Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hike time for White and Langley?

I'm curious how tough it would be to do White Mountain or Langley as a 1 day trip - how long (hours) of a hike would it likely be?

I'm working on setting up a trip to do 5 of the 14ers in 7-9 days next year.

Would hit White, Langley, Russell, Whitney, Muir. . .

Thinking of doing White and Langley either both as 1 day trips or one of them as an overnighter. Which would be better done as an overnight?

The plan goes something like this:

Sat - drive to Lone Pine, check into motel, dayhike at Horseshoe Meadow.

Sun - dayhike White or Langley

Mon (or Mon-Tues) - dayhike or overnight White or Langley (if dayhike, then use Tues as recovery/dayhike Horseshoe or somewhere else high up)

Wed-Sat - Russell, Whitney MR, Muir (want to take time and enjoy it - and will go down the main trail)

Sun - drive home

White Mountain is a pain to get in and out of, and there are a couple of cool spots to bivy on the way up (I recommend going all the way to the gate and staying there - neat view and an easy start in the morning).

Hence, I'd opt to make White Mountain your overnight and Langley your day hike (assuming you're in excellent shape).

Have fun!

I agree with ericb. Make White your acclimitization hike. Drive to the locked gate at 12K' and sleep there (if you can sleep in your car). If it is a full moon night, you can hike to the summit at night just like we did this June. Fun but very cold adventure, so if you end up doing that, bring lots of warm clothes!
After staying for two days at 12K'+ you should have no problems with other 14-ers.

I am in better shape than many I think, I don't know about excellent.

Would Langley be real tough as a 1 day? As I recall from reading about it, it isn't that much elevation gain, but is a lot of miles?

or maybe it was vice versa?

Tom,
Langley is around 20miles and 5k' gain round-trip from Horseshoe Meadow. Day-hike is very doable. Its complexity will largely depend on the time of the year you do it, and the route that you take (New Army Pass, Old Army Pass, Buttress on the right of Old Army Pass, 'Winter Route', etc.)
I can give you a skinny on any of these routes if you want.

TRY FOR BOTH IN UNDER 24 HOURS - White is an "easy" day hike even with travel time. I have done both Whitney and White all within 20 hrs total, with travel. I started up Whitney at 4 a.m., was back by 1:30. I drove to Lone Pine, got gas, food, and water, and drove straight to White. I think it took several hours total travel time from Whitney to White but it was a nice break and prepared me for White. I started White at (I think) 5-6 p.m., and was back by midnight. Anyways just a thought, it is definetly a great way to push yourself and get you closer to your goal of 5 14ers in 7-9 days.

How about mountain biking White? I have heard this is possible and fun, but I'd think with me living at sea level it would be a tad to strenuous without a long acclimitization period, even with being a very experienced cyclist. The benefit I suppose would be that it would be somewhat quicker than hiking it.

I'm thinking September timeframe to try for this plan.

Eventually plan to hit all 15 of them, but need to increase skills before going above class 3 (at altitude).

You should be able to easily ride your bike up the road until the final push to the summit ridge. Biking from that point (13.5K'+) will be strenuous! You can probably leave your bike at that point and hike up to the summit. Of course riding your bike will save your time greatly on the way back. People even rode their unicycles to the summit!

As for the September climb, Old Army Pass or the Buttress will be more direct and relatively easy routes to the summit of Langley. Early in the season, Old Army Pass may be a committing snow climb (we've done it in June and it was awesome to go up the central chute - 40-45 degrees steep)

This summer I drove to the gate for White, camped and hit White in the morning. About 6 hours round trip. Drove into Lone Pine, had dinner and then up to Horseshoe Meadow. Camped and headed for Langly in the morning. I only made it to the top of Old Army Pass and had to head back due to a time restraint. Without that restriction it was quite doable.

BTW, watch for high winds on White - some of the fiercest I've ever encountered...

I'll 2nd the winds at White but the windest day I've ever had in the Sierra was in the Cottonwood Lakes Basin.

Bill

Once you've driven the long dirt rode to the trailhead, White Mt. is a dayhike. Last summer, coming from the lowlands via the Reno airport, I spent the night in Mammoth before going on to White Mt. the next day. The altitude takes a little getting used to, but it's generally considered an easy dayhike otherwise. There's no shade, so don't skimp on sunscreen etc.

White is a most reasonable day hike if you discount all the damned driving. I strongly advise use of a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the final five miles of the drive in. Langley in a day would be in the same league as Whitney in a day, though Whitney would be the Red Sox and Langley would be Detroit. And Langley deserves a decent break on the summit.

Bob Walton

Tom,

I agree with Misha that Langley is a fine day hike,
although I'd like to point out that it's 4200 ft gain not 5000' if you avoid New Army pass.

I'm about 40 lbs overweight and recently did it in 12 hours car to car. We went up the chute E of the Lake 6, accross the plateau and up the East ridge (easy third class on the ridge top.) We then came down via the old Army pass. It was super fun.

I heartily recommend that route, but be aware the Army Pass could be sketchy with snow and ice on it.

Have fun,

Greg