Last gasp skiing trip teaser

They say there is no snow in the Sierra this year, Laura has been posting pics almost every weekend proving that wrong. For the most part it is above 10,000 feet, which means some effort is required to get to it.

We headed in from Virginia Lakes on Sat May 24. It wasn't long before we had to walk across snow fields and our walking shoes got pretty wet before we switched to skis and started skinning up over the pass and with a little bit of steep snow and rock scrambling and a bit of fun skiing to Summit Lake.

Grey Butte reflected in the small melted part of Summit Lake

home sweet homes

We set up in a dryish spot and relaxed and ate delicious foods. Appetizers were flavored triscuits with brie and gouda and then bacon wrapped sirloin with bacon mashed potatos and pesto... (yes, this was a trip with Laura, so Moose Lodge hospitality was in full effect.

bacon wrapped steak with bacon mashed potatoes and pesto = YUM

The next day we skinned up a nice bowl and then higher on another slope and skied down. That was so much fun we did the bowl again. There were nice clouds making for interesting light. We took lots of pics.

Laura drops into the bowl

and continues to the creek

an epic fail attempt at a handstand w/ skis

That night dinner was my turn for dinner - I brought dehydrated curried lentils with sweet potato. Luckily we still had some crackers and brie and gouda too.

I tried to get some night pics when I woke up at midnight. I got a few, but I couldn't figure out the K3 cameras modes that I thought would help.

Memorial day we packed up and headed out. It was amazing how much less snow there was on the way out compared to hiking in. That meant hiking instead of skiing back from the pass, but it wasn't too bad. Then a stop at the Whoa Nellie Deli and on to the Tufa at Mono Lake to take pics. I got brought out the big lens and took a bunch of detail pics and pics of gulls and osprey.

osprey bringing a stick to the tufa top penthouse suite

same pic - cropped in even more

There will be more details and pics in a trip report eventually. I'll put the link here when it is done.

and here it is:

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/lastski2014.html

New camera, new lens, pine creek climbing, poetry contest, tasty food, ultra marathon...

Some of those things in the title are me, others aren't.  But my loyal fan probably wants to know what all I've been up to. For starters I got a new K3 and Sigma 150-500mm lens.

You can read more about that and see some sample pics here:

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/newk3.html


I also went climbing in Pine Creek recently - lots of good rock up there, and some not so good rock raining down a few hundred yards up canyon from us.

Tai and a brace of Eriks in Pine Creek

Laura had a get together celebrating a number of things, and of course there were lots of tasty things to eat.

roasted garlic torte

Then we went to Spellbinder Books - for the awarding of the winners of the poetry competition. Years ago I used to rap Xanadu with my sister, and knowing the verses helped me win a poetry book.

Laura reads her poem

and shows off her award

Then off to the Mountain Light Gallery to for a new show opening with lots of fantastic images. Finally that night I biked out to Mill Pond park to talk to Julie who was volunteering at the end of the Bishop High Sierra Ultramarathon. We watched some of the last few people finish the 100K race.

Crossing the finish line after 17+ hours and 100K

Lower Rock Creek Bike Ride

Today I investigated another part of my front yard, Lower Rock Creek. I biked up on mostly back roads past the Pleasant Valley Reservoir and then up the Lower Rock Creek Rd past Paradise and on up to where it meets Hwy 395 above 6,800 ft. Then I took the mountain biking trail down along the creek back to Paradise at about 5,000 ft, then down the road, up to Round Valley Rd, and back around to Bishop on more back roads. The first 2 parts of the trail was mostly rolling and fast downhill. The last segment had a lot more rocky bits and was harder than I was. I managed to clear most of it, but one rocky uphill and a few steep downhill parts caused me to walk it. I probably could have ridden a few more parts but I didn't know what was coming so I tried to be a little conservative. I did have one low speed crash when I tried to get back on my bike and it stopped and I went over the front (at about walking pace). oops. Parts of the Rock Creek Canyon were very scenic - sort of like a mini Owens River Gorge with huge ponderosa pine trees by the creek. I wasn't setting any speed records. The entire ride took a little over 6 hours. Now my legs and back side are tired.

this doesn't look much like paradise, but the view the other way was better

looking back from the road above Paradise

the top of the bike trail

Kathryn visits for a fun and busy weekend

Last weekend Kathryn took a break from the rigors of life in San Diego to visit. When she got here Friday I assured her that there really were mountains around, as they were shrouded in clouds. The next morning the Whites and Sierra Nevada were covered with fresh white snow. We had a busy schedule... Biking, Hiking up Tungsten Peak, Summit acro, slacklining, acro, bouldering, eating tasty vegan food, watching movies, rock climbing in the gorge, and lots of talking. Thanks for coming up Kathryn.

Biking

summit acro (Tungsten peak summit)

taking selfies

hiking

slackline

acro

bouldering

flexing/posing (making me look weak)

climbing at the Owens River Gorge

hiking out of the gorge

I put a bit more text and pics here:

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/kathryn4-2014.html

Las Vegas and the RRR

It has been a while since I updated things. In January I went down to Joshua Tree for a long weekend. Then I went to the winter OR show and then on to Cleveland for 2 months before returning to Bishop with a load of stuff.

bodaciously bouldering back in Bishop

Last weekend I went to the Red Rock Rendezvous near Las Vegas to teach slacklining and then stayed for a day of climbing and a day of highlining. As usual there was some weather, but in general it was pretty nice. The classes were a bit more random this year because the sign ups were not working properly, but lots of people got a lot of time on the lines. After setting them up the day before things started Tom and I even got out for a little bit of climbing.

Prana had fresh fruit for everyone

Sam getting aerial drone video of Raquel on the line

Sunrise on the Red Rocks

After the festival I climbed Cat in the Hat with Anthony, it was nice to get out for some mellow multi-pitch. Then we got on something else but only got 1.5 pitches up before we had to bail to make it out of the loop on time. The next day we set up the highline at the second pullout and got on it with varying levels of success. I mostly bruised my ego and my inner thigh. I did manage to walk 1/3 and then 1/2 way across though. By the time we took it down it was downright cold and windy. In fact when I returned to Bishop there was some snow coming down. Luckily it was too warm to stick down in the valley, but it sure looks nice on the mountains.

taking my Evolv Bandits for a vertical hike

Anthony on the highline

Anthony gets one more evening walk across the line

I managed to not get any pictures of myself the whole 6 days except for one lame selfie on the climb.

I posted a few more pics and text here:

http://www.electricant.net/grundyman/rrr2014.html

Owens River Gorge

I realized I didn't have any pics of the Owens River Gorge here, so I took a few. The first is from last week, and the rest are from today. This is the upper gorge area. Not surprisingly there are middle and lower gorge areas too, but those pics will have to come later.

upper gorge from the parking area

Kam zips across a log 

Angelina eying the move on "C-4 yourself"

A busy Saturday, trail work, highline, and bouldering.

It is getting to be that time of year here in Bishop - Bouldering Season. You can see chalky fingered puffy wearing fit people in the grocery store, plenty of vans parked overnight in the lot, and of course hordes of pad people out at the boulders.

people starting to gather for the trail work

I joined quite a crowd (50 ish) folks for some work at the Buttermilks last Saturday. Among other things we moved a lot of rocks that had been graded off the road to the edges of trails between the boulders. Some less needed and redundant trails were closed off, some native plants and seeds were planted, some trash was picked up, and some signs were replaced. Quite a lot got done, and I even got a little blister, but I guess I was busy working since I didn't get any pics. Then I was able to borrow a harness for a quick go on the Peabody Boulder highline that someone from Gibbon had set up. I did better this time, but it still didn't feel like it would have close to the ground.

highlining - thanks to someone for taking the pic for me

playing in the middle of the line on the way back (after falling)

walking past the moon

this woman was super solid - and going old school with the swami belt

Then I had to go back down and return the harness, so I took some pics before a little bouldering. Since I had bouldered the day before and I am still trying to get back into the swing of things this was a pretty weak session complete with sore skin and muscles and a little whining. There were heaps of people out enjoying the lovely weather and the 3 day weekend.

lots of people out at the boulders

nice sunset from a few days ago

same sunset - looking the other way towards the White Mtns