Where the high desert meets the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. It's home to the mighty and expansive Owens Valley, the deepest in the lower 48, and one of the only known Super Volcanoes on the planet: The Long Valley Caldera, just south of Mammoth. The vistas are astounding, and the weather is even better.
The East Side offers an almost incomprehensible amount of clean, climbable rock, including sport climbing at Owens River Gorge and Clark Canyon, bouldering in the Buttermilks and Happy Boulders, and alpine climbing on 14,000' granite peaks. On rest days, soak your sore muscles and relax in the numerous natural hot springs... could this be paradise??
Getting There
From Los Angeles, head north on Hwy 14 through the desert towns of Palmdale, Lancaster, and Mojave to join Hwy 395. The scenic 395 parallels the eastern Sierra through the Owens Valley from the L.A. basin to Reno. Lone Pine is the first "major" town (pop. 1,655) en route, and is the jumping off point for Mt. Whitney and other popular destinations in the John Muir Wilderness (see High Sierra section). 60 miles north is the town of Bishop (pop. 3,575). Bishop was home of the late, renowned climber/photographer Galen Rowell, who, along with his wife Barbara, was killed August 11, 2002 in a small plane crash outside town. Rowell's gallery, the Mountain Light, is located at 106 South Main Street in downtown Bishop.
Start either sitting or standing and reach out the overhang to do the standard cross-over/under sequence, et al. Harder if you're shorter. Requires core. Really fun. Git 'er done! ...[more]
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