A Day In Owens River Gorge

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Summary

Warning: Laser Beam
Shirley on Warning: Laser Beam (5.8) on the Warning Signs Wall of the Lower Gorge at Owens (Feb. 2009).

We planned on spending the three day Presidents’ Day Weekend at one of the local crags…Smith or something up in Washington. Of course poor weather at Smith on Saturday morning (with even shittier forecast for Sunday) kept us from climbing. Itching to get something in, we headed further south and did not stop driving (a lovely drive on the “backside” of the Cascades & Sierras BTW – very scenic!) till we reached the sunny and warm Bishop, CA ten brief hours later. Never been and so we figured we’d get a little appetizer-sized (day-long) bit of climbing there. Place did not disappoint. Fun climbing, great weather.

 

A Few Photos

Warning: Laser Beam
Shirley leading the pretty arete that is Warning: Laser Beam (5.8) in Owens River Gorge (Feb. 2010).
Warning: Laser Beam
Shirley on Warning: Laser Beam (5.8) on the Warning Signs Wall of the Lower Gorge at Owens (Feb. 2009).
Boating Prohibited
Leading the nice Boating Prohibited (5.10a) line on the Warning Signs Wall of Owens' Lower Gorge (Feb. 2010).
Owens River Gorge
Shirley & Blondie sharing water in the Gorge (warm Feb. 2010).
PG13
Shirley starting up PG13 (5.9) on the Warning Signs Wall in the Lower Gorge of Owens (Feb. 2010).
PG13
Shirley leading PG13 (5.9) on the Warning Signs Wall in the Lower Gorge of Owens (Feb. 2010).
Warning: Laser Beam
Unknown climber on Warning: Laser Beam (5.8) on the Warning Signs Wall of Owens Gorge (Feb. 2010).
Surgeon General
Near the top of Surgeon General (5.10a) - finger crack to two bolts to hand crack. Warning Signs Wall, Lower Gorge, Owens Gorge, CA. Decent line (Feb. 2010).
Owens River Gorge
Shirley and Blondie enjoying the sunshine in Owens River Gorge...none of us have seen the sun in a very long time, particularly the dog who was positively freaked out by all the brightness 🙂 A beautiful February day of 2010.
Valley 5.8
Leading Valley 5.8 (5.10a) on the Generator Wall in Owens Gorge (Feb. 2010).
Owens River Gorge
The Pitstop formation. Namesake route climbs the shiny slab on the left (at reportedly 5.12a) but the right side sported a beautiful looking handcrack to the triangular roof and up/out onto bolted face above (5.10a)...unfortunately our single day was just about over and we did not get the chance to sample the fineness (Feb. 2010).
Warning Signs Wall
Warning Signs Wall in Owens River Gorge in the evening light (Feb. 2010).
Owens River Gorge
Shirley and Blondie hiking out of Owens River Gorge at dusk after our day of climbing there. A very fun place (Feb. 2010).
Owens River Gorge
The drive down to Owens from Smith via the backside (east side of Cascades) roads is very scenic...somewhere in the middle of nowhere between Oregon and California (Feb. 2010).

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