High Sierra Topix

I'm also going up 7/28 thru 7/30 and am thinking about New Army Pass instead of Old? Does anyone know the mileage difference from Cottonwood to summit and back via New vs Old? Also, is finding the route via New Army Pass easy to find or takes quite a bit of research ahead of time to identify how to navigate that route?

Thanks, Bob

I'd be surprised if it added more than a mile to the route. Here's a shot from the base of Langley looking at both passes.

Can't comment on the mileage, but it should be trivial to make your way to Langley from the top of New Army.

Unless you were commenting about navigating New Army itself, but that also shouldn't be an issue,

Honestly, I'm a little confused about navigating from Cottonwood up to Langley. My original plan was to hike out to the numbered lakes and it sounds like Old Army is just past those and then it's fairly simple to navigate to Langley from there, but with the snow levels, it sounds like Old Army is not the best option. So in looking at the map, New Army Pass looks like it has it's own trail and then one would navigate to Langley from there. Does that sound right, just follow the New Army trail? It looks much longer than the other way but not sure.

I guess my question is for someone not experience with ice ax and crampons, we are looking for a way to Langley with poles and microspikes, that is relatively safe, leaving from Cottonwood. What would folks recommend for the route and best camping spots along the way? And what are the snow conditions now? Has anyone been up in this area recently?

Thanks.

I side-tripped up Langley on my way out of the Sierras yesterday and then exited over New Army, which is passable without additional gear- the cornice has melted just far enough away from the little headwall block to scramble between the two. Scoped Old Army Pass first, and it was still quite corniced over. A couple folks had just made their way up it via lots of loose and exposed scrambling, and said they did not recommend it. I met a couple who had gotten their young daughter over New Army, however.

Thanks for the update! I'm taking a few newbies up Langley next week. I was planning on OAP but I think NAP may be the better choice for their skill level. Sounds like OAP is too dangerous at the moment without ice axes and helmets.