Tour de Dusy
Failed attempt on the Palisade Traverse (VI, 5.9), with Mike Callen, June 22-23, 2021.
Timeline:
June 22, 2021. Our goal on this trip was to traverse the Palisade Range from Thunderbolt Peak to Mount Sill. Due to a lack of confidence that we would be fast enough to complete the climb in a day, we planned to establish a basecamp at the base of Thunderbolt Peak, and then to spend one bivouac night during the traverse itself. The approach would be from the west, in order to save carrying snow gear and dealing with the Palisade glacier. We spent a leisurely morning in Mammoth packing our gear, and set out from the trailhead at South Lake at 13:00. We reached Bishop Pass at 16:21 and contoured around Mount Agassiz and Mount Winchell's southwestern aspects, over Thunderbolt Pass and into the Barrett Lakes area. At 18:55, we reached a nice campsite at one of the higher Barrett Lakes and spent a comfortable evening in camp. (A 5:55 hour day, 8.1 miles, 3,300 feet of elevation gain).
June 23, 2021. We woke up around 5:30 to extensive cloud cover, and more menacing weather moving from the west over the Sierra crest. We got up and had breakfast, monitoring the weather as the morning progressed, but it quickly became clear that the situation would worsen rather than improve. We decided it would not be a good idea to spend a day and a half on a 14,000 foot ridge in bad weather, with the potential for thunder and lightning. Our decision to forego the Palisade Traverse was later vindicated when thick dark clouds hung over the Palisades for the whole day. We decided instead to take the long way home, going over Knapsack Pass, into the lakes of Dusy Basin, and back over Bishop Pass via the Dusy Basin trail. We left our campsite at 9:45, reached Knapsack Pass at 11:35, had lunch at one of the Dusy Basin lakes, then hiked up to Bishop Pass (15:15) and then down back to the car at 18:13. (An 8:28 hour day, 11.4 miles, 2,000 feet of elevation gain).