Bishop Pass Trailhead 1:30 A.M.

SPers Tom Becht and Glenn Gookin at the Bishop Pass Trailhead at South Lake west of Bishop, Calif. At 1:45 a.m. sharp, Saturday August 2, 2008, we started our Palisades traverse: over Bishop Pass and Thunderbolt Pass to Thunderbolt Peak, Starlight Peak, North Palisade Peak, Polemonium Peak and Mt. Sill. We exited by way of Sill's L-Couloir, Gayley Notch and Gayley Camp, Sam Mack Meadow, and finally the North Fork of Big Pine Creek Trail to the Hiker's Overnight parking lot near the end of Glacier Lodge Road.

Our all-day traverse would knock those big smiles off of all our faces.