California Roadtrip: Good Times

Owen's River Gorge: Upper Area

I had last week off so I mosied on over to California. I left Monday for Orange County where I stayed with Yoli, a doctor who I climbed with in China. Yoli, M.D. The MD stands for Mad Dog. Now she's gonna kill me for sure.

Monday night was sushi at some chic joint. All you could eat for $25 in a one hour span. Good times.

We left Tuesday for Holcomb Pinnacles in the San Bernadino Mountains. Yoli's mates Sarah and Wes joined us for what we be a day of sick routes. The Pinnacles are course granite, most of which are relatively exposed and get good sunlight. The temp. was about 60 degrees making for some fine winter climbing. We hit up a slew of routes with Wes leading the way as the only one of us to on-site the barren 5.11a known as "Jack's Back". Good times.

Holcomb Valley Pinnacles

Yoli on a 5.10a?

Wicked Shot on Pistol Pete (5.10a/b)

To see the other routes we climbed check out this link: http://mountainproject.com/u/joseph_tris/105896252?action=ticks&

After climbing hard all day and having a beer, the group felt very obnoxious.

(note to the authorities: Sarah, who drove home, didn't drink)

On the way home we gorged ourselves on Vietnamese food under the tutelage of Yoli who knew exactly how everything was supposed to be prepped. Good times.

The very next day I took off for Mammoth where an old friend from Japan, Kiara, is now living. But before doing so, I took in a surreal site: a flock of bright green parrots descending upon Yoli's apartment complex. It turns out that some of these birds were released long ago and have since multiplied. Southern California is a strange universe........Good times.

What the hell is wrong with this place?

I arrived at Kiara's in the evening. We hit up some hot springs outside of town with a few friends before calling it a night. Kiara had to work the next day so I went to Bishop, home of arguably the best bouldering in the world. I climbed at Happy Boulders with Natalie, a friend of Kiara's, and several other cool folk that we ran into. The bouldering there is amazing to say the least, enough to keep even the most prolific climbers busy for several years. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. Good times.

On Friday Kiara and I climbed at the Upper Areas of the Owen's River Gorge. ORG has hundreds of routes with more going up all the time. The routes are stiffly rated but rarely disappointing. If it's not obvious by now, this area of California is blessed with some of the best outdoor sport option in the world. In addition to climbing, there's some insane hiking, backpacking, and camping available at every turn, fly fishing that brings in fishermen from as far away NYC, mountain biking cycling under the shadow of 14,000 foot peaks, and enough wildlife to warrant the creation of a national park. In fact, that's exactly what it felt like: living in a national park. Kiara hit the jackpot on this place and I'm pretty envious......Flagstaff is nice but Mammoth is Eden.

Here's a shot of a 5.10a we climbed (sorry that it's blurry). The route went up the left side of the pinnacle that ends with a counter top-like platform beneath the anchors. See if you can pick it out.

Kiara and I before our hike out.

Climbing out of the valley, feeling obnoxious again.

I left Friday night, drove four hours south, and stayed in a pit called Barstow. Not good times. However, on the remainder of the drive home the next day, I stopped at In-and-Out Burger. I broke my no red-meat principle and chowed down on what is the best burger and french fries in the US. Good times? You bet.

One thing about In-N-Out: they have Bible passages hidden on the underside of their cups and fry wrappers. If you're religious that's cool, but don't try to slip it in under the radar. Kind of creepy (see below).

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