It seems to me no resume of Sierra Climbing would be complete without doing a few of the 14ers along the Palisades crest. I'd done Thunderbolts West Ridge and the Swiss Arete on Sill back in 81 and 79 but have literally one slide to show for those two long ago adventures. Of all the "chute" climbs on the west side of the divide, it seemed like the Northwest Chute on Starlight had the most personality. Perhaps the West Face (5.4) of North Pal is a better option, but I could find zero beta on that route other than the sparse descriptions in various guides. So Starllight got the nod. Going over Thunderbolt Col on a really dry year makes almost no sense because you then need to drop down about 500' to find water. That experience was enough to convince me that after the climb I was going to return to Bishop Pass via the very scenic Knapsack Col. There is alot of beta on this route so I didn't have any issues with the route and near the top took the left hand option to reach the summit. I then climbed up a small pinnacle just SW of the Milk Bottle - one that is maybe 3-4 feet shorter in height and one I've never seen pics of climbers on the coveted boulder problem taken from. That was my summit. On the way down, the loose scree and gravel spoiled what was a pretty good route. I ended up doing 5 raps with a 7.7mm 50m rope. Note: album photo taken in May 2013

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