I was kinda hoping for an epic...
The combination of a summer's worth of perfect High Sierra California sunshine and reading too many stories of mountaineering survival and exceptional suffering made me secretly hope for my own tale of misdaventure on California's most rugged mountain range.
The stage was set for such a tale. The weather forecast was sketchy at best, scattered thunderstorms with 50% chance of rain/snow, the glacier I was told was black ice and receding from the headwall, my partners although strong hikers had no real rock climbing experience. Ropes and gear were left behind.
Instead, we got another casual walk up to this beautiful 14,018 foot peak. No epics, no drama, no route mistakes. The few flurries that fell on us on the descent hardly made me feel like we were fighting for survival. Nope, just another 14,000 California summit in a t-shirt with my good friends Alex Johnson and Tim Galagher.
So, enjoy the pretty pictures and get out there yourself on this magnificent peak.
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 The first leg to the fjord like Finger Lake took us 2.5 hours Credit: jlecorps |
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 The long walk in. Middle Palisade on the left and Norman Clyde Peak on the right Credit: jlecorps |
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 Steep slabs to the never ending talus field proved to be the slog part of the day. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Turns out, getting to the headwall was no issue, we followed the moat between the glacier and the rock, occasionally having to step on to the glacier itself. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Perhaps because of the glacier receding we found our climbing crux to involve a quick 4th-5th class move about 15 feet above the glacier. Tim Galagher negotiating that crux with ease. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Tim halfway up the face cruising on clean rocks and ledges. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Tim halfway up eyeing the summit. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Typical 3rd class terrain on the headwall Credit: jlecorps |
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 Seemed like the further left you went up the gully, the rock got steeper and cleaner. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Alex up the headwall Credit: jlecorps |
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 Alex choosing the steeper summit ridge to the peak Credit: jlecorps |
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 Final push to the summit. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Middle Palisade 14,018 feet. 6 hours 15 minutes car to summit. Credit: jlecorps |
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 Got to enjoy the summit ridge for over an hour, looking at thunderstorms over other parts of the Sierra and desert. The beautiful Palisade Ridge behind me with Norman Clyde Peak, Mt. Sill and North Palisade visible. Credit: jlecorps |
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 My summit post. "There's nothing as sacred as partnership forged in risk and uncertainty, failure and reward"--Mark Twight While perhaps not as pertinent to this casual day, I found it relevant to the all the firefighters who perished 12 years ago this Credit: jlecorps |
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 Starring back at our route, no rush to get out of the mountains. 11 hours 45 minutes car to car. Credit: jlecorps |
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