It been almost 3 years since Russ and I first attempted the Middle Palisade. Stoke was high and our skills and straights significantly better than before. I know that sounds like an RPG video game description but seriously, what we knew now compared to 3 years prior was night and day.
Our trip would be nothing more than a 2 day blast. The plan...
- Day #1: Drive back to the east side and hike are far as we could up the South Fork of the Big Pine.
- Day #2: Alpine start, keep it light, keep fast, and climb the Northeast Face of the Middle Pal. Hike out, drive home.
Monday July 29th 2013:
Joining up for the hike up the south fork of the Big Pine was Russ's friend Margo. We all arrived at the trail head (same as North Fork) about 5 PM in the evening. No need to get an early start for this trip. We were only traveling up the trail a few miles to mostly to gain some altitude for night to take the edge off.
Within the first few miles we came across an obstacle that was really unexpected to be honest with you. For the preceding few days, heavy monsoonal rains had been hitting the Sierras. Consequently, the south fork of the Big Pine was rushing and overflowing its banks. Unfortunately, the bridge across the river was washed out in 2011. The depth and speed of the creek was really unnerving for Margo and I. Fearless Russ however went in first and crossed unscathed. My crossing was cold and deep but not that bad.
You can see from the picture below that the water came almost up to my chest. We had to strip down and carry our pack above our head along with boots etc.
We reached an elevation of about 9,600' as the sun went down and found a nice campsite prior to the trail steeply going uphill to Brainerd Lake. It was a very mellow night with cooked brats and a campfire.
Tuesday July 30th 2013:
Russ and I launched from our camp about 5 AM to a very mild temperatures. The first hour up the trail was pretty uneventful short of getting lost for a few minutes near a creek crossing and unable to find the trail turn by headlamp. We kept a fast past for the first few hours moving quickly by Brainerd Lake and then the insanely gorgeous Finger Lake.
Now if you'll read my September 2010 trip report, you'll know that the issue was finding the START of the route. In particular, the crossing of the glacier to the face proper. Our mistake 3 years ago was to get sucked into the "reddish" band of rocks because it had been mentioned in guide books. The truth is, there is a 3rd class ramp that is not very obvious from a distance. In fact, the true crux of the East Face route is CROSSING the bergschrund of the Middle Palisade glacier.
This time around, instead of hiking up to the top of the moraine pile that splits the glaciers, we moved onto the left glacier about 200 feet from the top moving upward and left towards a ramp on the face. Generally speaking, nobody goes onto a glacier with crampons and ice axe but we found the sun cups the be largest enough to step and balance into without slipping out on the ice. Pictured above is a shot looking back on the glacier and bergschrund crossing to the 3rd class ramp. It should also be noted that this gap varies as the season goes on. We found it to be at about maxed out for safe jumping distance. Also like any crevasse crossing, it could be tragic if one fell in. The depth had to be over 20 feet deep or perhaps more to the bottom. The ramp climbed up about 100 feet, rounded a corner into a small gully which eventually lead into one of the main gullies than can been seen on the East Face.
Above: The view back on the Middle Palisade glacier.
Below: A HUGE gendarme!
Above: Looking down the main gully which ascends the east face of the Middle Palisade. What looks like a garbage chute from below was surprisingly clean rock. In fact, we didn't experience any loose rock!
Below: I know...it doesn't looks class 3, but believe, it was and it was a blast!
Above: The last hundred feet of the gully are blocked by a head wall. This can be bypassed on its left (Not the direction Russ is going...lolzzz).
Below: 5 and half hours later we pull on to the summit. Awesome summer sierra weather with a light breeze and incredible views!
Above; Another party just happened to be climbing in gully at the same time. We all got to share an very cramped summit. The good news is we got a photo op of the both of us which is rare.
Below: Russ taking in the sights on the small summit of thee Middle Palisade (14,040').
We hung out the summit for about 30 minutes soaking up the view prior to descending the same route. The trip back down to the glacier took about an hour. Again, I was very thankful there was no loose rock in the gully for the collective 5 people in this chute. Pictured below is a zoomed in detailed pics of some of the crevasse on the Middle Palisade glacier.
The trip back to camp where Margo was hanging was long and drawn out from the full days worth of energy spent. I arrived slightly behind Russ back to camp at 4 PM making for almost a 11 hour round trip from the camp. We quickly packed and left back down the trail as a group. The creek crossing was still an undertaking but not as bad as the previous day. The 3 of us arrived back to the car at the trail head after 6 PM and then rallied to crank out the drive home to Fresno.
OK, so completed California 14ers....
- Mt. Whitney - July 2009
- Mt. Shasta - May 2011
- Mt. Williamson - June 2011
- Mt. Sill - May 2012
- Mt. Russell - June 2013
- Middle Palisade - July 2013
- Aaron
