Mt Whitney Webcam
Mt Williamson Webcam
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 155 guests, and 16 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
#56131 08/28/19 03:36 PM
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3
I
OP Offline
I
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3
Hello hello,

Anyone have recent info on snow conditions on Split Mountain (Red Lake Route) or Middle Pal (South Fork Big Pine Creek to Northeast Face) ??

Otherwise, any idea what we should expect for the time of year this weekend?

Thanks!

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
indefatigable #56145 08/30/19 10:08 AM
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
Offline
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
I climbed Split back in June. Lots of snow, as you would expect. It should be just about gone by now. I looked at a recent satellite image, and you can easily avoid what little snow remains.

I haven’t been on Middle Palisade since 2012. The satellite image showed lots of snow on the glacier approach and none on the route to the summit. The glacier isn’t steep, so you shouldn’t need serious gear. In the middle of the day, bare boots may be all you need. I read somewhere that somebody had trouble getting from the glacier onto the rock. It wasn’t clear whether they just screwed up the route-finding, or whether the snow depth or possibly some rock fall had made that problem harder. I don’t know what gear, if any, you might need to get from the snow to the rock. I hope this helps.

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
bobpickering #56149 08/30/19 01:50 PM
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3
I
OP Offline
I
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3
Thanks Bob, that helps.

We're going for Middle Pal and have microspikes and poles, so hoping that will be enough.

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
indefatigable #56150 08/30/19 04:35 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,505
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,505
Likes: 103
I read something this summer saying that getting off the snow and onto the Mid-Pal route was practically 4th class, since the glacier had melted so far back from the rock.

Bob, maybe you could run up there and check it out? grin grin

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
indefatigable #56165 08/31/19 09:45 PM
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
I
Offline
I
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
I was up on both about 3 weeks ago. There is one snow field left on the route between Red Lake and the western side of Split that's easily avoidable.

You can get from Finger Lake to Middle Pal without stepping on snow, the moraine between the two glaciers is free of snow.

I would suggest not taking microspikes on either trip, I had them and didn't need them. Have fun!


IG: @illya__v
Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
illyav #56166 09/01/19 08:16 AM
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
Offline
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
illyav, what was it like getting off the moraine and onto Middle Palisade itself? Thanks!

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
bobpickering #56169 09/01/19 02:26 PM
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
I
Offline
I
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
Hi bob,

It was pretty straightforward. I went up the moraine and then dipped back down a bit to get to the Red Banks route. Here's a picture a friend sent me with the route highlighted, there is more glacier currently than in this picture but it's avoidable.



Here's a picture I took while looking for the standard route. Crossing from the glacier to the ledge wasn't too difficult, but I eventually went over to the Red Banks section when another guy wasn't sure of the route either but we knew we could get up the Red Banks.



IG: @illya__v
Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
illyav #56288 09/15/19 05:57 PM
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
Offline
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 648
Likes: 52
I climbed Middle Palisade for the 7th time yesterday. I don’t remember exactly how I got onto the route the first six times, but it was certainly different yesterday. A bunch of rock must have come crashing down, altering the route. I spent what felt like a half hour searching where the route used to be. I finally found a way to traverse up and left on decent class 4 rock to an easy, low-angle, rotten chimney. The chimney went up and right. I continued up and right until I was on the regular route, roughly where the old route went.

Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
bobpickering #56308 09/17/19 11:52 AM
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
I
Offline
I
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
Oh so that's probably what happened to the standard route. There looked to be some climbable areas but they didn't resemble the screenshots I had saved and brought with me. That's cool you found a way up, and congrats on it being your 7th time! Here's a picture I took of a guy looking for the standard route but this definitely wasn't it lol, a cool variation though! cool



IG: @illya__v
Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
indefatigable #56309 09/17/19 04:51 PM
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 23
A
Offline
A
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 23
I'm debating trying Middle Pal or Split Mtn this weekend.

For Split - I noticed the permit area is grayed-out on rec.gov for Red Lake. Does that mean I don't need a permit now, or is the trail closed or something?
Also - after such heavy snowfall this year, will I need crampons and an ice axe to summit?

Last edited by AdventureUSA; 09/17/19 05:08 PM.
Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
AdventureUSA #56310 09/17/19 06:20 PM
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
I
Offline
I
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 37
Likes: 4
The trail is most likely still closed because the Taboose Fire raged through the area recently. This is a picture from the Split Mountain summit a friend took two weekends ago (Red Lake is not visible on the bottom right). He spent the night at Red Lake the night / morning it jumped a containment line and went up the canyon that the trail goes up. He and a few other hikers were airlifted out.



IG: @illya__v
Re: Conditions on Split Mountain and / or Middle Pal?
indefatigable #56317 09/18/19 01:53 PM
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 23
A
Offline
A
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 23
Well, looks like I'll be doing Middle Pal. Thanks for the info


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.035s Queries: 38 (0.028s) Memory: 0.6275 MB (Peak: 0.7217 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 16:42:16 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS