Palisades (California Sierra)

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The Palisades (or the Palisade Group) are a group of peaks in the central part of the Sierra Nevada range in the US state of California. They are located about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the town of Big Pine, California. The peaks in the group are particularly steep, rugged peaks and "contain the finest alpine climbing in California."^[1] The group makes up about 6 miles (10 km) of the Sierra Crest, which divides the Central Valley watershed from the Owens Valley, and which runs generally northwest to southeast.

Summitpost quotes Tom Browning, in Place Names of the Sierra Nevada, as saying:

"The Palisades were named by the Brewer party of the Whitney Survey in 1864. '...along the Main crest of the Sierra is a range of peaks, from 13,500 to 14,000 feet high, which we called "the Palisades." ...they were very grand and fantastic in shape."^[2]

On the northeast side of the group lie the Palisade Glacier and the Middle Palisade Glacier, the largest glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, and the southernmost glaciers in North America. These glaciers feed Big Pine Creek.

Notable peaks of the group include four independent^[3] fourteeners:

• North Palisade, 14,242 ft (4,341 m)^[4]
• Mount Sill, 14,162 ft (4,317 m)
• Split Mountain, 14,064 ft (4,287 m)
• Middle Palisade, 14,040 ft (4,279 m)

and the following mountains in addition:

• Mount Agassiz, 13,899 ft (4,236 m), the northwesternmost peak of the group before Bishop Pass.
• Birch Mountain, 13,665 ft (4,165 m), which juts out further towards the Owens Valley than the rest of the group.
• Norman Clyde Peak, 13,855 ft (4,223 m)
• Temple Crag, 12,999 ft (3,962 m), known for its many rock climbing routes.
• Mount Winchell, 13,768 ft (4,196 m).

North Palisade has some additional subpeaks over 14,000 feet (4,267 m); see the North Palisade article for those summits.

[edit] References

1. ^ Steve Roper, The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1976, ISBN 0-87156-147-6
2. ^ The Palisades on Summitpost
3. ^ This uses a topographic prominence cutoff of 300 feet (91 m). See the fourteener article for more information.
4. ^ Elevations for some of these peaks vary from source to source, sometimes because different vertical data are used.

[edit] External links

• Palisades (California Sierra) is at coordinates 37°04′45″N 118°29′12″W / 37.0791, -118.4867 (Palisades (California Sierra))Coordinates: 37°04′45″N 118°29′12″W / 37.0791, -118.4867 (Palisades (California Sierra))