Middle Palisade, Mountain summit in Sierra Nevada, California

Middle Palisade is a mountain summit in the Sierra Nevada of Inyo County, California, formed from igneous rock and reaching about 14,000 feet (4,270 m) in elevation. It sits along a high ridge and has a glacier on its eastern flank.

Middle Palisade was first explored in 1875 by Gustave Eisen's expedition from San Francisco, but the peak went unmentioned until Joseph N. LeConte reported it in 1904. In 1919 J. Milton Davies, A. L. Jordan and H. H. Bliss climbed the southwest couloir and were stopped on a summit they named Disappointment Peak. Francis P. Farquhar and Ansel F. Hall made the first ascent on 26 August 1921 via that same southwest couloir, and Norman Clyde soloed the northeast face on 7 June 1930.

The peak sits along a ridge that brings together several of California's highest summits, drawing climbers who want to complete the full chain. On the trail, you are likely to meet experienced mountaineers who have planned their trip around this specific group of peaks.

The mountain is reached via the South Fork Big Pine Creek trailhead, and overnight permits are required during the main season. The terrain calls for mountaineering experience and proper equipment, as conditions can change quickly at this elevation.

The Middle Palisade Glacier lies on the peak's eastern flank, above the South Fork of Big Pine Creek, not on the north side. Its meltwater feeds Finger and Brainerd lakes, which drain into a branch of Big Pine Creek in the Owens basin, partly diverted to the Los Angeles Aqueduct.