Langley "Summer Solstice" Summit

We made a successful summit of Mount Langley over the weekend (June 2003). What looked like a snowy trip from a wet spring, turned out to be dry, with not a cloud in the sky. We hiked up on Friday to Cottonwood Lake #4 and enjoyed a big dinner and a great view. We left for the peak on Saturday morning at 7:30 am, knowing the Summer Solstice would be of a great advantage, plus more sleep the better. We ended up cutting through the snow on New Army Pass, and reaching the summit around 1:00pm. The trail was poorly marked and loose gravel/sand made the climb a little frustrating. Our third partner ended up feeling the altitude a little too much on the way home. We had to assist him back up to New Army Pass and down to Cottonwood Lake #4. While he rested, we enjoyed a snowy cold Fosters (24.oz) Lager, while took in the view and cooked a winner of a dinner. Then it was back to the cars on Sunday morning and back to reality on Monday. What a trip! I loved the climb, but don't have much desire to climb Langley again. I would classify it as more difficult than Whitney. Probably most of all because it is more frustrating to route find. All in all, it is still 14,000+ feet, and worth evey step. DO IT!