Blogs from Bishop, California, United States, North America - page 3

North of Lone Pine, 16-10-2002. I wake up well before sun-up, rolling up my sleeping bag, getting my things together and quickly cycling north, away from the massive Edward Airforce Base. These blokes were a bit too busy to my liking most of the night, driving jeeps around with huge lamps beaming in all directions. I actually got a bit scared they were aware of my presence and on the look-out for me, not that they ever found me, hidden in a small clearing between creosote bushes and low chaparral well away from the main road. I pass through a couple of small cities where life is just about to start before stopping in Cantil for breakfast, strong black coffee, omelettes with banquette, muffins and pancakes and a big glass of ice-cold orange juice. I've a ... read more

With our gear selection limited, as well as our patience with the crowds, we decide to pack it in and head back down to Bishop where we had already stopped briefly before heading into Yosemite. We got back into town early enough in the day to stop at the local outfitters, East Side Sports, and unlike every other shop we visited, there was a combination of great service, great selection and reasonable prices. I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in the area. Stef replaced the bouldering pad since Bishop is home to some of the best bouldering in the world, and was one of the places that I really had wanted to see after reading about it and seeing some pictures. The town of Bishop does not disappoint. It is small-ish but very ... read more

On July 13th, two co-workers and I ascended the 14, 496ft. Mt. Whitney: the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. Eric Leaf, Jesse Goddman and I spent the night in the lower Alabama Hills before beginning our trek from the trailhead at 5am; following the 7-mile-long Mountaineers Route we summited at 10 o'clock. The actual Mt. Whitney trail is a 13-mile-long series of switchbacks. We opted for the shorter steeper ascent which ended with a 50m section of 4th class climbing to the top. (4th class= both hands and feet are used to climb but no equipment) We descended in 3hrs. with enough time to take a shower and change before happy hour at Whiskey Creek in Bishop. The climb was so much fun because we only had to carry little camelbacks instead of our ... read more

Day 33 – Friday – Bishop, California Well it was some sadness that we said goodbye to Las Vegas this morning and headed through Death Valley and to Bishop where we're spending the night. "We" now includes two more...John, Jen, Dean & I are still in our car - but Kate (my best friend) and one of her friends/previous travel buddies Toni joined us in Vegas, and will be with us for the last two weeks (they have their own car). So today we got to visit the place of the second highest ever recorded temperature on Earth, (Libya being the highest apparantly) a scorching 58 degrees Celcius (136 Fahrenheit). Luckily for us it was only a balmy 44 Celcius (110 Fahrenheit). It is a very dry heat though so you only actually sweat if ... read more

We hit the road leaving Tahoe behind and headed to the next destination. Bishop CAlifornia. Just past Yosemite and West of Death Valley. We took our time on the 4 hour drive. We stopped and had lunch, took some pictures of Mono Lake, walked around Lee Vining...then we hit Bishop. A cool little town, a nice Main Street with a lot of shops. We drove from beginning to end in about a minute and a half (we got the green lights!). At the end of Main st., off Hwy 395 we took our right onto 168 on our way to the Buttermilks, a "climbing mecca." After an elevation change of a thousand feet or so we came to a dirt road called...you guessed it! Buttermilk Rd. We turn onto the road, which starts off smooth ... read more