug is an awesome cook. I felt bad for dozing a little on the drive home, Shin is a great friend!
Can't wait to take my family up to the Portal this Thursday to meet Doug and Earlene..

Thanks Jeff for posting your pics, they are beautiful! I'm headed up to Langley 9/8. Our group is staying overnight at Lake #4 just to make it a relaxing trip. This will be all of our first time on Langley. My hubby and I have done Whitney twice and have a goal to get in as many 14ners as we possible can. This will be our 4th. Any recommendations for our trip? The trail up to the ridgeline looks to be very well defined...is this true? I hate getting lead in multiple directions..such a waste if energy. Thanks in advance for any details you can provide!
Celeste

Beautiful photos Jeff! Sorry we missed you all at the portal.

Langley in a day is a long slog, that's a big mountain and miles to get there. I like Army pass better than New Army. You get to see those beautiful lakes.

T

Nice trip, congrats!

Hi Mike,
It was very nice to meet you and hiking together last weekend. Let's make a plan for local short hike with Jeff. We made it home all right. Jeff was sleeping like a baby on the way back on 395 dreaming his beautiful wife and daughter.

Hi Jack and Betsy,
Congratulations for your over 100s and 50s of Mt Whitney climbs. It was always nice to see both of you at WPS. Looking forward to next occasion.

Hi Doug Sr. Earlene,Amy,Myles,
It was nice to see everyone was working hard as usual. Jeff has been missing a good burger for many years. He loved your burger and fries very much. I'll be back for the lunch someday soon.

Hi Richard,
I agree with you 100% that all trail should be designed to have down slope near the trail head. The cottonwood trail has a long sandy up hill slope at the end. It is so annoying after the very long monotonous hike then hiking up this slope to the trail head. Do you know any powerful politician to redesign the trail? It was very nice of you to experience and compare both OLD and New army pass on same hike. I like OLD army pass.
Looking forward to you next adventure.

Hi GigaMike,
You looked so refreshed even after the Whitney climb. You are getting younger and younger. Your car looked fine from the road. I drove slowly on 395 back. There was a highway patrol a few miles out of Lone Pine. We can't afford any kind of tickets any more. Hope to see you Wes's rock class someday.
Hi Jeff,
Thank you again for organizing the trip and taking care of me. I am glad that you start noticing the beautful wild flowers and rocks. There are more things in the mountain beside the elevation. Let's hit the trail soon.

Nice going guys, like those pictures..

mark

Hey, So that's where you guys have been! Nice pics, Jeff

Good work, guys! It was a nice surprise running into Shin and Richard on the trail. I took my 13 year old son up New Army since I'd gotten conflicting conditions reports, but once on the cirque I could see Army was in good shape so we descended that way. Perfect Sierra weather last weekend--even the mosquitos were behaving themselves (more or less)!

No redesign necessary. Just use the old trail - it's mostly even grades. It intersects the "new" trail about a mile from the "new" trailhead.

Hi Dave,
It was a surprise to see you on "FLAT" Mt. Langley trail. I thought you only hike and climb steep hills,canyons,snow slope only.
Your son is lucky to have you. What a way to spend the summer vacation.
Enjoyed your trip report of Tyndall and Williamson very much.
Looking forward to your next adventure.
See you on the trail.
Shin

Pictures are on Album link.

Hi KevinR,
Thanks Kevin.
I definitely look for the OLD trail next time. After hiking over 15-20 miles to come across a up hill even any angle, it is annoying especially a city weekend hiker like me.
I enjoyed the view very much but the flat sandy trail.
Since you know every corners of any mountains,I better contact you for "GOOD" information before the hike.
Hope to see you at Mt. Baldy in winter time.
Shin

Thank you for the kind words, Shin - but you give me far more credit than is due me. In the 5 years since moving to the Eastern Sierra I've have the opportunity to have several long-time residents show me some of the abandoned/little-used trails in the area.

Speaking of this "old" trail to the Cottonwood area - 4 of us did a nice little hike today to Flattop. About a 1/3 of the way up this old trail there's a sign "Cottonwood Lks" pointing to the right. If you bear left, and look for a faint trail - it's there, and will connect with the Southfork trail, which some use for access to New Army Pass. Today we just went to the far end of Flattop, made a right up the hill and had lunch on top. It's a nice dayhike of about 9 miles, and 2K' elevation gain. A good hike when the weather's hot and you're not in the mood for an epic.

Hi Jeff,
We enjoyed your pictures of Langley, the Army passes, and Cottonwood Lakes area, but what I really want to see are the pictures of you introducing your daughter to the Portals! Are you going to post them? It was nice to see you, Shin, and Richard and hear about your hike.
Blessings, Betsy

Betsy those were two of my favorite pics from our trip. It was so nice to talk to you to that day at the Portal! Hopefully see you soon!

Yeti