We had somewhat grand plans to do Twilight Pillar (III, 5.8+) on Norman Clyde Peak and maybe Middle Palisade, but as I picked up our wilderness permit in Bishop on Thursday morning I noticed the forecast had taken a turn for the worse. The monsoon moisture was coming in faster than expected.

We decided to give it a shot anyway and started hiking up the Big Pine Creek trailhead, same as last time. Smoke from the Lion fire had made things in the Owens Valley a bit hazy.


After a couple miles we came to the creek crossing where an old log bridge had been, apparently destroyed by an avalanche this past winter. The water was about thigh deep for us, swift and cold.


I crossed with long pants on for some insulation (otherwise my left leg would start to shake involuntarily). Probably the crux of the trip for me :)

The hike up to 9800' was grueling and mostly shadeless. We continued up and over a short rise, then down into a meadowy forested area with lots of mosquitoes, passing the junction for Willow Lake. I was wishing I hadn't packed so much gear for Norman Clyde, because this area was quite pleasant (except for the bugs). We passed Brainerd Lake (10270') -


And then headed up the steep use trail to Finger Lake (10700') -


It was late afternoon and the skies had darkened. Justin murmured that the weather was looking ominous, and soon enough the rain started falling and thunder rolled. We donned our rain gear and ducked into our respective shelters.


The weather started to clear after about an hour, and we started dinner. The forecast called for even worse weather tomorrow and the next day; the idea of being caught in a storm on a route which was hard for us, and then trying to navigate a difficult fourth class descent with possible lightning and hail was not appealing. We decided to give Middle Pal a try instead.

Next morning we woke before dawn and headed up towards the Middle Palisade Glacier moraine. The weather was bright and clear.


We soon got a full view of the Twilight Pillar. Oh well, someday maybe.


The approach to Middle Pal was uneventful. The snow was suncupped and soft, it had been a warm night up there. Our ice axes and crampons were dead weight.


We took one of the gullies up, then traversed the summit ridge. As advertised, it was loose, but the rock got better the higher we went.


Clouds were building. We took pictures and signed the register.



I left a new notebook in a plastic baggie since the present register looked like it had seen better days. We greeted a pair who had come up a more direct gully than ours -- they'd camped at the tarn above Finger Lake.

Back down at the moraine we picked up our snow gear while the thunder rolled and put our rain gear on; the drops were coming down thick now. It was only 12:30 or so.


The rain stopped for a while as we headed across the slabs and talus back to Finger Lake. We decided to pack up and head down while the weather was still decent. A few drops continued to fall, but three hours later we were down and back at the car, and we got to the Mobil Mart in Lee Vining just before the Whoa Nellie Deli closed for the night. It was apparent from the drive up 395 that it had been raining pretty good.

The next morning we got an early start and climbed four pitches in Tuolumne Meadows. The clouds built quickly, and we called it a day around noonish. Back at the TM store we ate lunch and watched big raindrops fall, scattering the crowds. We silently laughed to ourselves. Good times in the mountains !