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After a quick lunch
at our camp, the Third Lake crew decided to ski up to
the glacier for a loop tour. Sam, Dave and Chris
were whipped, so I was alone in joining the rest of
the group up to the glacier. A short "mixed"
climb over rock, snow and assorted flora brought us to
the moraine and the toe of the Palisades Glacier,
largest in the Sierra Nevada. We rested briefly,
taking in the magnificent snowy panorama laid out
before us -- Temple Crag, Mt. Gayley, Mt. Sill,
V-notch, U-notch, North Palisade, Starlight,
Thunderbolt, Winchell and Agassiz.
Sandra and Jay
decided to hang back at our resting spot. Fred,
Nate, John and I followed the narrow moraine in
between the Palisade and Thunderbolt glaciers,
avoiding the steep drop offs on both sides. We
continued up towards the base of the North
Pal/Starlight buttress and skied near the bottom of
the Clyde Couloir, the ultra-steep chute in between
North Pal and Starlight -- just as a big avalanche
ripped loose from above. We contoured southeast
across the head of the glacier, taking in the awesome
views. Near the bottom of Mt. Sill, we peeled
our skins and dropped down the glacier one-by-one.
Beautiful turns on perfect snow all the way back to
the moraine.
I split with Nate,
Fred and John at the moraine. They skied the
long ramp below Gayley and Temple Crag back to their
camp at Third Lake, finding some rotten snow along the
way. I picked my way down equally rotten snow on
the hillside back to our high camp at 11,500'.
Once there, I found my three compadres were still
laying low. We had heard on the radio from Robb
and Rick, Sam's friends from Southern California.
They were down at Sam Mack Meadow after having hiked
in that morning from the car at Glacier Lodge.
"You're almost here," I told Robb, "but that climb out
of Sam Mack is the bitch of the day."
Silence. Finally, "This whole day
has been a bitch man." About 45 minutes later,
they lumbered into camp. 7 miles and 3,600' gain
at altitude with full packs in hot sun does not make
for a fun day. We were all pretty wiped, so
socializing was kept to a minimum and we all retired
to the tents.
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On the Moraine.
John, me, Nate and Fred stand on the moraine at the
foot of the Palisades Glacier. In the background
is Thunderbolt Peak (left), Winchell Col (middle), and
Mt. Winchell (right). (photo: Jay
Howell) |
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