Rough hands and a rest day....

So we got back out to the Buttermilk boulders yesterday to do some more climbing...got some more cool routes in. Man....the rock out here hurts....it is like using a cheese grater for a hand hold...I think we all came out of the climbing session with some "skin issues" (i.e. there is less skin on everyone's fingers now than when we got here...)...but we enjoyed the climbing and sent some cool routes.

After we got back from climbing we ate some Japanese (apparently fried rice is not Japanese...so I had to settle for white rice)... did some liquor shopping...bought some playing cards and snacks...and went back to the campsite to hang out. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves...got a bit drunk, got a bit loud....and I won a game called "asshole" six times in a row (I learned to play last night....).

Thank God today was a rest day...my fingers could not have taken another day of climbing...

Woke up a bit late this morning, had some bacon & eggs (we cooked them on a backpacking stove...it took a while), and did some local exploring. We drove into a town called Lone Pine to check our a gear store (Elevation)...we can spend a lot of time checking out gear if we are allowed...It was a small place, but it had some pretty cool stuff. On the way over and back from elevation, we saw a snow storm dump a bunch of powder on a mountain range along the road...it was pretty sweet to see...especially since the snow wasn't heading our way....

When we got back to Bishop, we grabbed something to eat at a pretty cool little sandwich shop and decided to check out the new Harry Potter movie (yea we did....). I showed everyone how much of a loser I am by telling them the characters they were thinking about and how to pronounce there names and all....yea...I'm a loser....what of it?

Right now we are sitting in a starbucks...they are trying to close up...and they hate us...but we don't care...

err...music...I don't know most of the bands, but here goes:

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Beastie Boys -Anthology: The Sound of Science

Kings of Leon - Only by the Night

Dropkick Murphy's - The Warrior's Code

As they mop around our table at Starbucks, I feel compelled to keep this one short...hopefully we will get some pictures out to you soon.

Talk to you soon...

Picked up 2 chicks in Vegas....we kinda knew em already...

So, we picked up our friends Lisa and Leslie in Vegas and drove out to Bishop, California (yea...the car needed to be rearranged a bit...no, it can no longer be slept in with any degree of comfort...).

At the border of Nevada / California, we were on a "highway" with no car traffic whatsoever...we decided to get out of the car to take some border pictures...in the middle of the road...I felt like I was playing a game of street hockey on a dead end street...without the equipment and nets and all that....

We made it Bishop yesterday and found ourselves a campsite to set up in. We set up some tents and it feels just like home...except for the lack of beds and heat...but we don't complain much...

This morning we went out to the Buttermilks area of Bishop...some pretty sick bouldering, but it is sharp...this is the most my fingers have hurt at any point on this trip. As you can see from the pictures, you couldn't be climbing in a much more scenic area...everything out here is beautiful. We are constantly surrounded by mountains, and even the clouds are amazing.

We got to do some pretty cool climbing today (to the point of near exhaustion on the part of our entire party...) and we are excited to get back out on the rock tomorrow despite our raw finger and aching muscles.

After climbing we made an "emergency" run to an outdoors store to get a back-country coffee press for the gals...apparently, they aren't morning people....

As per usual, we are sitting in a starbucks, writing this blog for you (I hope you appreciate it....because I should be sleeping...Alex is pretty much sleeping right now...).

Well music...err...may have forgotten some things, but here goes:

Gorillaz - Gorillaz

Led Zeppelin - IV (of course we had to do this....we were going to California...the song is called "Going to California"...no brainer)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (obvious reasons.....)

Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

The Smashing Pumpkins - Greatest Hits

Dave Matthews Band - Crash

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Leslie's Ipod - random....

Quote of the day....

Yesterday : Background information : we were drinking....and we were playing travel pictionary...I was trying to get Alex to say "Three Men and a Baby" using cards consisting of...three men....and a baby....the girls won THAT round....

Larry - " The little stick figure is a baby"

Alex - "Well if you would have birthed it I would have gotten it right away...."

It was really funny at the time...

Today, we don't have the presence of mind to remember any particular quote-worthy statements from today...but I am sure there were many...many...

Well I'm going to sleep...I hope...

That's me, Alex, and Leslie doing some bouldering...yea...my titles are pretty creative...

That's me, Alex, and Lisa doing some bouldering...

On the way to / in Bishop / eating....

Leslie didn't like the oatmeal....and I guess Lisa liked the peanut butter wrap...we're kind of gourmets....

Day 2 in the Red Rock Canyon

Well, we got back out to the Red Rock Canyon today to do some more sport climbing. We went to the "Panty Wall" and got in a lot of fun sport climbs ranging in difficulty between 5.7 and 5.8+...

We were actually surprised by how much we enjoyed the climbing out here. There is a lot of great stuff and we definitely intend to make a return trip at some point to do some of the bigger multi-pitch climbs.

Tomorrow we are picking our friends Lisa and Leslie up at the Las Vegas Airport and heading out to Bishop, California to do some more climbing. We are pretty stoked to head out to Bishop since it has the reputation of having some of the best bouldering and sport climbing in the country.

music...:

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Credence Clearwater Revival - Greatest Hits

Godhead - 2000 Years of Human Error

Creed - Human Clay

Electric Light Orchestra - Greatest Hits

Deep Purple - Machinehead

well....we're going to California...talk to you when we get there...

Day 1 in the Red Rock Canyon

Well....we got a bit of a late start this morning...we aren't used to sleeping on soft things...like couches....so we took advantage of it.

But we did make it out to do some sick sport climbing as you can see from our pictures. We went out to the Ultraman Wall and got to do some really long routes. "Scent of an Ultraman" (5.7) was about 110 ft (a bit longer than our 60 meter rope is meant to handle...) and "Ultraman" (5.8+) was about 100 ft...because of the length of the first climb/the length of our rope, we had to do some creative lowering on the first climb...as you can see from our pictures.

They were actually some awesome climbs....we enjoyed them a lot, even though the second one was a bit scary (not dangerous.....just scary...).

The approach hike was a bit more burly than previous approaches, but it ended up being pretty cool non the less.

As far as music goes....

Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog

Stone Temple Pilots - Core

The Cars - Shake it Up and Other Hits

Quote of the Day:

Alex - "I am trying to find the path of least resistance" (in regards to the scramble down from our climb)

Larry - "I am trying to find the path of least rattlesnakes" (I haven't seen or heard them yet, but I assume they are everywhere...)

Runner up (please understand that before this quote happened, we had just attempted to "shower" in the car...using baby wipes...and axe body spray)

Larry (as we walk into walmart to use their restrooms) - "We must smell really bad right now..."

Alex - "Are you kidding me?...Have you ever seen one of those axe body spray commercials?...We are going to have to be beating the ladies off with sticks...."

Looking forward to some more sick sport climbing tomorrow....talk to you soon