In the beginning, there was... Bishop!

The view from Von's parking lot in downtown Bishop in the morning

I had decided a number of months ago that when I finished my master's program, I would immediately embark on a month-long climbing trip. In fact, that was the impetus for even creating this blog, in the first place. My master's program was to finish on Friday the 5th and I would leave on the 6th. Well, on the night of the 5th, I was finishing up the last of my thesis paper and the thought that I would be driving 16 hours the next day hadn't really hit me yet. Saturday rolled around and I was still hurriedly cleaning out my car and packing the last of my things. I had breakfast with Aubrey at her pub, like any other lazy Saturday, only instead of driving home, I was driving through 4 states.

Oregon was really wet.

It wasn't until I got to Portland and stopped for lunch that I finally realized I was actually beginning my long anticipated trip. A huge feeling of elation passed through me and even though Oregon was dumping tremendous amounts of rain I still had a slight smirk on my face.

The drive was pretty uneventful other than running over a poor jack rabbit that didn't know hanging out in the middle of highways was dangerous. I reached Reno around 10 pm after starting my drive at 10 am and was thinking of stopping for the night to rest, but I was still capable of driving, so I decided to delay my decision until Carson City. I gassed up and then texted my friend Alex who was meeting me in Bishop from Santa Barbara "Trying to figure out if I want to sleep or push to Bishop." After a few moments of indecision at the gas station, I grabbed a coconut water/espresso drink and some sunflower seeds to keep me busy and got back in the saddle.

Three hours later, I finally made it to Bishop and after finding out a room was $70 for the night I pulled into the Von's parking lot and passed out, my solo 16 hour drive complete.

My car in the Von's lot. Apparently it's a popular nightspot for campers, too.

I wake up to a gorgeous sunny day and get a text from Alex saying he's going to be in around 1 in the afternoon. We plan to meet in the Buttermilks, so I kill a little time getting coffee at the Looney Bean and then head out to go for my first climbing session.

This photo doesn't even do them justice.

I tag on to a pair of climbers from San Francisco at a warm-up boulder and I can already tell I need to relearn how to boulder on this glassy quartz monzonite. The last time I climbed in Bishop was over 3 years ago and I forgot how polished the patina feels. After playing around on the mellow warm-up boulder, I want to go try Fly Boy Sit-start, a V8 that I managed to send on the last day of my last trip here.

The guy from San Francisco was stoked to try it also, and fired it first go. Again, a little nervous about my footwork on the rock, I pull on and stick the first big move to a good crimp. From here, it's straight pulling on good incuts at 45 degrees to a big toss for a jug on the lip. I find myself suddenly positioned to throw for the jug and with a good spotter and pads underneath me I go for broke. I stick the lip with my right hand but miss the bucket jug that's a few inches back from the lip. Tenuously, I hike my foot up and pull through the 3 inches to the bucket and grovel my way over the boulder's lip. I met up with Alex a little while later and we climb for a while before the wind picks up too much and we call it a day.

Fly Boy Sit circa 3 years ago. You toss to the jug from the next left hand in that seam.

The next day we hit up the Sad's, which I have never been to before. After a quick warm up we go to try an awesome V8 called Pow Pow. It has some really neat beta involving heel-toe cams and pinches, followed by a fun toss to a good flat hold. I stick this move twice, but both times I can't figure out where to put my feet to pull through to the next hold. Alex got pretty close too, but he waffled around on the beta for the lower moves and was pumped by the time he got to the throw move.

Say it with a whisper... "pow pow"

When I get some solid internet, I'll try and upload footage of us working it. The wind picked up a ton after lunch and I tried to climb a highball called Strength in Numbers, but the pads kept getting blown away so we decided to call it and head to the cafe for a coffee and IPA. Here I now sit, writing the end of this blog post with Alex looking at me expectantly. I'll update again, soon!