Palisades Traverse from Thunderbolt to Sill - we went with, and recommend Sierra Mountain Center for guides, in particular Dave Stimson and Tyler Logan. The plan had been to do a continuous traverse with a bivy between North Pal and Polemonium; BUT, with potential weather on the bivy night, it was decided to break the traverse up and sleep low. Day 1 was up and over Bishop Pass, and then over to Thunderbolt Col, where we set up camp. Day 2 started up the SW Chute #1 to start the traverse from Thunderbolt Peak to Starlight Peak and then onto North Pal. We went down the Analog U Notch and back to camp. Then, the next morning, we hiked back UP the Analog U Notch (ugh), climbed Polemonium and then hiked over to Sill. You get to climb back over the summit of Polemonium again before rappelling back to the U notch and then back to camp. Day 4 we hiked back to the trailhead at South Lake.
South Lake
Exhausting, but exhilarating
No rating is high enough for this CLASSIC
Hard to quantify, but the distance is not the defining variable of this trip - it's all about the traverse and working out the convoluted ridgeline- thank God for guides
Backpacking Trip
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