From left to right: Ryan, Josh (guest), Anita, Jules, Karine (guest), Harv, Lydia, and Dave, pose with HighWire Press banner at Sherwin Summit. Mt. Tom (13,652 ft) towers behind them.

Eastern Sierra high crest extends for some 160 miles, between Bridgeport and Olancha, close to Highway 395. One of two clusters of highest Eastern Sierra mountains is near Bishop (Palisade Range), and the other one near Lone Pine. Among Lone Pine giants, the best known is Mt. Whitney (14,494 ft), the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. Mt. Langley, which sits about five miles from Mt. Whitney, is the most southern 14,000+ ft peek in the Sierras. The aim of our expedition is to reach its summit in a day hike from Horseshoe Meadow trailhead.

Our trail leads from a parking area, through a forest of foxtail pines, over two bridges, to beautiful Cottonwood Lakes basin. From there we take an abandoned but still usable trail (not marked on any official map!) to Old Army Pass, leave John Muir Wilderness, enter Sequoia National Park, and proceed to the summit.

Simple, right?

The following pages show how we did it. About twenty miles distance, and more than 4,000 ft elevation gain in one day! Anita, Jules, Ryan, and Lydia kindly allowed me to use a selection of their photos. Their complete collections are available on their Web pages - ask, and they will tell you where to find the pictures. Historical data are from the book by Erwin Gudde, California Place Names.

The day of the hike was a very long day, and it is probably appropriate to present it in three blocks of pictures: morning, midday, and evening. If you select any small picture, you will get to a larger version with more details. Enjoy!

NEXT: MORNING