Just got back tonight from the Palisades. Did the North Coulior on Thunderbolt and Starlight Buttress. Both fine routes. That's it for me, I've done all the fourteeners in California.
I'd give Starlight Buttress two out of three stars (even though we did the last three pitches in the rain). Really nice. But 5.5? Ridiculous. Both Jim and I led sections of 5.7. "The Milkbottle" (summit of Starlight) was probably only 5.6??? But when the rock is wet and there is no pro, who knows. It's only 12 feet of climbing, but it'd be a bad fall. Getting to the top of Thunderbolt is exposed 5.8 slab for 15 feet, or a shorter section of 5.9 (no pro on either). Both of these are good routes - I think Fiddler/Monyier should have included Starlight Buttress in their Sierra Classics.
The glacier was enough to make you cry. Either it is dying, or this winter was unimaginably bad. Much of it is bare of snow, down to the glacial ice, and there are streams of water eroding that away, fast. Neither "V Notch" nor "U Notch" exist as ice climbs. "V" has almost no ice in the middle and the Bergshrund overhangs all the way across. It is filthy with rocks and dirt. The lower part of "U" looks like it collapsed into a heap.
Good luck, Jeff, that's one hell of an agenda. I've done every peak from Middle Pal to Winchell, but never the traverse. You've got a lot of very tricky ground to cover, but you sound like you're in incredibley good shape! Be ready for significant fifth class sections, and the normal piles of loose talus everywhere. Assuming that you're starting on the Thunderbolt North Coulior, it's mostly hard snow. Given what I saw, I'd think the East Face route might be a better way to get onto Thunderbolt (and it would eliminate the need for ice gear) Once you reach the summit of Polemonium it's easy going to Sill. The usual descent from Sill is mostly snow free, however. It looks like lots of loose stuff and will need more care than normal. Call me if you think I can add any information that would help (I could help with approach beta, gear and time estimates?).
