PALISADE GLACIER

Eastern Sierra Nevada

Well, it's not exactly the North Cascades, but I think that the Palisade Glacier is pretty cool all the same. It's one of several small glaciers in the Palisades, a section of the eastern High Sierra above the town of Big Pine that sports several 14,000' peaks. When you're looking up at the glaciers from the heat of the Owens Valley, or looking across at them from the White-Inyos, it's hard to believe that there are glaciers in such a hot, dry environment.

When you finish hiking up the 9 miles from the road end, along the north fork of Big Pine Creek, and arrive at 12,000 chilly feet above sea level in the late afternoon, it's a lot easier to believe. Although the main Palisade Glacier covers less than a square mile, it's still pretty impressive up close. In the photos below, you can see most of the features that distinguish a true glacier from a snowfield: A firn line, a bergschrund, a terminal moraine, and crevasses. Plus, how many lakes are there in California with icebergs? It's worth the effort to hike up to the Palisade Glacier - see it before it shrinks much more!

 

Overview of the Palisade Glacier. Note the bergschrund (the deep crevasse cutting across the head of the glacier). A few other crevasses (cracks in the ice caused by downhill flow of the glacier) can be seen below the bergschrund. Also note the firn line, which is the lower edge of last winter's snow. The bare ice below the firn line has a lot of rock debris, which probably fell on it from the peaks and moraines above the glacier.

 

Looking down the north fork of Big Pine Creek from the moraine of the Palisade Glacier. The turquoise-blue color of Third and Second lakes is not a reflection of the sky - it's due to scattering by 'glacial flour', a very fine sediment in the glacial meltwater. Note the medium-grey color of the diorite in the foreground, which contrasts with some of the lighter-colored (more felsic) granitic rock around Third Lake (the closer lake).

 

Close-up of North Palisade, the highest peak in the Palisade group (14,242'). The true summit is actually the one that looks second-highest, with the large horizontal snowfield down and left of the peak. The broad couloir (gully) to the left of North Pal is the U-Notch. Left of the U-Notch is Polemonium Peak, and left of Polemonium is the V-Notch couloir. The gaping bergschrund, where the glacier is pulling away from the ice and rock above, is nicely visible at the base of the couloirs.

Palisades page 2

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