First Two days in Bishop.

Guh. Man I love the Buttermilks, but they do not love me back.

I am chilling in a coffee shop in Bishop right now. I was going to camp up at the Buttermilks so that I wouldn't pay to camp or drive anywhere, but the weather forecast was for lows of 28 in town and wind gusts up to 30mph. I wimped out and have retreated down to town and camping at the Pit. The Pit is at about 4800ft so around 1500ft lower in elevation compared to the Buttermilks, so I am hoping for warmer weather and a bit less wind.

Yesterday I drove up from LA and got to the Buttermilks around 12:45. I immediately jumped out of the car and was blown over by the wind. I got back up, grabbed my pad and spent the next few hours getting beaten down by the climbs I tried while simultaneously being frozen by huge wind gusts and clouds covering the sun. I found a few climbs that I could make some progress on, but nothing that I actually sent. I also found some that rejected me completely i.e. Green Wall Center.

I finally gave up, and headed down to the Happies getting there around 4:45. I went to find Rave a v7 which I decided I could not do at all. The holds are too slick for me. I may need to get a lot stronger for that one. I also tried Gleaner v6 (some other dude) for a little bit and got pretty well shut down, although I was able to pull off the ground so that was a step up from Rave.

So I packed up and went up to Action Figure for another try. Maybe the afternnon I sacrificed to the problem was not a total waste, because I walked right up and sent it on my first try of the day. I was pretty psyched. I was totally unsure what to do next, so wandered around the corner and saw another problem that I had tried back in November called Little Country Girl v6. I had seen a video of some dude climbing it on-line so armed with that information, I attempted to figure it out. And much to my surprise I actually made progress. I figured out all the moves sometime just as the sun was going down. And I managed to just barely miss the finish a few times, before promising myself "one last try" before I had to leave due to failing light. And it almost never happens this way, but I did indeed send it on my last try. I hit the last hard move, got my left foot up, and snatched the final jug catching it with my finger tips. I took a held my breath and bumped my hand deeper into the jug, before breathing a sigh of relief. So that was 2 v6s in 2 hours. A pretty good day for me despite getting pretty well beat down by the Buttermilks.

Today I went back for more abuse at the Buttermilks. I took my sweet time getting ready this morning and finally left the car at 11:00am. I headed over to the Checkerboard area. My oh my does Checkerboard look super amazing. I would love to get on that but I'll need more strength, more spotters and more pads. So I warmed up in the Chess area sending a v0 or two. Then I headed over to Painted Cave v6. This problem is really cool and I made some good progress on it getting to the second to last hold. But I ran out of energy, needing lunch badly, and the sun made the sloping finishing holds a little too slick. So packed up and headed back to the car after ogling a few more problems in the area.

I ate lunch at the car and lazed around on my crash pad, before heading to the Get Carter boulder down the hill. I was there to try Seven Spanish Angels v6 and Get Carter v7. I got out of the car and it was way windy. I walked around the boulder checking out the problems and I was too cold. The wind sapped my motivation. I sat down against the boulder away from the wind and nearly dozed off. I got up to get back in the car and go somewhere else, but as I walked by SSA I felt up the start holds and said "f*ck it!" I grabbed the pad and threw them down, put on my shoes flailed away. I actually managed to make the first move much to my surprise. I kept going and took a nice tumble onto the pads. I gave it a few more trying and made it to the last move but I was unable to work up the courage to set up for the final dyno with no spotters. The last hold I could reach was good but not that good and I knew I could pop off it at any moment. I tried Get Carter but was completely mystified by the start. I bailed and here I am at the Looney Bean accessing the interweb. Tomorrow is a rest day for my muscles and finger tips. I am sure I'll be back here. And I will surely go for a run or a hike or both.