work was over for the summer, the weather was great, and hutchski was heading down towards bishop before taking the bumble beast east for a while. with some free time i decided to head down there too.
i mean, who could resist a crew like this
in a place like this
obviously the pups were happy to see each other
we started off in the happies? happys?, happy boulders?
nacho is happy. i am too.
hutchski on future planet of style
she found the high road to be a little loose, and backed off (or maybe she didn’t know what was on top)
around the corner still on the heavenly path boulder is celestial trail
the next day we wanted to check out pine creek canyon. the place is amazing
pratt’s crack gully and sheelite canyon
we were headed up to psom (palisade school of mountaineering) slab, which is pretty much everything in the picture
our destination was slow ride, a mixed 5.7. this was the start of like 9 pitches between 5.6 and 5.10b (on top rope) that hutchski and i would each do ever the next several days without hanging on the rope.
i started to think maybe i could climb
hutchski started to think maybe she could dance
two dog night in the alabama hills
lone pine peak looms over whitney
the next day we headed to the tall wall. hutchski makes her way up rotten bananas, a long 5.7. click for larger pic (then hit view full size)
then i led my way up the spur, another 5.7
from the spur anchors we top roped tall t, a 5.10b.
then we climbed a few routes over on the walnut. we slept at the tall wall while a group of night climbers had their way with everything we did that day. our plan for the next day was to head for the shark fin arete and get the required picture and then head into town for a shower and to dump they gray water. the shark fin had a line up so we decided to come back later.
we did hit ranger of the north on the sunday matinee wall. it’s rated as a 5.6 but finishes with a 5.7 or 5.8 move.
after a visit to lone pine we finally got onto shark fin, but the light was flat and the pictures less than stellar
i had been wanting to do the center dinosaur crack as it looked pretty easy from afar and the comments online said it was even easier than it’s 5.7 rating. they also said it was an ‘awkward’ approach. on our first attempt ashley had found the belay station and when she came back to the little downclimb section i noticed stoke’s paw bleeding enough to cause some concern, especially since she said the belay was not dog friendly.
our turnaround point at the down climb.
after dropping the dogs back in the van we headed back up. this is where climbing gets humbling. after getting about 4 pieces in i looked up and just didn’t feel it. not sure why i didn’t just put in gear and pull on it so i could at least learn something but instead we backed off. i must get better at crack.
to make ourselves feel better we went to the paul’s backyard, which offered the easiest climbing we found all week.
me on de ham bone, a 5.7 cruiser
the next day we planned to hike up the whitney trail as far as possible to get the dogs some fun and exercise. plus, hutchski had never been in the area. dogs aren’t allowed on the peak since that’s in sequoia national park so summiting wasn’t a consideration. with that in mind we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to climb the shark fin again in perfect conditions.
and then off to the whitney trail.
it was a perfect crisp day for a hike.
isn’t that fighter jet amazing?
the amount of trash in the lake at trail camp was astonishing. somewhere an italian-american actor that plays a native american is crying.
i had one more day free so we headed to the buttermilks (so i could leave bishop totally demoralized).
yes these things are tall. the sunshine boulder is but a pebble compared to the peabodies just downhill. even so, when i got to where hutchski is here my fear of heights got the best of me in a big way. one day i’ll be back in the proper frame of mind. the climb itself is easy.
grandma peabody does have some fun stuff for mere mortals to play on. me on essential peabody.
i returned to tahoe as hutchski was planning her trip south and east. fortunately her plans were thwarted by flooding in death valley and she ended up back in bishop a few days later and i had 2 days free so we met in tom’s place and drove to the catacombs. neither of us had ever been. the place is awesome. plenty of easy bouldering to be had. naturally we were drawn to the church of the lost and found but found it was church of can’t get off the ground at least on the v1.
the opposite wall had lots to play on though. cossaboom bang bang was fun.
some was super easy, and featured beer holders.
just messin’ around here. this wall was featureless but slippery
hutchski, stoke and the mary poppins boulder. i love this picture.
the unmandatory heel hook
not only does the weekend retreat feature beer holders (out of picture), but also a handy cell phone carrier even for the new iphone 6.
after that i headed back to tahoe since the storms were supposed to start that night. they did