Year of the Ryan Part 4 Part 1.

So,
    Lastly, Mt Langley. Dylan and I have been Scheduled to do Mt Langley for 3 years now and wether fires, snow, or too late in the year we never managed to get there. This year we finally got a late season chance to do it. We set out from Cottonwood lakes trailhead the second week in October. It was chilly and we had the whole place to ourselves. The first night we camped near lake #5. Since it was so late in the year the nights we long and cold.

I brought the Holga (plastic camera) again.

Selfie/ camp photo.

The next morning we decided to go up Old Army Pass. A little used, non maintained old "route" up into the high country. We were planning on summiting Mt Langley from there.

Old Army pass is up there on the Left. From below it's impossible to pick out and looks like suicide.

Once you get up there it's ok though I would never try it early in the year or in poor conditions.

From the top of old Army.

When we got on the Langley Plateau it was freezing and really windy. We sheltered behind a rock, had lunch, dropped our packs and set out for the summit.

Dylan at the top of Old Army.

It was freezing.

The climb to Langley was pretty straightforward. The Parks service built HUGE rock cairns to mark the trail. It only got "climber-y" one time. The rest was pretty much trail. We made the summit and it was freezing. My 3rd California 14'er!!! 14,026ft!

Views for days and 60 mph winds so we had to yell to hear each other. Summit Marker below Dylans Hand.

We made it down Langley happy to be out of the super cold and into the regular cold. Our destination that night was Lower Soldier Lake. We made it there after a few hours and made camp as the sun was setting early.

Alpenglow on the Miter General.

Tent and Camp

Soldier Lake Selfie.

The night was long and FREEZING. When I woke up I brought out my water bottles and they froze in 10 minutes. It was crazy cold.

Not wanting to come out.

Ice ribbons. Water in the ground freezes and expands out of the dirt making these shapes.

We left our stuff and set out for the Miter Basin. One of the more difficult places to get to in the Sierra. There is no trail just a "route" We climbed into the sunlight happy to be warming up. Once we got to the basin it was spectacular. We hadn't seen anyone in 2 days and it felt like we were seeing something people rarely ever see.

Ready to feel sunlight.

The Miter Basin and me.

We hung out there and explored a bit then on our way back we spotted a bighorn sheep coming up the route we had to go down.

There are only an estimated 600 Sierra bighorn left. It was impressive and cool to see. Once he left we made our way back to camp and headed for New Army pass. The plan was to camp at Lake 4 this time and that was closer to New army.

We made it to Lake #4 easily saw 2 more bighorn sheep from a distance and as is our custom decided to hike out, get hot food and sleep in our own beds that night. This meant a 20 mile day but the nights were so cold and long it seemed like a better idea. We made the miles, ate mexican food in town and made it home by bedtime.

It was another great trip. The first time I'd been out in the sierra that late in the year. I learned that mid week in October is great for solitude but that comes with tradeoffs.
 
This ends the "year of the Ryan" posts. Until next year anyways.

Ryan