Bishop...

Where to begin... where to begin... Do I start two weeks prior when stress levels were peaking... or the hour after I left Manuels place that fateful Friday night when the check engine light came on while driving to the boarder crossing...

...or do I skip all that and get to the heart of the journey... one that saw two fantastic women climbers onsight a 5.11b traverse put up by the one and only Peter Croft... that saw some of us overcome a fear of highball boulder problems... and one that saw myself achieve something that I figured would have taken months of work.

Saturday [early] morning... Lorraine, Manuel and myself arrive at the 'Skull Hollow' campgrounds near Smith Rock to the heavy breathing and snores of fellow climbers sleeping. We stealthily (sarcasm) setup our tents in the campsite of our friends Joleen and Jason who had arrived the day before. Soon after the tents were up we proceeded to pass out for about 6 hours.

My eyes crack open to reveal daylight outside of the tent. I look over and see Manuel fast asleep, still curled in his sleeping bag. Hearing the noises of other campers out and about I climb out of the tent and join the likes of Jo, Jason and Julia for a mid-morning breakfast of eggs and random veggies. Soon after Lorraine and Manuel both crawled out of the tents to join the rest of us. At that moment, with everyone around the table talking, laughing and planning out the events of the day, it hit me like an unexpected fall off a boulder from 10 feet off the ground...
...I'm on vacation!

I quietly revel in the moment taking in the looks on every ones face, the topics of conversation... the laughter and smiles.

Jo quickly snaps off a shot of the group of us... and a second of me sporting my stellar Mohawk... freshly shaved a day and a half ago.

Who knew that this seemingly random group of people, who were at most friends with individuals of our collective, but some of us never having met the other prior to the this trip, would become a bunch who supported every achievement. A group that was so easy going, so easy to get along with... that when it was all over and everyone was on their way home... it was like loosing 4 good friends all at once.

Once breakfast wrapped up the six of us decided it was a good time to get some climbing done before we continued on from Smith to Bishop. Just as we pull out of the camp ground the sky decides to open up and remind us just how far away from home we were not! But not to be concerned for rain in Smith usually only lasts for 20 minutes tops... and then dries out 10 minutes later. An hour goes by and by this point we're waiting at the trail head in the covered area trying to decide if we stay or continue on.

Lorraine pipes up with a very sobering comment 'Did we leave to climb in Smith or Bishop?!'

At that point we all remembered what were doing. Smith was only to be a short stop to meet friends and say hi... maybe get on a project but Bishop was the ultimate destination. So we drove back to the camp, packed everything away wet and left. Julia stayed behind with friends she had already committed to climb with.

As the song goes we were 'On the road again...' [cheesy]

So we drove... and drove... all the way to... Bend. Yes Bend. A town about 30 minutes out of Smith. *grinz* we stopped for lunch at a wonderful cafe. And without wasting too much time was on the road... again. This time for the long haul.

After hours of driving with only minimal stops for stretching, gas and food we came to the conclusion that we were all too tired to continue driving and stopped on a dirt road to setup a roadside camp and sleep for the night. Didn't quite realize it that night but the spot we chose to sleep at couldn't have been more scenic. We all awoke to a spectacular view of the hills and desert. This sleep had revitalized everyone for the final push into Bishop, only four more hours away.

The four hours go by like two.

Next thing we know it's 2pm and we're pulling into 'The Pit' at pleasant valley, a little bit of a paradox, I know, but home non-the-less for the next five nights. We quickly setup camp consisting of a Kawasaki covered area and three tents all spaced openly across the 'site'. Once setup all of our thoughts centered on one thing... what and where to climb.

The quick and dirty solution was the area joyfully called 'The Happy Boulders' .

We all agreed that this was the best way to quench our thirst to climb... one that has grown to be overwhelming. After 10 minutes of organizing climbing gear and pads we were on our way. It was a great way to end the day... to wander... and play. To be re-introduced to the rock type and style of climbing here. The day came to a close without incident.

The next morning started in a casual manner with everyone waking up between 8:30am and 9:30am, then making a decent breakfast. Our goal today was to visit Owens River gorge and check out the roped climbs there.

The gorge is an amazing geological feature that I won't go into great detail to describe other than I whole heartedly recommend that anyone visiting the area, climber or not, should take an afternoon and explore the beauty waiting for them. There is a diverse and controversial history to the gorge that can be of interest to anyone.

A phenomenal 400 vertical foot decent awaits all visitors of the gorge. Unfortunately not so phenomenal that one would so willingly repeat it should they realize the guide book is still sitting in the truck and not in their pack.
[That would be me...]

Jason made the decision to proceed on without the guide figuring there would be enough people around that we could scam locations and directions to note worthy climbs from locals and other visitors. Little did we realize that this decision would lead us directly to two kind and generous gentlemen from the Kelowna area. We had sat down in front of a random climb [shaded of course] when the aforementioned men happened upon us and were more than willing to share information on the area and the climbs we should look out for. Namely Eldorado Cave, The Great Wall of China and The Pub Wall.

After we all had a run on the climb in front of us, we packed up and proceeded farther into the canyon to see this cave. What awaited us on the other side of the hill would be something dreams are made of, or at least the dreams of climbers. The cave, this Eldorado cave, was fabulous!

Approximately 500' from left to right, 70' deep and about 60' tall. It was bigger than one could imagine, not to mention the fact that it had three roofs. Yes I said it, three roofs, all with chain draws. It was a play ground... one to be explored another day. We continued down the Pub wall where Joleen, Lorraine and Jason showed their stuff on two 34 meter climbs.

Once the sun passed the west wall of the gorge, winds started to pick up and dropped the temps significantly... we decided at that point to pack up and start heading out. Once back at the trucks we decided we would search for the hot springs out toward Keough. Search we did! We drove through the desert for a solid hour before finding 'The Ditch'.

You laugh but I'm serious.

The spring was quite literally run off from the Keough's Hot Springs. A structure similar to an outdoor public pool with natural hot spring water piped into the pools and drain each night. The Ditch was the drained water.

Eww. [Not really that bad... but wouldn't want to see it in the light of day.]

The next morning was much like the previous three a late start with a decent breakfast. Kind of funny because we were slowly becoming known as the 'Afternoon Shift' to most of the other climbers.

They would all be on their way at the crack of dawn to be sure they could climb before it was too warm... by about noon they would all be tuckered out and heading out of the canyons when we were just on our way in. Not that we were overly concerned with what others thought of our schedule... just a funny observation.

Either way I couldn't be bothered because we were going to the Buttermilk boulders today and unlike last year, the weather was co-operating. No 50mph winds and snow. A nice, dry 22 degrees! We all pile into Manuels truck, the usual seating arrangement. Joleen and Jason in the back with Manuel driving, Lorraine in the middle squished in against me to avoid the transmission shifter and I in the passenger seat. Sorta. And we were off to the boulders. We find the area, but not without a detour out of town before realizing the road we're looking for is in the middle of town. Either way. We made it to the destination.

Everyone piles out of the truck with excitement and starts unloading the essentials along with the non-essentials. The essentials being sunscreen, climbing shoes, chalk bags, pads, food, water and the non-essentials being sunglasses, iPods, sweaters and books. With the truck locked and gear loaded we make our way through the boulders stopping at the first ones we see. We all make a run on a highish ball V1 up the prow of a boulder... once getting to the top realizing a common theme with these boulders.

The theme being... no Squamish walk offs.

All the boulders require down climbing another 'easier' problem in order to get off. Not usually an issue if you're accustomed to it... but non of us were. This lead to some interesting battle wounds and mini epics were I'm sure all of us at one point or another wished we had a rope and harness. We made our way to a boulder aptly named 'Iron Man' purely for the one prominent problem on it ironically named 'The Iron Man Traverse'. Funny how that works. It is a V4 with a four star rating and from my experience on it, is a spectacular climb getting progressively harder and thinner the further you advance on it until the final move that you have been building up to. A giant move to a textured sloper and a rock around the arete to good holds and the only walk off you'll find in the entire area! Fantastic!

The bunch of us probably spent 2 hours playing here... each taking turns climbing and falling... climbing and falling. By this point the two guys from Kelowna had joined us and offered to take us over to another fun line on the 'Tut Boulder' called 'Funky Tut'. The climb being a very thin V3 with three stars most certainly deserved a better rating than that! A high foot with a press and a crimp into a very balancy section finishing off with a big move off of a credit card flake for a right foot going to a suit case handle hold that you can't see until you're there! Wow... exhilarating! Although by this point I think once most of our group had finished it, we had managed to depress our friends from Kelowna seeing as this was their project and we just walked up and sent it. *Sorry*

By this point the sun had drawn most of the energy from us and the rock here at the Buttermilks was so unforgiving that our fingers and body were left raw and sapped of strength to continue climbing. At this point we decided to head out to the Mamoth Lake hot springs... all the way back across town and another hour of driving. But man alive was it worth it! The springs are in the middle of a dried out lake with a crusty white layer of sediment across it.

The particular spring we frequented, as well as countless other people, consisted of a cement tub with the hot spring water and cold water plumbed to it. The spring water was so hot that the creators of the tub valved the hot water to allow some control over the temperature. If left open, the spring water can heat the tub enough to scald your skin almost instantaneously. We got the the pull out and in sheer excitement everyone jumper out of the truck and started running across the lake to the tub.

Cold wind blowing north to south across the flat land... chilling you to the core. This only encouraged us to get there faster! Once there we were met with cheers from some people already pruning in the water. We all quickly dispensed with the shirts and shoes and hopped in the tub with the others. We all did the meet and greet with the four people already there who, oddly enough, were from Canada too. Mostly from Alberta but nice people non-the-less. They offered a couple beers and good conversation! It was neat to find out that these people were also friends with some people that Joleen and Lorraine both new, once again re-affirming how small this world really is. This tub became a focal point for the next couple days seeing as our next day was a rest day, we pretty much planned our entire day around ending up here again.

Once everyone was relaxed and tired of the cold winds we decided that it was time to head back to camp for sleep... I had already almost nodded off once or twice while sitting there. This is when we all realized that only I had brought a towel and non of us were intelligent enough to remember a light to find our way back to the truck. *sigh* With people shivering and stumbling through the dark we finally made our way back to the truck. First order of business, turn on truck. Second, crank heat. I proceeded to get changed behind the truck into some pants from my now frozen shorts, when I over hear that Lorraine is missing her scarf of sorts. So I grabbed a flash light and accompanied her all the way back to the hot tub where the scarf was left sitting beside the water.

It was still cold, but the second walk was almost refreshing.. the wind had subsided slightly. Just enough to not shiver :) I'm not so sure that was what Lorraine was thinking. The walk also gave me time to become slightly more acquainted with Lorraine whom I had never met nor heard of before this trip.

[Although she seems to know at least half of my friends directly, which makes the idea of me never meeting her all the more interesting].

I digress.

We arrive back at camp... loaded with wood pallets and proceeded to start a fire. Crash pads around the fire make very comfortable couches by the way... I can't even imagine what we would have done without them. The rest of the night was filled with climbing tales, epic journeys big and small from all parts of BC, and the western parts of North America. Some of them personal, some repeated tales from others we all know. People laughed, drank and enjoyed each others company. By one in the morning everyone was sound asleep dreaming of the adventures already had and the ones to come.

Little did we realize what was to come in the next days.

The following day was considered a rest day and such with rest days we took even longer than normal getting ready to attack the day. I don't think anyone was up until at least 10 and breakfast wasn't started until 11. We had all agreed the night before that we would like to shower. The girls had snuck into an RV park private shower earlier in the week and intended to do the same today while Manuel, Jason and myself decided to drive to Keough and fork out the $3 to shower there. It was a beautiful day. Warm air with a slightly warmer breeze. Very relaxing.

Once clean we head back to town and meet with Lorriane and Joleen at the Starbux. The rest of the day was spent wandering through town, checking emails at a internet cafe and eventually after dinner making our way back out to the Mamoth Lakes hot springs. Once thoroughly soaked in hot water and taking advantage of the scenery by getting some stellar photo's we make our way back to camp where everyone packs it in right away. The wind had started to pick up at this point and was getting very very cold.

Painfully I opened my eyes... a lil' groggy still and stiff from the cold night. My hands not wanting to make a fist... something I'm used to when climbing but not something that normally happens on a rest day. It must have been very cold that night. 'What is this against my head' I think to myself. I realize its my tent wall pushed against my head, not fully understanding that it is there due to a relentless wind blowing through the valley we were in.

I am awake now and can hear the wind howling outside. It's blowing hard enough that a feeling of concern wells up inside me. I grab some clothes and reluctantly slide out of my sleeping bad into the cold air that filled the tent. Once fully clothed, pants, underwear, sox, t-shirt, hoodie, sweater, gloves, and hiking shoes, I stumble out of the tent into the open. A gust of wind, determined to knock me and my tent over, blasts through the camp ground. I give a little shiver. Looking around I notice that the weather has seemingly taken a turn for the worst, clouds trying to push through the Sierra mountains to the west and clouds pushing past the White mountains to the east. A wierd sight to be seen.

As I meandre through the camp site towards the truck mirrors so as to insert my contact lenses. I notice Lorraine is awake writing in her journal. We exchange polite greetings, both commenting on the strange weather and how we maybe should have taken today as the rest day instead of the beautiful day we had yesterday. In consistant fashion everyone slowly arose from the dead of sleep by mid morning and each one declared that it was a miserable day. The winds were strong enough it had nearly collapsed my tent and we were at risk of loosing the Kawasaki covered area. Once everyone was awake we quickly ran around the site reinforcing all the tent stakes and ties. We collapsed the covered area so that it did not take flight.

And then we got to the girls tent...

Now I should explain that when we got here Manuel, Jason and I had pretty much bomb proofed our tents so they could not blow away in the wind. We had rocks piled on guylines and the stakes. We had tie offs to full shrubs and small bushes. I believe by the end of the trip Jason tent had close to 12 tie off points to keep his tent from flying away. The girls tent, as we just now found out, was some how the most stable of all the tents by being tied off to the following: [This list is for Robyn]

1- Small Rock

2- Tufts of Grass

1- Stake

Yes. You read right... tufts of grass. *shakes head*... I just don't get it sometimes.

Anyways..

Continuing on...

After hours of debate we decided to reluctantly make our way to Happy Boulders... almost... about 5 minutes up the road we changed our decision to Owen's River Gorge instead where Jason, Manuel and I witnessed an impressive show put on by Lorraine and Joleen. Once in the gorge we made our way directly to Eldorado Cave where Lorraine was going to lead the 5.11b traverse put up by the one and only Peter Croft. The line is called 'Towering Inferno' and with a five star raiting, is spectacular in that it is 45m of traverse! 45m! Not only did the two of them have the balls to try it... Lorraine onsighted the climb and Jo took one fall at the tricky move through the 4th bolt. It was all the three of us guys could do other than to photo document the feat! Once they were down from their climb we proceeded into the cave to play on some 5.12's that had fixed chain draws. All in all not a bad day considering the possible catastrophe that could have occured due to the weather. The odd thing about the day is that we all thought that becaus the wind was howling through the valley at the floor level, that Owens River Gorge would have become a wind tunnel. Quite the opposite though. Almost no wind. Wierd.

The day came to a close with a quick fire to help relax and as the fire died down people slowly made their way to bed, dreams of climbing to come filling their heads.

The next day I was determined to make it back to the Happy boulders. I had been flipping through the guide book and each time I became captivated with a picture of Lisa Rands climbing 'The Hulk'. A four star V6, slightly overhanging problem that has a big move in the middle. Now I had made a goal for myself this year and that was to climb V7 by next christmas. Little did I realize how attainable that goal was. I wanted to atleast attempt this climb while I was here, not necessarily finish it but just try it out.

We made our way into the boulder field almost instantly meeting up with some other friends on a 4 month trip, Jeremy and Candace. They had been here a couple years in a row and knew the area pretty well, so the two of them took us to a couple climbs to warm up with. One being a highball V1, the other being an overhung V2. Once those were completed I knew where I wanted to go and made a b-line straight for it. I still remember it as though it happened yesterday, walking along the path... and then there it was all of a sudden right infront of me.

...In all of its glory.

I threw down my pad and looked at the problem.. sessing out the possible sequence... looking for the crux and possible solution. Thinking what I would have to do to make this move... it was huge. Once everyone else arrived at the boulder we poked around at a V2 called Big Bird on the end but that wasn't what I wanted. I got bored with that right away and decided now was the time to give the project a try. There was a young girl and (I assume) her boyfriend already there playing around on the first couple of moves. Making it to the crux each time but not really commiting to the stance required to setup for the big move.

I look the problem over a couple more times... usually stopping and at the show stopper move wondering how I was going to do that. Figuring I'll figure it out when I get to that point I sit down at the base and work through the moves. A lil' ackward trying to find the right way to hit each hold. Moving a lil in-efficiently. Thinking about the moves waaay to much. I get the pinch and the sinker pocket.. try to setup for the tense undercling/intermediate.. bumble my feet and blow the intermediate falling back in the pads. I get up and walk it off. I am determined now... I will send this project before we leave. I make repeated attempts on the problem... spending close to 4 hours in front of it. Making progress towards the goal but not sticking THE move.

Near the end of the afternoon I had gotten so far as to make the crux move but once made I had pumped myself out of being able to move anyfurther. After that I decided it was time to let it go for the day. There was after all one more half day of climbing left. The rest of the afternoon was spent putzing around watching the everyone else climb a couple highballs and try another V4 called Beach Bones. A fun line but I was too tired to actually give it a serious try. The day was done at that point. We all went back to camp beat and drained. All I could think about for the rest of the evening was the sequence to the Hulk.

The final day of climbing was a lil' different that usual in that once breakfast was done instead of climbing right away we had to pack. It was a sad moment. Untieing the guylines and removing all the rocks. Packing everything away. But c'est la vie right? I was still excited to get back to the boulders. So excited that when we got back I had forgotten to bring my shoes along and had to go back to retreve them. During that time Jason and Lorraine attempted a V4 crack called 'Hard Crack'... and hard it was. So hard they even attempted to top rope it. Lorraine, uncharacteristically, struggled on it initially but after a bit of work finished it. Now back from grabbing my shoes I made my way without stops directly to the Hulk. I sat infront of the climb and moved through the moves making it to the same crux move as the day before... winding up for the big throw... and missed. Down on the pads I go. Most of the morning went that way on this climb. Joleen, Jason, Manuel, Lorriane, Jeremy and Candace all showed up and started working on a V3 problem called Solarium. Steep and balancy. But its not as though they were ignoring me and my attempted conquest. They still lividly showed their support as I tried and tried again to send the problem.

As the morning wore on I was getting to the point where I was thinking maybe this wouldn't go this trip. Maybe this was not the time for me to complete this problem. Then all of a sudden I try and made the crux move! I matched on the hold and moved through the next two moves... but with difficuty... and pumped out working up to the last move. I had once again bumbled my feet and couldn't get set for the last two moves. I fell straight to the pads. Quickly trying two more times in an attempt to just finish it I couldn't make the move anymore. I felt defeated. Joleen and Jeremy had both just sent Solarium a few minutes earlier and were now standing around me. I was packing up my stuff figuring the day was done when another guy working the problem, Mike, all of a sudden sent the problem. Joleen turned to me and said 'You have to try it one more time'. I shook my head figuring it would turn into one of those situations that occur where you get hurt trying it one last time. She looked at me and said 'Try it one more time... you can't break the send train!'

She was right. Why not try it one more time. There was 20 hours of driving ahead... worse case is I hurt myself. There is two days of healing ahead.

I pull out my shoes, unfold the pad and calm myself. Brush a lil' chalk across my hands. I look at the problem, Joleen pipes up one last time that I remember hearing, 'Don't think about it, just move naturally.' I take a deep breath and sit in the dust at the bottom of the climb. The wind blows some dust around...

And I move... Left foot on the half moon credit card, right on the rubber smeared nub. Hands relaxed on the textured jug ledge. I twist my left hip in and slide my left hand into a jug under cling. Twist the opposite direction and stand higher, reaching around the bulge to the left. My right hand hits the finger slot at the top of the bulge perfectly. I step my left foot onto the start hand ledge and reach high to the flairing shallow crack with the perfect thumb catch. Pinching just right, I switch feeting and control a fall into a sinker pocket with my right hand from the finger slot. From there I suck my body up and stand left foot on the bulge and right heel hooked on a catch around the other side of the bulge. I pull hard with the right heel and ease my right hand onto a small undercling... all the while the angle of the boulder is forcing me to hang back... Once on the undercling I release the heel hook and slide the big toe into the sinker pocket. This is the setup for the crux move... with the toe pulling hard you release the right hand again and push high and far behind you for a tectured sloped block. Contact... my hand hits the hold like many times before... but always sliding off... except... it doesn't slide off this time! I stuck the move! Not allowing myself to get excited yet I release my left hand from the pinch it has been holding so long now and match on the sloped block. My feet break loose and my lower body swings. I pull everything together and lift my left foot up heeling hooking a small, almost vertical pocket. I press my right foot on the wall below my left heel and push up and hit the rail skipping a small crimpy hold. Once on the rail I move my feet to the block and match hands on the rail. Starting to get excited with only one more move left... I step on a small nub, rock onto my toe and move through to a crimp and bump to a jug. Once on the final jug I pull through to the top of the boulder, turn and sit. A huge grin on my face. I just sent my first V6.

Now after all this typing... I'm tired. This is not however the end of the trip. There is still one more fantastic day where we end up at the dunes in Oregan after driving through a very narrow but beautiful valley, finally ending up at home in bed sound asleep. But as mentioned I'm tired.. and plan on climbing in Hope tomorrow. So I leave you with this. A ridiculously long blog that I think I will only ever fully enjoy... partially due to length.