High Sierra Topix

From both photos it looks reasonable

I finally got around to climbing Mt Langley via the pass above Cottonwood Lake #5. The pass goes by the unofficial name of "Winter Pass" according to SummitPost.
http://www.summitpost.org/winter-pass/290498" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I arrived at the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead parking lot near dusk this past Sunday, Nov 4th. I hiked in about 6 mi, the last hour or so by flashlight, and made camp in some trees short of the mostly dry lake east of Cottonwood Lake #3.

In the morning I hiked up to Cottonwood Lakes #4 and #5. Army Pass looked dicey with snow coverage, especially at the potentially dangerous top. Since I was wearing trail runners and didn't bring crampons or ice axe I quickly looked over at Winter Pass, which is the route I wanted to do anyway. From below it looked essentially snow-free. According to SummitPost, the pass is class 3/4 in the lower talus field. At this time of year I found it to be standard class 2. Lots of talus to negotiate, some big, but nothing technical. There was no cornice to negotiate and the near vertical rock at the top was easily bypassed by traversing south for 30 yd to the low point.
After Winter Pass there was a sandy hike over to the Mt Langley headwall that is usually bypassed on the far left for a class 1-2 approach. I wanted something more fun and direct, so I headed toward the east ridge and picked a route up that became a challenging class 3+ climb. On the summit the clear, sunny day provided excellent views.

For the descent, I hoped that the snow on Army Pass would soften during the day, but it was icy at the top and after a brief attempt I chose not to tempt fate. In a sight-seeing mood, I chose to come out the long way over New Army Pass and back to my backpack at Cottonwood #5. With the day quickly ending I headed over to Sunday night's camp site where the pine cones were already picked out of my sleeping area.

Tues morning I packed up and headed over to visit South Fork Lakes, down the South Fork use trail and back to the deserted parking lot.

In summary, Winter Pass (I agree that Navy Pass has a nice ring to it) without snow is a fun and safe way to access Mt Langley. It deposits you higher up and closer to the peak than Army Pass.

Another photo to help:

Below is a link to several photos I took going up Winter Pass. Without using the attachment feature, I can't figure out how to make my images show up individually with the proper width (the rimg doesn't seem to work for me with Flikr or Picasa). That said, if you click on the image below it will take you to a Winter Pass album.

Winter Pass: The route I took.

More route info:

http://davidstillman.blogspot.com/2010/ ... t.html?m=1

Also, it might be possible to get there from Lake #6 (only one through five are labelled on the topo). There's a "pass" to the NE of Lake #6. I was above it whilst on top of peak 12,640, which is just east of said "pass." That peak is west of the Whooley Back (the only peak in the region that's round on top). Peak 12,640 has an xNNNN marker on the metric topo. To descend from there to the "pass" is a technical class 5 down climb. But, Lake #6, due NE to the "pass" then to Langley looked pretty straightforward from 12,640 feet. *

That peak is "x3878" and the views are great in all directions (!). It has a 1,000 feet nearly vertical wall on the NE side, facing Diaz Creek. Getting up was easy. Getting down, back to the Cottonwood basin, was a lot harder, requiring A LOT of route finding over or around ledges and boulders. (JES)

Attempted it one year in June and it was the coldest,windiest day I have ever had. Was climbing in a fleece jacket a with rain gear over that for wind break. We got turned back by a pretty intimidating cornice at the top. Went back about 6 weeks later and the cornice was gone and the pass was a snap. Pretty much talus boulder hopping to the top....