R03/R01 TR: Upper Soldier Lake, Langley, New Army Pass July 22-23 2017

[B.Kruger]

A quick summary of a nice loop last weekend through the Soldier Lakes area, which was directly inspired by HST reports of lovely conditions in the region.

Started on the Cottonwood Pass Trail around 10am (after doing the walk-in permit dance at the Lone Pine station; drew 11th (out of 21) in the lottery, approx. 30 minute wait) and made my way up to the Soldier Lakes area by 3:30 ish. The stretch of trail between Chicken Spring Lake and the Siberian Pass Trail cutoff toward Rock Creek Trail was in direct sun in the early afternoon and pretty toasty even though you're at almost 11.5k elevation for the duration. Got lucky with some patchy clouds to provide shade.

Nice views of the big meadows to the south once beyond Chicken Spring Lake.

Once at Lower Soldier Lake, I took the long way (inadvertently) up to Upper Soldier Lake, by scrambling up the notch in the cliff band that's NE of the lower lake, and traversing the slabs back around to the upper lake. Staying in the notch proper I met a snowfield near the top that was in poor enough shape that I didn't want to walk over it. I ended up doing a class 3ish traverse along a rock ledge above the snowfield to bypass it, but some patient scouting would probably allow for an easier scramble in the actual rock band. There were a handful of camps established at Lower Solider Lake but the entire upper lake basin was mine for the evening. Views into Miter Basin from the slopes southwest of Upper Soldier Lake were unreal, and flowers were out in full force. Although I am sad to report that the mosquito hatch has been coming along nicely, and they were thick in all areas of both the lower and upper lakes. There was a nice breeze that helped, and I sat on a rock and ate dinner while watching the light change until the sun was long down.

My traverse to bypass the snowfield.

Looking back down the notch toward Lower Soldier Lake.

Lower Soldier Lake from the slopes SW of Upper Soldier Lake.

Abundant flowers at the outlet of Upper Soldier Lake.

The best dinner view of all time. Peeking into Miter Basin from the slopes SW of Upper Soldier Lake.

Never too many alpine flower shots...

The next day, after descending toward Lower Soldier Lake via the much easier slopes and ledges SW of Upper Soldier Lake, I headed up toward Army Pass, planning to scope both New and Old Army Pass and assess my options. My backup-backup was to head up Cirque Peak and cut back down to Chicken Spring Lake cross country if the passes seemed too sketchy. I'd written off walking up Langley thanks to weather forecasts of thunderstorms rolling in around 11am. But, I reached the Old Army Pass area just before 10am and could tell the clouds were building but wouldn't be threatening for a couple hours. Since my up-hill hiking pace is pretty reliable I figured I had just enough time to pop up to 14k, so I stashed my pack a grabbed a water bottle and headed up. The use trail up to the summit was blocked by two very small snow fields, both easily surpassed. Summit conditions great and views were dramatic with the building clouds, but I didn't linger. Once back at my pack around 12:20, and determining that Old Army Pass looked like a death trap, I headed up to New Army Pass which I'd heard was easily passable from folks on the summit. Sure enough the cornice has melted just enough to allow a short rock scramble passage down to the switchbacks. Clouds were a solid wall of darkness by now, and the thunder and rain started as I was nearly the bottom of the switchbacks. The rest of the hike back to Horseshoe Meadow was a constant rotation of thunder, pea-sized hail, rain showers, and sleet, but was still enjoyable.

An excellent camp in the morning light.

More nice morning light. Almost makes you forget the mosquitoes.

Summit views from Langley. Just about high enough to hitch a ride out on the clouds.

Looking back on my approximate route down New Army Pass.

And a little [lot] of hail to cap off the weekend.

[maverick]

Thank you for the informative TR and pretty pic's, nice to see all the wildflowers starting to show at the higher elevations.

[Captain Slappy]

Terrific pics, especially the dinner view one. Thanks for sharing

[ischenck]

Those are some beautiful pictures! Where did you camp? It looks very cozy.

[cgundersen]

Hi BK,
Yep, super photos and thanks for the heads up regarding bugs; from the reports in the conditions section, it appears that the bloom has been highly variable. And, with the continuation of this monsoonal flow, it looks like weather conditions will continue to be unsettled for at least the next week, or so. While a little hail can be a relief from the heat, prolonged rain is not what I'm looking for in the Sierra. North Cascades, maybe, not down here!
Cameron

[B.Kruger]

Those are some beautiful pictures! Where did you camp? It looks very cozy.

It WAS cozy! Maybe the best night of camping I'd had in a while- great temps and soft sand. I was west of Upper Soldier Lake's outlet, maybe 100 ft downstream from the lake. Gorgeous little lake basin set up high with views.

[B.Kruger]

While a little hail can be a relief from the heat, prolonged rain is not what I'm looking for in the Sierra. North Cascades, maybe, not down here!
Cameron

I hear you! The hail was cute at first...but by the 5th hour of precip it was getting a little old...

[notis]

Beautiful pics! I wonder if we bumped into you while you were coming down from New Army Pass on July 23. We were trying to beat the storms as we headed up it, but had no such luck Indeed, those storms lasted for hours! Frustrating because it wasn't very typical of the Sierras.