April 2-4, 2008, Sierra, Palisades traverse, almost
4/2/08
US elsewhere
3985
3
Sorry about the late report, but after this trip we skied some more and then backpacked in SE Utah.
Link to video clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLP0Xm2Xshw
Pictures at bottom of report.
On April 2-5 Pat Lathrop, Craig Miller and I (from Seattle) joined Steve Cochran and Jed Morrow (from the San Francisco Bay Area) for a very strenuous Sierra Nevada ski tour snowcamping experience. We planned to circumnavigate the Palisades five days counter-clockwise, and saw some of the most spectacular scenery in the Sierra Nevada. The route was to go over Jigsaw Pass to the west wide of the crest, then south over Bishop Pass, Thunderbolt Pass and Potluck Pass, regaining the east slopes via South Fork Pass to loop back to the start.
This was my first trip in the Sierra, and my inexperience showed, but at least I can say that anything that went wrong was all their fault! No, it was a fabulous trip. Challenging, but worth it.
From the town of Big Pine (S of Bishop, Ca) we drove up the Big Pine Creek road to Glacier Lodge (saw no lodge though). The Sierra had considerable winter snow, but it had not snowed much for a month and much had melted down low. We walked on dirt for maybe 3 miles, then skied up and camped near Fifth Lake, a lovely camp complete with running water (lakes frozen).
We had chosen to do this trip counter-clockwise since we were nervous about what we would find on the west side of Jigsaw Pass (map contour lines very close together), where we planned to cross over to the western side of the crest, and if we could not get down it, then wed still have time to bail and formulate a plan B. Early on day 2 we looked over Jigsaw and I think we were all intimidated at a difficult dirt and rock class 3 scramble of about 400. With full packs, and wearing ski boots, it took us about 1 ½ hours to make it down. With all the effort to get there too bad we had to climb down dirt instead of making some fresh turns!
Bishop Pass is flat and easy and we skied south down into Dusy Basin camping near one of the upper lakes, where no running water could be found. We did have fuel to melt snow, but Steve and Jed, Sierra vets, dug a couple feet of snow off the lake surface and then chopped a 4 inch hole in the ice. So we all had plenty of water to soak our feet and fully bathe. Kidding! Because it was cold at 11,500. Im sure the air temp was never above freezing during the higher portions of the trip, but the sun was powerful and it was relatively warm most of the day. But the instant the sun went down, we dove for the tents, and no one even considered getting out until the sun hit the tents about 13 hours later. I should have brought a warmer bag (but fewer clothes) and was too cold at night. But at least with 13 hours, the quantity was there, if not the quality of sleep.
On day 3 were climbed quickly to Potluck Pass in high spirits and ready for a good run down the other side. Climbing Code Point 7: "Never let judgment be overruled by desire when choosing the route or deciding whether to turn back". Good advice. The snow was hard and steep and studded with rocks with dangerous runout, so we turned around and retraced our route back. In softer snow conditions it probably would have seemed okay.
We skied north-facing powder and south-facing corn snow, but also lots of traversing, and maybe 10,000 of climbing with big packs. The weather was generally clear with classic Sierra Nevada blue sky. The Kings Canyon National Park scenery was amazing. We saw no other people, and all survived to try it again another time.
Link to video clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLP0Xm2Xshw
Pictures at bottom of report.
On April 2-5 Pat Lathrop, Craig Miller and I (from Seattle) joined Steve Cochran and Jed Morrow (from the San Francisco Bay Area) for a very strenuous Sierra Nevada ski tour snowcamping experience. We planned to circumnavigate the Palisades five days counter-clockwise, and saw some of the most spectacular scenery in the Sierra Nevada. The route was to go over Jigsaw Pass to the west wide of the crest, then south over Bishop Pass, Thunderbolt Pass and Potluck Pass, regaining the east slopes via South Fork Pass to loop back to the start.
This was my first trip in the Sierra, and my inexperience showed, but at least I can say that anything that went wrong was all their fault! No, it was a fabulous trip. Challenging, but worth it.
From the town of Big Pine (S of Bishop, Ca) we drove up the Big Pine Creek road to Glacier Lodge (saw no lodge though). The Sierra had considerable winter snow, but it had not snowed much for a month and much had melted down low. We walked on dirt for maybe 3 miles, then skied up and camped near Fifth Lake, a lovely camp complete with running water (lakes frozen).
We had chosen to do this trip counter-clockwise since we were nervous about what we would find on the west side of Jigsaw Pass (map contour lines very close together), where we planned to cross over to the western side of the crest, and if we could not get down it, then wed still have time to bail and formulate a plan B. Early on day 2 we looked over Jigsaw and I think we were all intimidated at a difficult dirt and rock class 3 scramble of about 400. With full packs, and wearing ski boots, it took us about 1 ½ hours to make it down. With all the effort to get there too bad we had to climb down dirt instead of making some fresh turns!
Bishop Pass is flat and easy and we skied south down into Dusy Basin camping near one of the upper lakes, where no running water could be found. We did have fuel to melt snow, but Steve and Jed, Sierra vets, dug a couple feet of snow off the lake surface and then chopped a 4 inch hole in the ice. So we all had plenty of water to soak our feet and fully bathe. Kidding! Because it was cold at 11,500. Im sure the air temp was never above freezing during the higher portions of the trip, but the sun was powerful and it was relatively warm most of the day. But the instant the sun went down, we dove for the tents, and no one even considered getting out until the sun hit the tents about 13 hours later. I should have brought a warmer bag (but fewer clothes) and was too cold at night. But at least with 13 hours, the quantity was there, if not the quality of sleep.
On day 3 were climbed quickly to Potluck Pass in high spirits and ready for a good run down the other side. Climbing Code Point 7: "Never let judgment be overruled by desire when choosing the route or deciding whether to turn back". Good advice. The snow was hard and steep and studded with rocks with dangerous runout, so we turned around and retraced our route back. In softer snow conditions it probably would have seemed okay.
We skied north-facing powder and south-facing corn snow, but also lots of traversing, and maybe 10,000 of climbing with big packs. The weather was generally clear with classic Sierra Nevada blue sky. The Kings Canyon National Park scenery was amazing. We saw no other people, and all survived to try it again another time.
great photos--looks like it was an amazing trip! and i agree that the kings canyon np area is spectacular. thanks for sharing. :)
Liked the TR! We had a challenge of a different nature on Potluck pass in late May, 2005. Late season snow was sluffing due to poor bonding and hot days. We also "failed" to get completely around the Palisades and came out at Contact pass to our back-up car at Glacier lodge.
Here is our TR
Here is our TR
Nice report, and thanks for sharing. I have been thumbing through J. Moynier's book describing some of the routes in the area. The terrain looks spectacular! I'm planning to do a few tours there next year...
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