Oct. 31st: Well deserved rest day
Nov. 1st – 5th: Bishop, CA
We left Yosemite late in the afternoon and drove through Tuolumne to reach the small town of Bishop. We drove up to the world renowned bouldering area named “The Buttermilks” which was only a 15min drive from the town of Bishop. Apparently the name originates from a water source that created a high quality grass for the cows to feed on. Because of this enriched grass, the cows gave a higher percent of cream in the milk. Hence the name Buttermilk! Since we arrived around 10:00pm it was dark and didn’t find the bouldering area. Instead we came along a nice spot to spend the night and waited for sunrise to search for “The Buttermilks” bouldering area. I woke up for sunrise and did a photo session of the area. It’s always a surprise (usually a nice surprise) when we arrive in a new area at night. I never know what the area will look like at sunrise. This morning was a contrast to Yosemite. The vast desert area slowly got lit by the warm rays of the sun with snowy peaks in the background. Not a bad place to wake up to!
On November 2nd we spent our first day in “The Buttermilks” area bouldering. Rather, Pat spent the day bouldering as I took photos. I tried a few boulder problems earlier in the morning and my ankle would sometimes hurt depending on how I twisted it while climbing and falling on the crash pad. A sign for me to rest! So I listened.
On November 3rd we drove to another bouldering area named “The Happies” which are in another area 15min from Bishop. Bouldering at “The Happies” is quite different from “The Buttermilks”. The rock itself is more featured and is made of volcanic tuff. This makes the climbing more acrobatic. “The Buttermilks” are composed of glassy granite which is less featured and more technical. Again, I rested the ankle and cruised around on my mountain bike and took photos of the area. Before dinner, Pat and I went to the Galen Rowell Photography Gallery in town with a friend we had met in Yosemite named Alexandre Buisse from Lyon, France. I had read a few books written by Galen Rowell in the past and loved his work. It was great to see the large prints of this photographer displayed with Alexandre who is doing well to become a professional photographer. You can see his work on his website: www.alexandrebuisse.org
On November 4th I stayed in town and caught up on e-mails and photos at the Looney Bean coffee shop while Pat went to trad climb at “The Gorge” for part of the afternoon. Later on in the afternoon I visited the Galen Rowell exhibit.
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| A beautiful sunrise near the Buttermilks. |
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| Taking in the sun during breakfast. |
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| A Buttermilks boulder. |
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| A boulder at The Happies. |
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