Middle Palisade
The Palisades, Big Pine · near Big Pine · Eastern Sierra
Mountaineering
At a glance
- Grade
- scramble
- Elevation
- 14012
- Best season
- July–September; earlier for firmer snow on the glacier
What is here
- Terrain
- glacier-peak
- Amenities
- South Fork Big Pine Creek / Finger Lake · Middle Palisade Glacier below the route · Guide services offer it · A relatively attainable Palisades 14er
- Best for
- An attainable, glaciated Palisades 14er
- Features
- More approachable Palisades 14er · Class-3 with a route-finding crux · Above the Middle Palisade Glacier · Deep Sierra setting at Finger Lake
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Loose, chossy class-3 rock — route-finding is the crux · Short glacier/snow travel with axe & crampons · Rockfall from parties above · Altitude on a long day from Finger Lake
- Beginner friendly
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guided trips
- Yes
Mountaineering detail
- Skills
- glacier · scrambling · altitude
- Style
- mixed-alpine
- Altitude
- 5
- Route notes
- One of the more approachable Palisades 14ers — a class-3 climb above the Middle Palisade Glacier that still demands careful route-finding through loose chutes and a short glacier crossing
- Beta note
- ~14,012 ft; Class 3 via the NE face above the Middle Palisade Glacier; route-finding crux
- Intl tip
- Often the first Palisades 14er scramblers reach, since its NE-face route is class 3 rather than the class-4 of North Pal and Sill. Not casual, though: loose rock, a genuinely tricky route-finding crux (many wander onto harder ground), and a small glacier crossing needing axe and crampons. Camped at beautiful Finger Lake, it's a committing intro to the Palisades for solid class-3 scramblers with basic snow skills. Route-finding and rockfall awareness matter most.
- Directions note
- Park at Glacier Lodge — approach via the South Fork of Big Pine Creek
The guide
Middle Palisade is often the Palisades 14er that scramblers reach first, since its standard northeast-face route goes at class …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Middle Palisade — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.0656, -118.4667