Lee and his friends.

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Bishop Campground,
18-10-2002.

It's early morning and downhill now, mile after mile is disappearing under the tyres of my bike while I look around me enjoying the vistas of Owen's Valley at one side down in the valley and the White Mountains behind me. Sh*t, I wish I could turn my head a full hundert degrees, the way owls can so I could take in even more of this natural beauty.
I've to first go back to Lone Pine to bring Lee back the mobile phone he gave me yesterday, "just in case something goes wrong my friend" he told me handing me this piece of the latest technology.
No big surprise he's awaiting me with a bunch of his drinking buddies, strong looking blokes with the inevitable caps on their heads - I've been told that every american male owns at least three caps - their faces strongly suntanned and leathery due no doubt to a strong californian sun. The bottle of Red Label Johnnie Walker on the table instantly reminds me of my laborious climb up to Bristlecone Pine National Park yesterday while under the influence of this evil alcoholic spirit. Wouldn't want to have missed it for the world.
The taste of strong coffee and freshly cooked omelettes invade my nostrils the moment I walk in and introduce myself to his mates having strong suspicions I won't make much distancce today. Instead I'll have to sit it out here in Lee's Frontier Liquor Store telling his buddies about my night up there surrounded by these ancient gnarled wooden Mommas....these ancient trees that have been living up there in the White Mountains already centuries before Christ walked the earth doing his miracle thing with fishes and bread, producing red wine in huge quantities while preaching about his heavenly kingdom to the assembled five thausend, healing criples and raising the dead.
These strange thoughts cross my mind while I work on my omelettes and pancakes, I answer their questions politely....they have all been up there but in trucks and old Dodges...doing this steep curvy road by bicycle seems like the work of God Almighty as they keep telling me.
A friendly group of close friends who happily accepted me in their midst and when I finally on unsecure legs and several big shots of Red Label in my belly, leave the store I realise I'll probably never forget these guys.

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Photos

Rodents
around my campsite at night.