Middle Palisade
ELEVATION 14,040
ELEVATION GAIN about 6000’
ROUND TRIP MILES approx. 16 miles
TRAIL HEAD Big Pine Creek Trailhead (elevation 7900’)
ROUTE EAST FACE (easiest) south shore of Brainard Lake to the east side of Finger Lake, then southwest to upper tarn, we then headed between the Norman Clyde Glacier and Palisade Glacier, about a 100 feet up the snow on the Palisade Glacier we caught the ledge that lead into the main couloir (a deep mountain gorge or gully) View the Route!
BEAUTY 10/10 (According to ME!)
2009 was definitely filled with challenging trips. This was my #1 favorite climb of the summer. Middle Palisade is one of the 15 peaks over 14,000 feet in California. This was my 9th 14er and one of the finest climbs. This is largely because most of the mountain was consistent class 3 (steep terrain where handholds and footholds are used, usually no rope) with countless opportunities to practice down climbing (climbing backwards downhill).
We started at 5:00 in the evening for an overnight backpack/climb from the South Fork of Big Pine Creek Trailhead outside of the town of Big Pine in the Eastern Sierras and camped at Brainard Lake. The next day we climbed Middle Palisade, and then hiked out to the trailhead with pizza waiting for us at The Pizza Factory in Lone Pine.
This challenging climb had 6000 feet of elevation gain and loss, hiking in the dark with headlamps, courageous/sweet moves, TOTAL BODY workout, clouds, sun, perfect Sierra weather, route finding, nice handholds, mice, and BIG TIME TEAMWORK!
View all photos on Flickr