Bishop Part III

It rained on Wednesday, making cause for a rest day. It messed up my schedule a little bit, because I was supposed to climb Wednesday and rest on Thanksgiving. So giving in to the inevitable I took a rest day. On Thanksgiving I climbed at the Buttermilks with Ryan and Andy. There had to be at least 100 cars up there. I don't even want to think about what Friday and Saturday were like up there. We went to the Get Carter boulder, because it is a little further up the road, and out of the main area. There were still 10-15 people there the whole time, as well as about 5 dogs. It was a cold overcast day, so warming up was a bit of a slow process. After warming up we got on Seven Spanish Angels, also known as The Ruckus. Seven Spanish Angels climbs up this slightly overhung wall on cool crimps and slopy pinches, with a throw to a bucket at the top. Andy and Ryan kept getting to the last move, the same spot they had been stuck on for a few days. Somehow I managed to flash the climb. The climb is super classic and got me psyched on the Buttermilks for when I go back to Bishop. I also climbed on Get Carter, which is on the other side of the boulder. It climbs up this short overhang with some slap moves and then a semi-tall head wall with crimps. I was able to do all the moves, but didn't bother linking it up because it didn't seem like all that great of a climb and the people trying it were dabbing like crazy and continuing to climb. I saw more than once gravel and even a pad go flying. When you kick gravel or a pad you're supposed to step off Dumbasses! The last climb we did on the boulder was this tall arete, that was super good except for one awkward move in the middle. We headed back to The Pit to drop Ryan off so that Evangeline and him could go to Thanksgiving dinner at her sister's house. Andy and I went over to the Happy Boulders at that point. I tried Grindite, but got too sketched on the top so I downclimbed. We went up the hill and I tried this line on Therapy Roof which proved to be sharp and cooler looking than it actually is. After that I got shut down on Toxic Avenger after a few goes, so we went to seek out Rio's Secret Arete. It was getting dark and once again I got shut down. Then Andy and I went to Sizzler for Thanksgivning Dinner thanks to his parent's credit card. The next day I went to go check out the Eldorado Roof in Owen's River Gorge. The Gorge is a massive sport climbing crag, but based on Andy's description of this roof I wanted to check it out. The roof is a few hundred feet wide and 30-40 feet deep. The right side is around 4-5 feet off the ground, which makes it a good height for bouldering. I hiked 45 minutes with 2 pads to get to the roof. I warmed up on this super sharp lie back flake in the roof. The roof hadn't really been bouldered on in years. I cleaned up this line that started back another 10-15 feet and climbed into the previous climb. The problem had some crazy moves and took a lot of figuring out. It started with two jug sidepulls and slapped up to a crimp rail under this block. I then did a dropknee to match. That set me up for a slap to an intermediate sloper with the right hand, and then a bump to a good hold. I walked my feet out and then climbed leftward. I bumped my left hand three times along this rail to get into an awkward jug that torqued my wrist. I swung my feet over to the left and put in this heel-toe cam that consisted of a great toe hook and a bad heel scum against the polished back wall. I did a weird back flag into the corner of this block, and matched to do a hard unnerving cross under the flake to a crimp for the right hand and then a jug for the left hand. Then I bump my hand back to the jug that my right hand was just in. I push off this great foothold that feels like it's going to break with my right foot, and reach under the rock to this jug in the seam. I swung my foot down to the other wall and did a slap move to stop the swing, and then climbed the rest of the flake to the jug at the end and dropped off as a bloc problem. This cave is crazy because it has all these weird blocks sticking off the roof. It creates some truly unique climbing that is very hard to describe in words. It is a possible FA, but I seriously doubt it. I'm sure that with guys like John Bachar climbing here back in the day, it had already been done and forgotten. After that I hiked back up the hill to my truck and drove out to the Sad Boulders. I tried the new parking area down the hill on Chalk Bluff road because I was going to the South end of the Sads. I went to Kung Fu Grip and got very unmotivated after two tries, so I went to Anti-hero. It is a really cool cave climb with some unique holds. It would be better if it weren't so dabby. I had to use a headlamp in that cave, because of the fading light. By the time I was done it was dark out, but I still wanted to try Rio's Crack. I was surprised that the beginning moves didn't feel bad. I got up to what I believe is the crux, and peeled off. I didn't really try it after that because I was worried about the rock to the left on the landing. I'll have to go back to that climb with a spotter. The next day I went up to the Druid Stones with Andy, Bob, and Tash. Ryan and Evangeline met us up there. The approach to the Druids is a 30+ minute uphill hike with an elevation gain of over 1,500 feet ending up at over 6,000 feet. Despite this sort of approach the Druids were crowded, and I'm sure the other publicized areas in Bishop were worse. We warmed up on one of the first blocks we came to. On the backside there is this climb called The Sloth. It starts on this good rail and climbs out the roof on small crimps to a tall blank-looking finish. I only gave it a few tries since it was my first time at the Druid Stones. I definitely want to go back to put more work into this climb. I climbed on Arch Drude down the hill. I was able to do the original, and the left start first try. At this point I was pissed off and very cynical, because I was sick of the dogs, crowds, number chasers, and beta sprayers. I stayed and climbed a few more though. I looked at the Thunder Wall, but didn't climb on it because the climbs didn't look very good. I went around the corner and tried All Fired Up, this nice looking arete. That proved to be my only attempt on it however because it is sharp. After that I managed to flash Sky Dance, which climbs out this cool roof to a tall top out with lock-offs between good crimps. At that point my skin and muscles were trashed so I headed back to Flagstaff for exams and crowd free bouldering areas.