High Sierra Topix

Heading out Monday on the Big SEKI Loop, and a bit worried about the Palisade Creek crossing. The last trail conditions report from SEKI is from August 4, at which time the Palisade crossing was said to be "very dangerous". Does anyone have any more recent updates?

And if not, I'm wondering if anyone has bushwhacked on the south side of the creek to find a safe crossing when the official crossing is too dangerous. Is this bushwhack reasonable? It looks to be 3-4 miles up to Cataract Creek, and I'm thinking that somewhere in there we'll find a safe way across, but I'm wondering if this is doable. Thanks in advance.

I have not been there. It is a shame the old bridge is out. I did find this information, which may or may not be reliable:

"From the JMT junction, Palisade Creek can be a very easy or very dangerous crossing, depending on the time of year. If the crossing at the trail seems sketchy, make your way ~ 1000' upstream where you can cross to an island and then cross by log from the island to the opposite bank."
https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/700 ... fork-trail

In mid-August 1995 (a comparably wet year) I crossed with a group about a mile upstream from the confluence, and bushwhacked down the south side (not difficult). IIRC we crossed on snags, which obviously you can't count on being there 20+ years later, but my guess is you'll find something in that general vicinity.

Thanks for the info. Good to know the bushwhacking is reasonable. We'll have nothing but time, so I figure some snag/log will turn up over the course of a few miles.

I hiked along the JMT parallel to Palisade Creek 5 weeks ago. At that time, the creek was very broad and raging. I had hoped to cross near Cataract Creek to explore toward Amphitheater Lake, but there was no chance of that happening. Paradise Creek was furious up and down the canyon. All that being said, it was 5 weeks ago. Someone might have more recent intel.

BTW, that 1995 trip was a trans-Sierra trip involving two groups from opposite trailheads, so we really had to cross Pal Creek. As it was, we had already re-routed (South Lake to Roads End instead of SL-->Rancheria) before the trip began, when it became obvious we would never be able to cross the Middle Fork.

Thanks again for the info. We made it to the Palisade crossing on August 24. It was running waist-deep and quite fast. We spent a few minutes considering it before deciding to look for alternative crossings. We ultimately found two large trees across both channels about 0.4 miles up from the official crossing. Getting over using these trees was pretty easy. The bushwhack to get there was mostly reasonable, though there was one stretch (perhaps 100-200 yds long) where an avalanche had leveled all the trees and made for considerably more challenging forward progress. I can share the coordinates of where we crossed if anyone needs them.

A couple guys who were on the same itinerary did do the crossing. One did it at the trail crossing, slipped just at the end, and dove for the rock on the other side. He made it, but it sounded very sketchy. The other crossed just a little downstream, using a log over one channel, and then a waist deep ford through the other, which he also reported to be very challenging, though a bit easier than the trail crossing.

Hi GJ,
I think it's testimony that the creek crossings are improving gradually, because on the 23rd, my buddy and I crossed Palisade creek a bit upstream of where you went (pretty much between the Pa of the Pacific Crest Trail annotation and the PA of the Palisade Creek designation on the 7.5 minute map). We too spent quite a bit of time looking for a decent spot, and, yes, if you're patient, you'll eventually find something. Still, I'm impressed that folks crossed lower down; the thundering noise of running water at the Palisades Creek-Middle Fork junction was impressive! Cameron

Just grabbed the coordinates of our crossing in case it's helpful to anyone:

N 37 3.2129' W 118 34.1124' Elev: 8336 ft.

This was our location on the north side of the creek, immediately after crossing. So if you're on the south side and get as close to these coordinates as possible, you should hopefully see the log crossings.

We crossed this the other day at the trail crossing.......its fine. I'm 5'2 and it came up to mid thigh but the current is only strong for two steps across. I had a pole to assist. My boyfriend did just fine since he's much taller. Don't worry so much and enjoy!