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Sierra Club Bulletin, 



by a sheep-trail at a point about six miles north of the 

 Palisades. 



To the mountain-climber the main chain of the Pali- 

 sades is by far the most interesting field of action. For a 

 distance of ten miles this portion of the Main Crest pre- 

 sents toward the west an almost unbroken precipitous 

 front of from two thousand to three thousand feet. At 

 its southern end Split Mountain rises to an elevation of 

 14,146 feet above sea-level, and, though easy of ascent, 

 the difficulties of reaching its base had until a year ago 

 prevented an attempt to climb it.* Farther north the 

 Middle Palisade touches 14^,070 feet, and is still un- 

 sealed. At its extreme northern end the mass culminates 

 in a magnificent group of peaks, consisting of the North 

 Palisade (14,282 ft.), Mt. Sill (14,198 ft), Agassiz 

 Needle (13,945 ft.), and Mt. Winchell (13,817 ft.). 

 These are the North Palisades, and until the ascents de- 

 scribed in the following article were made none of their 

 summits had even been attempted. 



The Palisades were first mentioned and named by 

 the members of the California Geological Survey in 

 1864. Professor Brewer in his report says : " At the 

 head of the North (Middle) Fork, 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.' These were 

 unlike the rest of the crest in outline and color, and 

 were doubtless volcanic; they were very grand and fan- 

 tastic in shape, like the rocks seen on the Silver Moun- 

 tain trail near Ebbett's Pass. All doubts as to the nature 

 of these peaks were removed after observing on the east 



* Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. IV,, p. 253. 



