Southfork Pass, Palisades
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:15 pm
The above photo is the view from the north side of the pass.
Question: Have any of you guys ever been over Southfork Pass, 12,560 feet (between The Thumb and Middle Palisade) ???
Secor rates this mountaineering route as a Class 3, requiring crampons, and ice axe, and a rope.
But, I was up there near the Thumb (South Fork of Big Pine Creek) in mid-June, and hiked to within a mile of the pass and had a careful look with a pair of cheap binoculars. The approach from the north is considerably more difficult than the southern slope (entering King's Canyon National Park). It consisted of steep snow, on top of a small glacier, and above that, a steep, scree and debris filled chute that looks quite hazardous.
The photo above was taken in early spring. By the time I visited, the upper parts of the visible chutes were just loose rock and debris, which formed long. ugly-looking avalanche paths across the lower snow and the glacier.
It does NOT look like much fun,...