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I had been trying to find out about the conditions of Old Army Pass with little luck. I day-hiked Langley via OAP this Saturday and wanted to post this in case others are thinking about the same thing:

OAP is clear of snow EXCEPT the last part close to top which can be challenging if one goes up or down early in the morning or late in the evening.

Attached photo was taken before climbing at 10:00 am Saturday, 6/22/2013. The icy stretch was near the top is marked with two folks coming down.

Old Army Pass? I'm sure many old armies have passed through mountains around this big wide world of ours over the ages..............

This does not belong in the 'General' Forum.

Mountain Bandit wrote:Old Army Pass? I'm sure many old armies have passed through mountains around this big wide world of ours over the ages..............

This does not belong in the 'General' Forum.

Yes, it belongs in the popular California forum. However, posting this took longer than obtaining the SP search results and Google search results that all lead to Mt. Langley.

I can't say I'm surprised that Army Pass will become an easy hike early this summer.

I hiked up New Army Pass and down Old Army Pass on June 29th. We opted to not go up Old Army Pass because of the snow. You will see what the snow looked like at 4:21 in a video I made and posted to YouTube.

http://youtu.be/_K0b9tuQXVY

gkster1 wrote:I hiked up New Army Pass and down Old Army Pass on June 29th. We opted to not go up Old Army Pass because of the snow. You will see what the snow looked like at 4:21 in a video I made and posted to YouTube.

http://youtu.be/_K0b9tuQXVY

Nice video. I've always gone via New Army Pass, but I can see negotiating Old Army Pass in the afternoon is the way to go if I ever choose to go that way. I'm terrified by the morning's frozen crust when exploring Sierra passes!

On OAP you can easily avoid that upper patch of snow. In the picture above, where the red line and yellow circle intersect turn left up a very easy cl.2-3 chute to the crest.

dshoshone wrote:On OAP you can easily avoid that upper patch of snow. In the picture above, where the red line and yellow circle intersect turn left up a very easy cl.2-3 chute to the crest.

I don't like chutes, but I've gone down a few. Hurt my knee in one and experienced rockfall in another. I suppose if it is a one or two-day excursion, and packs are small, then the chute your point out makes sense. I've always been intrigued by OAP, it is good to have all of the details.

In the center of the picture, and just right of and below the circles is a snow-filled chute. That is the way I went when I visited Mt Langley. It's easy as long as you have an axe.

8/3/2013. Perfect conditions. Zero ice, Zero snow. Very easy navigation. Temps around 8Am were 50's and Sunny.

Anyone who has been on old or new army pass since mid May of this year, please update us on the snow conditions, many thanks!