Crystal Crag

WoooO!

Two days ago the road up to the lakes basin opened, making it a lot easier to access the Mammoth Crest area. Today I decided to get up early and take advantage of that. By 730am it was already sunny and warm, making it hard to snowshoe in the sloppy, wet slush, but I trekked on anyways. I was excited to be standing at the base of the crag after finishing a 100 yard long class 3 scramble over loose rocks. I was immediately rewarded with some amazing spring snow and world class views.

Green Church Biking/Fishing

Earlier this week Travis and I decided to take out the roadies for a ride on benton crossing road, better known as "green church". It was a beautiful, clear afternoon down there and the ride was short, but very enjoyable. After logging about 15 miles we decided to swap bike for fishing poles. Neither of us caught anything, but that's why they call it fishing, not catching.

Jealous of that camper shell. I need to find one like that for my truck.
Open road and nice views all around.
Ran into Bambi on my ride.
I made Travis pose real quick before we started fishing.
Spent the rest of the afternoon fishing up and down the river.

Lincoln Mountain

A few weeks ago Travis and I needed to get out of town for a while so we meandered down to Bishop for the day. Every time we go to Bishop we like to stop and the Gear Exchange to see what kind of used gear we can pick up for cheap. Withing seconds I spotted a cool Palmer splitboard hanging out in one of the racks. Fast forward ten minutes and Travis walks out the door, splitboard in hand. The next day we decided to test it out by hiking up to Lincoln Mountain. I didn't get any pictures from the hike or the descent, but I did snap one photo at the summit just for proof that I was up there.

Black Lake

Spur of the moment camping trips can be fun... especially when snow is in the forecast and you've never been to the zone before. Andrew, Chris, and I decided to wing it for a few days out in the John Muir Wilderness. We started in Big Pine, following dirt roads about 20 miles outside of town until we reached the trailhead for the North Fork. The three of us unloaded my truck and set off on an impromptu 3 day 2 night trip along the Big Pine Creek. It ended up snowing both nights, and almost all of the 2nd day. It turned out to be highly exciting and it will be a trip that I'll never forget.

Cruising through the backcountry. Temple Crag and Black Lake behind me.

Base Camp

Punta Bardini

Trying to satisfy our late season itch for some good lines, Barrett and I set out for the summit of the Punta Bardini. I had been looking at this peak all season and finally concluded that it was time to go for the summit. Because the Bardini's sit next to the ever so popular Sherwins, they offer similar terrain with a fraction of the traffic. Since it was the springtime, we had the opportunity to drive quite a bit closer to the base of the mountain than is possible during winter months, yet we declined and set out on the traditional route.

Barrett, Bardini
Since we were taking the traditional winter approach we parked at the buildings in the upper right of the picture and walked in from there. We could have knocked off close to a mile of hiking if we drove the dirt road in, but we weren't stressing.
Mammoth Mountain standing proud in the background
We spent about an hour on the summit this afternoon. It was a beautiful afternoon to be up there. Here's a good look at the distance we traveled.

First Overnight of the season

By the end of April I was getting extremely anxious to do some camping. Since we we're coming off the heaviest snow season ever recorded here in Mammoth, we knew that if we wanted to make it happen we would have to venture to the south in search of dry ground and clear skies. In search of our fix we loaded up the truck and started south towards bishop. Upon reaching town we loaded up a few supplies and started out towards the buttermilks, a location world famous for its bouldering.

It's a beautiful place to be
Base Camp

Hello

After long consideration I've decided to start a new blog. Unlike previous blogs, I intend for this blog to serve a more specific purpose--to share the things that I see and the places I go. I currently live in Mammoth Lakes, CA and most of my adventure take place here in the Eastern Sierras.