Palisade Traverse

Thunderbolt to Sill

8/24/08

I knew it would be a long day ... but I wasn't exactly expecting it to be the longest day of my life. I'm certainly not disappointed though. This past Sunday (8/24) Mike Schasch and I decided it was time for our shot at the Palisade Traverse. Several weeks earlier SP'ers Tom, Glenn, and Augie did the traverse and their report made the front page of SP. Both Mike and I had been wanting to do the traverse for some time and that report only increased our desire to do it. 

I decided I wanted to do things a little differently and convinced Mike we should do it without the car shuttle. Thus, we started and ended at the Big Pine Creek trailhead. That would add an additional 2065 feet of elevation gain compared to the South Lake trailhead but we would not have to deal with setting up the long car shuttle. 

The real question was how to get up to Thunderbolt to start the traverse. We didn't want to bring crampons or ice axe so we were unsure which approach route would be best. The top 3 options were Winchell Col, Thunderbolt's east face, and the Underhill Couloirs. We decided to make the decision when we finally got there and could see what things looked like. Personally I was looking forward to a multi-pitch climb up the east face. Thus, we brought a 50m 8.4mm rope and a small rack (3 cams and a partial set of nuts). 

We got up at 2am and departed the day use trailhead at 2:41am. Like Tom, Glenn, and Augie we had little sleep (less than 4 hours) before we started. Initially we made fairly good time and reached Sam Mack Meadow in 3 hours. From there up to the glacier however went more slowly as the terrain became more challenging. We chose the leftmost chute at the far end of Sam Mack Meadow. Though a little time consuming this worked well and brought us up to near the base of T-bolt's great NE buttress. From here we could visually compare the various routes. We decided in the interest of time to ascend the right Underhill Couloir. This proved to be a good decision. We only had to cross a small portion of the Palisade Glacier and the snow was low angle and easy to cross. Though many chutes in the Palisades are full of a tremendous amount of loose material the right Underhill Couloir proved to be rather clean. This made me feel a lot better because when we got our first look at the U-Notch and V-Notch we were a bit horrified by what we saw. Both those couloirs were dark and dirty from large rock slides with debris trails stretching out onto the Palisade Glacier. They looked like certain death traps. 

About half way up the couloir we bypassed a chockstone on the right side -- our first class 4 of the day. The bypass was exposed but the holds were superb. At 9:51am we finally gained the top of the couloir at the col between T-bolt and Starlight. At last we were on the crest and we were feeling good. We then started up to T-bolt. At the top of the easy slabs we looked for the class 4 chimney which a photo on SP indicated was to the right. There was indeed a chimney to the right but it was scary and extremely exposed. After examining other options we realized the chimney we were looking for was actually to the left. The climbing was fun with a nice tight spot in the center of the chimney. At 10:54am we reached the base of T-bolt's summit block. I knew one of the methods of protecting the leader on the summit block was to attempt to lasso the the block. I was a bit surprised when I successfully lasso'd the block on only my second rope toss. Excellent! With a top-rope setup Mike climbed the summit block -- to him this was just a big boulder problem. After lowering him I was next up. Having completed all the 14ers previously I was not intimidated by the block and it seemed quite a bit easier than the first time. 

After completing the block we signed in and headed back to the Starlight/T-bolt col using the class 4 chimney. This proved an easier downclimb than the climb up. It was 12:15pm when we reached the col and began our climb up to Starlight. This section proved to be a bit time consuming. There was some fantastic climbing (some of the best of the day) and the route finding proved to be more challenging than expected. At one point we finally gave up on finding the easiest option and roped up for about 30 feet of exposed low 5th class which put us back on the crest. At 2:47pm we finally reached the base of Starlight's famous Milk Bottle. I lead up the block. It's easy but rather difficult to protect. After lowering it was Mike's turn. With both technical summit blocks now completed we thought things would be easier from here on out. Turned out we still how a lot of work to do. As we descended from the Milk Bottle we met a solo climber (Hristo) who had started his traverse from Winchell (one of the options we had considered). This meeting would turn out to be beneficial for both he and us. 

Since he still needed to summit the Milk Bottle Mike and I continued on. To save time we did a single rappel down into Starlight's NW chute. This wasn't that effective since we ended up climbing back up to the crest. Hristo quickly caught up to us and took the lead. The route to North Palisade wasn't trivial but it was easier than what we had previously encountered. On the way we passed through an interesting notch with a short pendulum rappel. Hristo used an existing cheater sling. At approximately 4:52pm we reached North Palisade's summit. This was my 3rd time on North Pal so I was familiar with the route to the U-notch. After signing the register we headed for the U-Notch. By now we knew time was against us. 

After one look at the chimney down to the U-Notch Hristo decided a rappel would not be a bad idea. I think he too knew that time was running out. With the 50m rope we rappelled down in 2 pitches which worked well. Hristo who had no belay device or harness rigged up a simple harness from slings and rappelled with a Munter hitch. 

By 6pm we had completed the 2 rappels and were ascending Polemonium with Hristo in the lead. We climbed up and to the right to the obvious gendarme on the SW ridge. Though I had summitted Polemonium twice I had not previously gone this way. Once on the ridge we started up the right side and quickly encountered some wickedly exposed class 5 moves. This was a bit of a surprise since from one of Bob Burd's descriptions I was only expecting class 3. Hristo had no problem with these moves but Mike and I took them far more carefully. At 6:19pm we tagged the summit of our 4th peak of the day. 

With no time to waste we headed for Sill. At this point I knew there wasn't time. We needed to get down. Lack of acclimation was really starting to take it's toll on Mike. I had done Mount Whitney just the day before (for the 25th time) so I was less affected. I had given up on Sill but on the way Hristo convinced me I had to do it. It didn't take much. We were so close. At the class 4 descent route from Sill I dropped my pack and Hristo and I made our way as quickly as possible to the summit. We reached the summit of Sill at 7:19pm as sunset rapidly approached. Mike was waiting for us when we returned to the descent route. He wasn't well. 

With only mintues left before sundown it was time to get down. I think the three of us knew what was in store for us. By the time we reached Glacier Notch it was dark. We had a long way to go. Descending the notch, traversing the Palisade Glacier, and navigating through the moraine in total darkness (there was no moon) would be difficult. It was more than difficult. It was downright torture. Previously I had done this during daylight and considered it heinous. In the dark it was diabolical. The glacier was ugly -- a mixture of slippery ice and rock. I slipped and ripped open a flap of skin on my thumb which bled profusely. Eventually we reached the boulders. Despite my best effort we completely missed Gayley Camp in the dark and were lost. For what seemed like hours we crawled over the neverending boulders in the moraine. At one point we became seperated -- each of us convinced he knew the way. Fortunately we eventually finally reunited, found the use trail, and descended down to Sam Mack Meadow. We reached Sam Mack at 10:54pm. 

By now I was worried we might not complete this adventure in less than 24 hours. After only a few minutes rest we picked ourselves up and continued on. At least now it was just a matter of following the trail. Our bodies however were nearing total depletion. Hristro bid farewell and headed off for his camp at Third Lake. Mike and I continued on ... and on ... and on. Eventually I reached a strange state of hiking while nearly unconcious. My mind began playing tricks on me. We cursed the never ending trail but we knew it was only a matter of time. 

Finally, at 1:54am, our "day" finally came to an end. Total time car to car was 23 hours 13 minutes. We succeeded in keeping it under 24 hours. Because of the time it took to complete and to the challenges we faced this was certainly one of the most rewarding days of my life. The climbing was superb and the physical challenge was great. I'm sure this won't be my last visit to these grand Palisades. 

Log

02:41a - Big Pine Creek trailhead
05:44a - Sam Mack Meadow
09:51a - Notch between Thunderbolt & Sill
10:54a - Summit Thunderbolt
12:15p - Notch between Thunderbolt & Sill
02:47p - Summit Starlight
04:25p - 2nd Notch (with short rap) on way to North Palisade
04:52p - Summit North Palisade
05:41p - U-Notch
06:19p - Summit Polemonium
07:19p - Summit Sill
08:05p - Glacier Notch
10:54p - Sam Mack Meadow
01:54a - Big Pine Creek trailhead

Stats

Time from trailhead to Sam Mack Meadow: 3 hrs 3 mins
Time from trailhead to Thunderbolt: 8 hrs 13 mins
Time from T-bolt to Sill: ~ 8 hrs 20 mins
Time from Sill to Trailhead: 6 hrs 35 mins
Total Time Car to Car: 23 hrs 13 mins

Notes

Considered numerous routes to get up to Thunderbolt - noteably Winchell Col,
Thunderbolt East Face, and the Underhill Couloirs - opted for the Underhill Couloirs
Right Underhill Couloir was surprisingly clean and mostly just class 3 (4th
class and exposed next to chockstone however)
Getting accross a short bit of the Palisade Glacier to the right Underhill
Couloir was not difficult at all - we did not use nor did we bring axe and crampons
Lost at least an hour due to route finding on the crest
Lost a lot of time coming out in the dark (in the moraine)
50m rope was perfect for 2 quick raps down to the U-notch
Did one rap down from Starlight
Did a short rap (20 ft) to a notch on way to North Palisade
Roped up for one short pitch to regain crest on way to Starlight (30 ft, used
1 nut - the only pro we used the entire day)
Rapped down the chimney to the U-Notch (2 raps)
Several weeks earlier Tom, Glenn, etc. had reached T-bolt in just over 6 hrs on their 
traverse (starting from South Lake).  It took Mike and I over 8 hrs to reach
T-bolt from Big Pine Lakes TH.  Thus it appears that starting from Big Pine Lakes
trailhead adds 2 hours compared with starting from South Lake.
Tom and Glenn summitted Sill just after 5pm - traversing from T-bolt to Sill in
9 hours

Gear

50m 8.5mm rope
Orange Vaude pack
Normal boots
Rock shoes?
a few nuts & cams?
Harness, belay device, locking biner or two
Webbing - didn't use any