Bishop, CA

Monday morning we woke up early from the hotel in Vegas, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then hit the road for a 7-1/2 hour drive up to Yosemite. We drove north out of Las Vegas and continued on until we hit Mono Lake which is more or less at the base of Yosemite National Park. We stopped took a couple of pictures and continued on. Below is a picture of Mono Lake.

Once we got a little closer to the parks entrance on the east side, we stopped at the Mono Lake visitor center and picked up a map of the park, talked with one of the rangers for a little while, then continued on. We climbed to over 9000 feet, where we entered the park using our national parks pass. We can't tell you how useful that pass really is. What a great investment. Our goal was to reach Camp 4, where we were going to meet up with some climbing friends. Camp 4 is in the Yosemite Valley and would take us close to 2 hours to get there from entering the park on the east side. We drove through the park and pulled off several times along the way to take some pictures. We really enjoyed the drive and the weather was nice and cool. Below is a picture of Half Dome at one of many pullouts along the way.

We pushed on till we hit Yosemite Valley, which is just amazing. We drove through the valley and the shear granite faces will blow you away. This place is larger than life. You feel so tiny when you are there. We drove through very slowly and took tons of pictures. Below is a picture of the world famous El Capitan.

We circled around and found Camp 4 where we wanted to set up camp for the night. We approached the ranger and she told us she gave away the last tent sight 15 minutes ago and that the campground was full. Jodi and I had to look for another place to stay quickly, since most of the areas in the valley fill up very quickly. We checked over at the Yosemite lodge and they were also full. The guy at the lodge recommended checking with a place right down the road that had cabin rentals. We drove down there and found them to be booked as well. Everything in the valley was booked solid, might I remind you it was a Monday. We had no other choice but to exit the park and search for a place to stay on the outskirts of Yosemite. We drove out the west gate to a town called El Portal were we stopped off at the first hotel we found. This place was crazy packed, but decided to give it a try. I waited in line for 20 minutes, then asked the guy behind the desk if they had any rooms available. It ended up that he gave me the last room they had. We were very lucky. We checked-in and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the pizza shop next to the hotel. After pizza we called it an early night and hit the sack.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and decided to hit the park again for some more pictures and decide what we wanted to do. Our climbing friends had contacted us the day before and asked if we would be interested in doing some multi pitch trad climbing with them. We decided to pass on the multi pitch trad and were more interested in looking for some single pitch sport or even some bouldering. We sought out to find some stuff and quickly realized it was harder to find since we had no guide book and we really didn't know the area. After we abandoned the climbing idea we headed over to Bridalveil Falls and took some pictures and hung out there for a while. Below is a picture of the Bridalveil Falls

After the Bridalveil Falls we decided to say goodbye to Yosemite and head to Bishop, CA where we wanted to climb at Owens River Gorge. We drove through Yosemite Valley once more for some more pictures and headed for the east entrance to exit. The drive to the east side was nice and took about 2 hours. Once out of the park we continued on 395 south pass Mammoth Lakes and toward the town of Bishop. We rolled into Bishop around 2pm or so and hung out most of the afternoon at the Looney Bean Coffee Shop were we checked out the guidebook and caught up on the blog. After a couple hours of that, we headed across the street to a gear shop to see if we could get some local beta and driving directions to the gorge. We talked with one of the guys there for a while and he told us everything we needed to know. We chatted with him about the length of the routes in the gorge, and that we read that some climbs in the gorge require a 70 meter rope, especially the extensions. He agreed, and told us he only climbs in the gorge with a 70 and in the past some people have been lower off the end of their 60 meter ropes. We really didn't want to limit ourselves, and decided to purchase a 9.8mm 70 meter cord from them. Plus the rope we started out with on the trip has been taking non stop abuse since we left. It was really starting to show some wear. We left there armed with some great knowledge and a new rope. Later that afternoon we headed up to the gorge to check it out for the next day. We drove back to Bishop, stayed in town that night, and were looking forward to a good couple of days of climbing.

Wednesday morning we got of to an early start and headed to Owens River Gorge, which is about 15 minutes north of Bishop. We entered the Central Parking lot and took the 400' descent trail straight down into the gorge. We first checked out an area known as "Social Platform"
which was in the shade for most of the morning. Again we had to play the shade while we were there because the high for the day was 104. Once in the shade it was quite enjoyable. We started off on a 10a called "Nirvana" and it was a really nice climb. We each ran a couple of laps on that and moved on. Next we set up "Expressway" (11b) which is an 80' 5 star classic down there. Led it first go, with very little pain in the finger. The climb was dead vertical with small face moves. Totally our style of climbing and found it to be very enjoyable. Both ran a couple of laps on that then moved on. Right next to "Expressway" was a 5 star climb called "Darshan aka Ripoff" which was rated 12b. It looked really cool and had to try it. I also wanted to see how my finger was going to react on something a little harder. This climb was about 90' long and quite intense. I manged to finish it with only 2 hangs, which was a major victory for me. (took the first rip on the new 70 meter cord, NICE) The finger was hurting a little after that one, but now I knew my limits. After we finished that, the sun was quickly approaching the crag so we moved across the stream and climbed at the "Warm Up Wall". There was a nice selection of moderate climbs there that we wanted to spend the afternoon exploring. After some light lunch (trail mix)we jumped on "High Seas" (5.7) and ran several laps on that. We pulled rope from that climb and set up "Humbly, Mumbly, Jumbly" (10b) and again, ran several laps on that. After we finished that we ran "Babushka"(5.8) to the right, for the final climb of the day. After several laps on that, it was close to 5pm and we decide to call it a day. We didn't want to burn ourselves out on the first day, since we were planning on spending close to week in the gorge. We exited the gorge and found a really cool camp spot at the Millpond Campground, right outside of Bishop. We set up camp, fixed some hamburgers for dinner, watched an episode of "The Office" on DVD, and hit the sack.

Thursday morning we woke up around 8am, fixed a quick breakfast and headed back to the central gorge. We hiked back down the 400' decent and parked ourselves in front of the "Social Platform" again. This time we sent "Orange Peel" (10c) which was another 5 star area classic. Each ran 2 laps on that and proceed to the left to put up "Chillin' at the Grill", a 80' 11c. Led that first go, and got a little pump coming out the steeper section near the end. Ran another lap to get a good burn, then cleaned it up. By now the sun was very close to blasting the crag so we again crossed the stream and went to the other side in the shade. This time we headed over to the "Pub Wall" where there was a nice selection of 10's and 11's. Once we got there, we jumped on a 90' slightly overhanging 5 star classic called "Hungover" (11b). Sent that first go, and really enjoyed the bucket pulling enduro fest it offered. Cleaned it up and moved on next door to a super fun 10a called "Abitarot". Really cool movement over some pretty nice stone. We each ran a couple of laps on that and then took a snack break. After our little break we pulled rope and led "Abitafun" (5.9). This was a 13 bolt, 105' climb that seemed like it went on forever. (Glad we bought a 70 meter rope) Ran a couple of laps on that and then both decided to call it a day, because of the dark clouds that were approaching from the west. We got back to the parking lot around 5pm and headed back to the camp sight for a relaxing evening. Once back at camp we soaked our feet in the river for 20 minutes (our feet were really bothering us) and ate left over hamburgers from the night before. We hung out around camp, watched another episode of "The Office" on DVD and hit the hay. Below are some pictures of the Owens River Gorge.

Here is a picture of the gorge from above before our 400' decent down.

Friday, like the past two days, we woke up early and headed back into the gorge at the central location. We hiked down to the bottom of the gorge and decided to head a little further north to a popular area known as "The Great Wall Of China". We crossed the stream and proceeded up hill to the crag. Side Note: As we were heading across the stream, my left foot lost traction and totally ate it in a gravel/sand pit. No serious injury, just some minor scraps. Funny thing is right after that Jodi was on a rock right before the stream crossing, she slipped and a Nalgene bottle popped out of her bag and went into the stream. It floated away before we could retrieve it. Kind of funny how those events happened so close together. Anyways, made it to the "Great Wall Of China" and first put up a 4 star 5.8 called "China Doll" for a warm up. After the warm up we put up another 4 star climb called "Tsing Tao" (10b) to the right. Each ran a lap on that and saw that the sun was getting close again and we only had time for one more climb before we had to move to the other side. We opted for the 4 star 11b called "Mandarin Orange" in the center section of the cliff. The climb was a slightly overhanging 90' face with 11 bolts. It proved to be somewhat of a marathon. Fired it first go and liked it so much that I ran 4 more laps on it. Really felt the forearm burn on the last go. By now the sun was inches away from baking us so we packed our stuff and head across the stream to the other side in the shade. We started hiking south as if we were heading back out. We passed a section of cliff known as "Faulty Tower" which looked really fun, and in the shade. Once over there we set up a real technical 11a called "Crash Landing". Proved to be a little tweaky on my right finger and had to take at the first bolt. After figuring out a sequence that didn't hurt my finger, I pulled rope and fired it. After finishing it, we decided to clean it, as this wasn't the climb to do laps on. (kind of a heinous one move wonder, plus if you blew the crux move, you would more than likely hit the deck. Wonder how the route got its name...) It was very painful on the fingers, and we didn't need that. We continued on down the cliff to the "Warm Up Wall" where we were a couple of days before. Once there we set up a 10b called "What Up" and ran 4 laps on that. Jodi ran it a couple of times and really enjoyed it. Since I knew we were ending the day at this crag, I decided to punch it and get a really good enduro burn. I tied back in and ran the 10b up and down 8 times. My arms felt pretty good once I was back down, but the skin on the finger tips were gone. Our hands felt incredibly raw. Since we still had some daylight left we decide to run one more climb for a cool down. We set up a 70' pumpy 5.9 called "Crowd Pleaser". We really should have called it quits before we put this climb up. Every single move was super painful on the skin. I made it to the chains, down climbed the route and then threw in the towel. Jodi followed it and cleaned the route. It was close to 6pm and we both were smoked from 3 pretty hard days of climbing. We packed it up headed up to the parking lot and back to camp. Once there we cooked a delicious dinner that Jodi thought of. Elbow pasta, canned salmon, and brown mushroom gravy. I know it sounds horrible, but it was super good. Maybe it was that we were starving, and could have eaten just about anything, but we really enjoyed it. Again we watched another episode of "The Office" on DVD and passed out.

Before we went to bed that night we decided that we liked where we were at so much we wanted to stay till Tuesday, then head out. We also decided that after 3 days of climbing, our bodies were in desperate need of a rest day. Saturday is going to be a rest day, where we are planning on going up to North Lake to do some sight seeing. Sunday and Monday will both be climbing days, and on Tuesday we will head out for Arizona. At least that is the plan as of now....