Check this out #4

Amanda took this photo with her iphone during a 5 hour hike on the rim of the Volcanic Tablelands in Bishop.

Bishop, Week 2

How do you make highballs less scary?

Go climbing with some new friends!  We've been fortunate enough to meet up and climb with a variety of folks opening up new possibilities to climb in areas Amanda and I wouldn't dare visit alone!

One of such areas, was the Druid Stones, which took an hour long hike to get to--next time we will take the right trail!  Perfectly shaped boulders in an amazing setting, but don't take my word for it--check out some photos!

On the classic Sky Dance V5!

That crimp is tiny!  Bump to the jug...

Serious Californian spotters...

Cayla, V7, fell at the top out!  Double Dang!

Sweet moves out the roof.

Bump off that horrible left crimp to a one pad finger jug...

...kinda like that!

Where's the double rainbow?  Looking down the mountain from the Druid Stones onto Bishop.

Nice.

Nicer.

Amanda and The Iron Man Traverse, V4.  Her project...

She is so close, falling at the last move!  Fingers literally tickling the final jug at the lip.

Meanwhile, she is looking better and better on it.

Approaching the final crux.

Sunset in Buttermilk Country.

Beginning the traverse.  We're not leaving Bishop until she sends!  Low temps coming in next week!

Bishop, Week 1

When we got into Bishop, we were dreading that there was rain in the forecast.  When in fact, the clouds were a blessing, and the rains always came at the right time--when we were asleep.  We've been bouldering at the Buttermilks, but hope to check out the Happy and Sad Boulders in the weeks to come.

Enjoy some photos!

Amanda on The Beekeepers Apprentice, V5 at the Pollen Grains.

This is a big boulder--The Drifter Boulder.  High Plains Drifter, V7.  Buttermilks.

Setting up for the Drifter move...

Closer shot of the same move.  Slap to a slopey sidepull and once again to a small slimper.

There's that small slimper I was telling you about.

The topout goes on for a while, the downclimb comes down the V1 to the right in that crack.

Jedi Mind Tricks = scary.  V4.

Amanda crushing some steep huecos and jugs on the Beekeeper's Apprentice.

Smooth operator.

First crux--big cross on a sloping hueco.  Ripped it!

Hardest V6 on the planet:  Saigon.

Oregon and California Coast Photo Dump

 Here we are in Bishop, California.

The moment we pulled into the Buttermilks we decided that we would be staying for quite a while.  We're climbing, making new friends, and happy.

Enough jibba jabba, how about some action?

(Did you know you can click the images for a larger view?  Thats right you can!)

Amanda feelin' lucky in a grove of clovers.  Redwoods.

Fort Ross with fog early in the morning.  Sonoma Coast, Cali.

More of Fort Ross.

 

Chillin' on a Redwood.

Huge dyno to that crimp, Flying Monkey V9.

No, she didn't knock that down.  It was like that when we got there.

Trying to make some feathered friends.

Quiet time on the Sonoma Coast.

Midnight Lightning.  Camp 4, Yosemite National Park.

Portrait under the Stonemaster emblem.

El Cap, a Dead Guy Ale, and Amanda.  Perfect combination.

The King, V7, onsight.  The Cathedral Boulders, Yosemite.

It's kinda tall...We took the bikes around the park as we toured the bouldering areas in the Valley.  Pretty nice day, I'd say.

Tuolumne via Tioga Pass.

Tuolumne again, the other side of Half Dome.

Told you I was there, son!

Truffle Shuffle!

Dr. Suess lives here?  Nope, just another sweet random Astoria art gallery.

This store was nuts--we loved it.  Astoria.

The rocks fit the doubloon!  Cannon Beach.

Amanda enjoying Lost Rocks while crushing, Northern California.

Dyno to the lip and mantel.  Lost Rocks.

Sweet traverse in Lost Rocks.

Amanda has an eye for sweet shots.

The sand was especially low for our trip to Lost Rocks, resulting in mega-highballs.  No crashpads--just sand.

Another shot of that traverse I must have climbed back and forth at least a half dozen times.  Sometimes I just don't want to stop climbing.

Fog rollin' in.  Made for an eerie bouldering experience in the second half of the day.

Lake Convict in the Eastern Sierras.  Beautiful place, sordid history...