I climbed North Palisade and Mt Russell as back to back dayhikes, #12 and #13 of the California 14ers for me. North Palisade took 13.5 hrs and Mt Russell + Carrillon took 10 hours. Both were beautiful hikes.
Ever since I hiked the Sierra High Route in 2017 I have been thinking of North Palisade. There are two clusters of 14,000+ foot peaks in California’s Sierra Nevada, and North Palisade looms over the rest other six 14ers in the palisades. Every time I stood at the base of this magnificent peak it looked impossible to climb, however there is a fairly straightforward class 3/4 route to the top. Last Saturday after doing lots of research on the route, Matt and I had the pleasure of climbing this beautiful peak. At the top we were greeted with panoramic views of the Sierra including the other peaks in the palisades, the high route, the PCT, Leconte canyon and much more.
Mt. Russell has similarly been on my mind during all five climbs of Mt. Whitney, it was a joy to finally climb it and I felt it was harder then North Palisade technically. The ridge was spectacularly exposed, but had good hand holds.
Anthony Ottati 