Back to work!

On the blog that is! Not to worry, dear readers, I do not intend to rejoin the ranks of the gainfully employed for several more months. Now, let me apologize for my extended absence from the world of blogging. (Although I would just like to note that in the months since my last post the blog has managed to acquire 4 new "followers." I am trying not to dwell on what this suggests about the quality of my posts and am instead attributing it to the "afterglow" of a brilliant last post.) But please don't think that my silence indicates that I have not been busying myself on important tasks like climbing rocks. In fact, I have engaged in quite a bit of close-to-home climbing over the past few months and have managed visits to areas throughout the Southeast in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and West Virginia. After spending the previous few months traveling out West, I came back with a renewed appreciation for the good things we have in our own backyard. Many of the folks I met in my travels further afield had not heard of some of our gems and I was torn between feeling a need to vindicate Southern climbing and a secret glee and feeling of smugness at their lack of awareness (just being honest).

However, after several months enjoying fall in the Southeast, spending time with Thomas and Higgs and the holidays with my family, I am once again back on the road. This post is coming to you from the Black Sheep coffee shop in Bishop, California. Brandy is traveling with me this time and she and I made the long drive from Atlanta with stops in Nashville and Flagstaff to visit friends. It's nice to have Brandy along but she definitely wasn't doing her part to help keep me awake on some of the long stretches:

This is probably an appropriate place to pause and warn you, faithful readers, that this and future blog posts are going to contain a significant number of photos of Brandy. Since she is my only traveling companion at present, is not very good at operating a camera, and is much more photogenic than me, well, you can see how that is going to shake out.

Brandy and I rolled into Bishop late Monday evening and pulled into the climbers' campground here (which is called "the Pit" and only costs $2 per night but is much nicer than the name and price suggest). In the morning we awoke to a glorious sight...we were surrounded by mountains!!!

It was a little cloudy, but you get the idea. Bishop has a unique landscape in that the town and surrounding areas appear dry and desert-like but are surrounded by impressive snow-capped mountains.

I have spent the past two days bouldering at the Happy boulders, which are close to the campground. (I am anxious to see the Buttermilks but the forecast called for a possibility of rain and the Happy boulders typically stay dry.) The boulders are large blocks of volcanic tuff spread throughout the center and rims of a canyon. Again, the canyon has a definite desert feel and the rock itself which is a dark brown color adds to this, but over the rims of the canyons you can see snow-covered peaks.

Walking out of the canyon is even more interesting because in addition to the mountains and desert, there are also grasslands spread out beneath beyond the mouth of the canyon. Here, Brandy keeps watch.

The boulders are primarily steep, although there are a good number of slabs thrown in as well.

Oh, and there are a few pockets here and there.

After two days of bouldering on this rock, I was feeling the effects on my skin and in the soreness in my shoulders. So, I took the opportunity today to spend some time getting acquainted with the small town of Bishop and am looking forward to visiting the Buttermilks tomorrow. Stay tuned!