Backpacking to Cottonwood Lakes & Mt. Langley

Backpacking to Cottonwood Lakes & Mt. Langley

For Fourth of July this year some friends and I backpacked up to the Cottonwood Lakes area in the John Muir Wilderness. What a great way to spend the holiday!

Acro Yoga at Long Lake
Acro Yoga at Long Lake
Hiking up to Long Lake
Hiking up to Long Lake
Cottonwood Lakes Basin
Cottonwood Lakes Basin
Pimby and I went swimming every day
Pimby and I went swimming every day

Four of us (including Pimby!) decided to dayhike up Mt. Langley, which has the distinction of being the southernmost fourteener (peak above 14,000 feet) in the United States.

We woke up at 4am and caught the beautiful sunrise from the top of New Army Pass:

Cottonwood Lakes basin from New Army Pass
Cottonwood Lakes basin from New Army Pass

The area is well above the tree line, and the terrain rugged and inhospitable:

New Army Pass
New Army Pass

Some 800 vertical feet below the summit of Mt. Langley the trail crosses a boulder field. This was tough going, and everyone told us dogs couldn’t make it past… but Pimby is tougher than tough and we made it through!

Crossing the Boulder Field on Mt. Langley
Crossing the Boulder Field on Mt. Langley
Mt. Langley Summit
Mt. Langley Summit

Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous US (just some 500 ft. higher than Mt. Langley) is visible to the right of me in the photo above, about 5 miles away.

The Barren Moonscape at the Top of Mt. Langley
The Barren Moonscape at the Top of Mt. Langley
Krystof Litomisky's Picture

About Krystof Litomisky

Krystof is an engineer, adventurer, and all-around good guy based in Los Angeles, California.

Los Angeles, California

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