Trip Report
Tour de Obscure, Bishop-style (TR)
Friday September 19, 2014 9:57pm
One of the things that Justthemaid and I like to do is to explore new places . (“SPLORE!”).

Since we are in a new town, that has a lot of climbing, we decided to tour our local crags – sampling our closest local cuisine, so to speak.

Please bear in mind that we have been fighting hoards of gym rats on SoCal choss for years, so our expectations low - in other words, we are easily excited by any crummy crag of reasonably solid, uncrowded rock...

First stop on the tour: Little Egypt Wall.

Well, maybe not so obscure since it’s clearly visible from Hwy 168, but evidently not so popular with the locals. We had heard a lot of words thrown around about this place, "chossy", "not worth the hike", etc. There was one other car there in Memorial Day Saturday when we parked – turns out it was a couple of out-of-towners. ( No “weak hang” issues here Pine Creek whiners).

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Good thing about Little Egypt is the shade during the summer – we got a bit of a late start, so it was nice and hot for the hike in. The creek crossing is the sketchiest part of the approach: moldy lumber, blown-out OSB scraps, and other plywood of questionable age make this bridge one to be approached with consideration:

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15 minutes and much sweat, the crag comes into view, now only the sandy desert dunes (Of Doom!) keep us from our objective:

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Climbed Arabesque, a fun 5.9 on the far right with good rock:
Then went over to Espresso, which I aided clean to check out, then found a fun 5.8 variation which isn’t in the book. Skip on TR:

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Amazingly, I then sent Espresso (on top-rope – basically off-the-couch) first try!(Down-rated to .11b on MountainProject – Meh.)

We didn’t hit Lambada or Mussypotamia on this visit, which, apparently, is where the quality choss begins. Solid rock on everything we climbed!

Nice view on the hike out:

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Next on the tour was “our Nearest Crag”, which is Windy Wall. Basically ½ hour to climbing (20 minute drive + 10 minute approach). “Nobody goes there” is mostly what we heard, and our three trips there have proven this statement correct. We have never seen another soul.

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As usual, we found it to be awesome by our standards! We first climbed “Scoot” a 3-star 5.8 that was short but sweet:

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Then onto “Cayenne Pepper” another fun 5.8. We then top-roped “Allspice”…or tried to...
Meh! 5.10c inobvious slab move at the top fail.

Regardless, we are excited about Windy Wall!

So a few days later we endured the grueling 10 minute approach (still no-one there) and climb a few more classics.
“Coyote Ugly” only gets one star, but we loved it! 5.6 chimneying and other easy crack tactics make this climb super fun!

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Following this, I lead (what I thought was) Dr. Zine 5.10a, but in actuality, it was “Rubber Gloves and Razor Blades”, a hairy 5.10d trad line put up by Ken Yager and Grant Hiskes. This slightly over-hanging flared crack, with tricky but good pro makes the spicier than your average 60-foot .10+ crack!
Onsight, Woohoo! Was thinking it felt hard for old-school .10a…

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I then tried to lead “Dr. Zine”, and got shut down 15 feet up…on a 5.10a. So much for my on-sight stoke. I got one good piece in at 10 feet, then a few feet later the crux hits…with no gear. It is techy/awkward to get onto the easier slab, but with no gear, I was not willing to risk a ground-fall if my only piece pulled. Another Yager/Hiskes climb (Ken later posted “I guess I was stronger than I thought!”). Cold comfort…

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We wandered around and explored some of the other climbs, we are definitely going back to do the awesome looking arête “Make it Suede”, as well as the two fun-looking 5.9 huecoed routes “Hueco Thanks” and “Miles From Nowhere”.

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A storm rolled through as we got back to the car, so we hung out and got some good post-storm pictures of Buttermilk Country.

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Third on the tour was Wild Rose Buttress, a small, high-elevation area near South Lake. At 9700 feet, it was to be the highest elevation “crag” we had been to yet. What, pray tell drew us to this place? The approach beta had us at “heinous aspen-infested talus slope”. Crag description: “Bushy”

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As we got closer, it got stormier, but we decided to just do the hike and check out the place…in the rain. Fortunately, the rain was warm and it actually felt nice to get soaked for the first time in ages. After 40 minutes of thrashing around in wet foliage, we found it and snapped some pictures of some of the cooler looking lines

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Wet muppet on the hike down:

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We went up to South Lake, and it was super low – the dam looks pretty much useless at this point. Boat launch to nowhere is pretty weird, and the defunct dam even weirder.

The storm dampened everything nicely, making for some nice alpine fall colors on the trip down:

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Next stop on the tour was Benton Crags and Double Domes, with our friend Tom (Supertopo handle “MisterT”) – hey, wait a minute…

It’s kinda out in the middle of nowhere from Bishop, one covers a lot of winding landscape in finding the place. It’s not even really close to Benton, a lone town in itself. At 7900 feet, you start to feel the alpine exposure just dropping into the crag.

Even with the 4-minute approach to Locals Only.

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Most of the climbs on this wall are 70-meter rope-stretching moderate trad climbs on wonderful rock. It really reminded Maidy and I of Holcomb Pinnacles on steroids and mood stabilizers.

We climbed “Locals Only” first, a stellar long 5.6, that felt old-school for 5.6. We then switched over 15 fee and climbed “Get Lost” a really fun 5.7 that felt easier, with natural anchors.

The next climb was “Surfin’ Safari” one of the funnest 5.9 climbs of a full 35 meters we have done in a while.

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The sun came earlier than we thought it would on the wall, so we decided to find the holy grail of obscure - Double Dome. Off we set, hoping to find some north-facing clip-ups to round out our day with only some vague dotted lines on a not too detailed topo to guide us.

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We missed the turnoff and followed sucker-cairns to nowhere of course. MisterT eventually saved the day and found it after much squinting at the map. Maidy had nicknamed it “Littlehorn Foreplay Grotto” during the endless search in homage to the (notoriously difficult to find) Bighorn Mating Grotto of J-Tree.

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The climbs were disappointingly short and rubbly. 4-5 bolts, and graininess reminiscent of some of the mediocre Joshua Tree areas. Additionally, the starts on the two climbs we did were boulder-starts, stiff ratings and the 1st bolts are high.
On the upside… it is an exceptionally beautiful landscape in this area so we weren’t really that bothered by the endless wandering and still had our share of fun out there. We love the random, strange and obscure, as long as it is climbing - bring it!!
SPLORE!




  Trip Report Views: 6,085
MisterE
About the Author
MisterE is a social climber from .

Comments
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Sep 19, 2014 - 10:04pm PT
Bravo! Way to get out there!
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
  Sep 19, 2014 - 11:06pm PT
outstanding!!
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
  Sep 19, 2014 - 11:49pm PT
Sick tr E! Bishop's so rad! Gotta get back there!
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Sep 20, 2014 - 01:08am PT
Mahvelous!

I like the drive out to Benton Crags... California freedom territory.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
  Sep 20, 2014 - 03:44am PT
Gotta love Bishop! Getting some nice color change, I see.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Sep 20, 2014 - 04:17am PT
Beautiful beautiful stuff there guys and gals.

Good work!
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
  Sep 20, 2014 - 06:40am PT
Actually, our standards are so low, we get get exited by any reasonably UN-stable rock.:) Heading back out to Benton today. Gee that place is purdy.

We've gotten our 'splore-on in the month since I moved here permanently. We've been climbing all over the place. In addition to the "obscure"... add Tuolumne, Owens Gorge, Rock Creek, Patricia Bowl, Cardinal Pinnacle http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Hooky-Wednesday-Cardinal-Pinnacle-Sneak/t12535n.html , Pine Creek, and Iris Slab all in the last 6 weeks. Altitude is still kicking my ass though.
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Sep 20, 2014 - 09:08am PT
Bump for quality climbing content! Thanks for sharing your adventure.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
  Sep 20, 2014 - 09:30am PT
Cool.
marty(r)

climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
  Sep 20, 2014 - 09:56am PT
That's rad! Glad to see that the bridge has held up.

For a while Mussy and I joked that that approach was the most arduous 30 minutes in all of mountaineering. Countless socks were destroyed humping back and forth to Mussypotamia, but for a while there was a fixed K-Mart tent with boom box, the Crow soundtrack, and maybe even some of Mick Ryan's porn stashed up there. (I could be wrong about the origin of the tent.)

Once it cools off, go back and do the direct start to 'Chick Dead'. 'Don't be Late' is full-on adventure sport climbing in the spirit of Walt Shipley and negates the dubious fixed line out right. Emphasis on full-on.

~VLG
lars johansen

Trad climber
West Marin, CA
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:12am PT
What fun to see all those "obscurities". TFPU

lars
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:16am PT

Does one need cool and obscure sunglasses to climb with you guys?

Capt.

climber
some eastside hovel
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:19am PT
I'll agree with the Chick Dead recommendation. Well worth the extra couple minute walk.
Bruce Morris

Trad climber
Soulsbyville, California
  Sep 20, 2014 - 11:22am PT
Gee, that Yager-Hiskes route, “Rubber Gloves and Razor Blades”, looks like a neat 5.10d. Have to get out there and enjoy the obscurities this fall.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Sep 20, 2014 - 12:52pm PT
Thanks for a great TR E!!!!,
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Sep 20, 2014 - 03:39pm PT
Nice shit! You guys are kicking the ass I've always seen you kick, but in a way more open to the world. Good on ya's!




The Warbler

climber
the edge of America

Sep 20, 2014 - 10:49am PT
It's gotta be obscure to be pure.

Words I have found myself living by! Not by choice, but by the way it's played out!
dee ee

Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
  Sep 20, 2014 - 04:53pm PT
Yay! Splore!
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  Sep 20, 2014 - 05:10pm PT
cool
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
  Sep 20, 2014 - 07:09pm PT
Does one need cool and obscure sunglasses to climb with you guys?

Yes, those or Da'Brim
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
  Sep 20, 2014 - 07:24pm PT
Only time I ever went to Buttermilk I just hiked the summit.
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
  Sep 20, 2014 - 07:43pm PT
Wow a lot of those climbs look really great.
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
Author's Reply  Sep 20, 2014 - 09:18pm PT
Thanks for the comments and for the recommendations Marty(r) and D2R2.

Warbler, it is true - not a trace of chalk...

Went back out to Benton again today and climbed at Junk Food and finished up a few more routes at Locals Only.

Everything was fun! Long climbs, good friction, fun moves, challenging gear on moderates, stimulating blank sections between the cracks, close to parking, no crowds, 1 hour from Bishop.

We love Benton Crags!










FRUMY

Trad climber
Bishop,CA
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:11pm PT
Nice TFPU
bergbryce

climber
East Bay, CA
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:19pm PT
Cool TR.
I'm kind of surprised that bridge at little Egypt is hanging in there. It was pretty sketch 3 or 4 years ago.
limpingcrab

Gym climber
Minkler, CA
  Sep 20, 2014 - 10:50pm PT
YES! These are the TRs I wait for! Random areas with odd climbs. I share your attitude of being easy to please, if the climb goes upwards it's fun. Actually, canyons and caves are fun too, it's all good!

You two look like you're living it up, thanks for sharing!
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Sep 21, 2014 - 09:14am PT
It's great to see you guys getting out there in your new home. There are so many "obscure" walls around there. Only obscure because the sport climbing hordes aren't interested in them. Some of my favorite ones have a 2 minute approach and I never see people at them.

Although I wouldn't put Benton Crags in the obscure category, I do have to admit that the only wall I have ever seen other people at is Locals only. The cliffs up the right fork road are really nice.
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
  Sep 21, 2014 - 12:39pm PT
Very cool.
bajaandy

climber
Escondido, CA
  Sep 21, 2014 - 12:47pm PT
You guys are always out there getting after it! Love your TR's.
ruppell

climber
  Sep 21, 2014 - 12:58pm PT
We love Benton Crags!

Next time you're there do Competitive Edge and King Snake Flakes. You'll love it even more. Welcome to Planet MF and Spiders from Mars are also pretty damn good. There's a lot to like about that little pile of rocks.
The Larry

climber
  Sep 21, 2014 - 02:00pm PT
Awesome!

Splore!

kaholatingtong

Trad climber
The fake McCoy from nevernever land.
  Sep 21, 2014 - 02:04pm PT
very cool. i want to live in bishop.
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
Author's Reply  Sep 21, 2014 - 02:22pm PT
Love that sticker, The Larry!

ruppell, we wandered around for a half an hour looking for Lost Piton Rock! We found Clock Rock, but were completely baffled as to the location of Wave or LP.

Crocodile Rock is on the list to visit - thanks for the beta.

The short OW on Psycho Killer looks pretty good too - gonna bring big gear next time!

We also found some really good bouldering looking for Double Dome...
Greg Barnes

climber
  Sep 21, 2014 - 07:35pm PT
This should help:

skitch

Gym climber
Bend Or
  Sep 23, 2014 - 07:40am PT
Lived here for over 2 years and I haven't been to many of these places, except lil Egypt and wild rose.

Bump!!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
  Sep 23, 2014 - 09:33am PT
Gotta make it to bishop some day
Todd Townsend

Social climber
Bishop, CA
  Sep 23, 2014 - 11:18am PT
Nice TR, reminds me of when I first moved to Bishop. It took me three tries to finally find Double Dome, good job! Just wait until you start getting to some of the REAL obscurities: Earthday Dome in the A Hills, The buttresses above Sherman Acres (watch out for rattlesnakes!), Mountain Light Wall, Lower Rock Creek Wall, Looking Wall, The Stumps, Triple Cracks, Lion's Den, Dexter Canyon, etc, etc, etc... And then there's all of the bouldering areas that aren't even in the guide books.

Keep on 'sploring!
atchafalaya

Boulder climber
  Sep 23, 2014 - 11:14am PT
Great TR MisterE and JTM. Thanks for posting...

Lost Piton is pretty good, and easy to find if you park in the Southern lot. Just keep skirting the rock on your left and you will get there. Lots of cool indian ruins out that way, and we found some really cool obsidian pieces. It looked like hunting blinds or buildings were constructed, but I could be wrong.

Benton crags are really cool.
Roots

Mountain climber
Somewhere Fun
  Sep 23, 2014 - 11:26am PT
Thanks for the peak inside your dream (life). Keep living it!!
skitch

Gym climber
Bend Or
  Sep 24, 2014 - 09:17am PT
I finally made it out to the Y-Boulder last night, always thought it was shorter than it is, and assumed it would be really grainy, which it is not.

I've been needing to enhance my OW and chimney skills, and this is the only quick option for after work. I started on y-right, a 5.8 crack that is quite fun. Set up a TR on y-left, which has 3 start options into a chimney. The 3 options, left to right are a 6" OW, a finger crack, or an easy chimney.

If you want to get on a high quality chimney I highly suggest it! I'll likely be back on it next week in prep for my first time on El Cap via the Salathe in 2 weeks.

http://www.summitpost.org/y-boulder/543107

phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Sep 24, 2014 - 10:52am PT
Looking Wall, The Stumps, Triple Cracks, Lion's Den,

Todd Townsend, you have just named all my "secret" crags where I never see anybody! But they are all in the book so I guess it's no secret.
The Larry

climber
  Sep 24, 2014 - 01:23pm PT
Ba bada bump
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
Author's Reply  Mar 28, 2015 - 09:54pm PT
Went out to Casa Diablo today, arguably our 2nd nearest crag besides Windy Wall. Straight shot out the 5 Bridges Road to more crumbly quartz monzonite.

Met some friends from LA we hadn't seen for a while, and did a couple of climbs reminiscent of Apple Valley/Margaritaville (without the graffiti).


Bargainhunter

climber
  Mar 28, 2015 - 11:24pm PT
Thank you for posting this!
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
  Mar 29, 2015 - 06:07pm PT
Y Boulder actually looks a bit fun. ^^ Need a little warm up for Pratt's Crack ;)
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
Author's Reply  Aug 31, 2015 - 09:21pm PT
Went out to Al's Garage today, and had a great time for the most part. Early starts help here in the summer.


Climbed everything twice because they were so fun!

Until We got on "Middle Way"...

Truly a climb through my Reseda apartment maintenance days from two years ago, as evident by my comment below.

I must insist that this was a condition report and in no way was bias from my pigeon-and-rat days, although the comparison was incontrovertible:

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/middle-way/107796158#a_110963828
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
  Aug 31, 2015 - 09:15pm PT

Thanks for this thread.
Urmas

Social climber
Sierra Eastside
  Aug 31, 2015 - 10:48pm PT
Next time you're at the Windy Wall, head left (north) a short distance to the Green Wall. There are two worthwhile routes there: It's Not Easy Bein' Green (5.10b)(Muppet will appreciate that this is the name of a song made famous by Kermit, the Frog - and Van Morrison)on the left, and Mean Green (5.11c) on the right. Both were put up in the 80's, but not officially reported. I can't believe I'm posting this on the internet!!
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
  Sep 1, 2015 - 08:13am PT
thanks you two.
Texplorer

Trad climber
Sacramento
  Sep 1, 2015 - 09:33am PT
E, you and the Mrs are livin the life. Makes me want to quit my job and move to Bishop. Of course there are those 6 figure student loans however.
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
  Sep 1, 2015 - 10:45am PT
Good to see your gettin out and around....

TFPU...
The Chief

climber
Down the hill & across the Valley from......
  Sep 1, 2015 - 10:52am PT
How'd you like them Musseys etc up at Al's, E.


And if you and the misses want some real obscure outta B-Town, head on up to these two areas:

http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Chips-Fingers-and-a-Freckled-Peregrine-5-11-III-FA/t12836n.html#comments


FRUMY

Trad climber
Bishop,CA
  Sep 1, 2015 - 11:03am PT
Nice to see you guys get after it.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
  Sep 3, 2015 - 09:48pm PT
Good TR. Thanks.
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
  Sep 3, 2015 - 09:54pm PT
The good thing is those Cali creek crossings on the approach keep getting easier. Har-har-har.

MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
Author's Reply  Sep 18, 2015 - 11:28am PT
More 'Splore bump!

Skip re-injured her shoulder a few weeks ago, so when our days off coincided last Sunday, we decided to check out the Horseshoe Lake slab climbing. It's extra fun to take the shuttle with bikes for the bomb down to The Village after climbing.



Trying to ignore the carbon dioxide warning signs and the ghost forest...Mammoth Crest sure is pretty from here!


We went to Horseshoe Slabs first and did most of the climbs on the left side - fun slab on great rock with interesting dike features.



We then back-tracked a bit and headed up to Sunshine Wall, to get more slab on. This used to be a toprope area, but has recently been retro-bolted to make for enjoyable leading.

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/sunshine-wall/108331569

We climbed Hedgehog, the tricky Faithful Friend, and the aptly named Little Gem.


Then we had lunch on the lake, bombed down the hill, and stopped at Hill-top hot-springs on the way home.

Fun day, and we'll be back to check out Horseshoe Piles - over 40 routes to 'splore!

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/horseshoe-piles/105912179
FRUMY

Trad climber
Bishop,CA
  Sep 18, 2015 - 01:58pm PT
Good to see you guys getting out there sploring.
hamersorethumb

Trad climber
Menlo Park, CA
  Sep 18, 2015 - 02:20pm PT
beautiful photos after the storm. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Sep 18, 2015 - 08:34pm PT
Splore it climbing. Hmmm...

Too much fun.
LuckyPink

climber
the last bivy
  Sep 19, 2015 - 12:04am PT
HUGS
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Sep 19, 2015 - 07:47am PT
Druid stones?
Greater Wheeler crest?
Dreamers?
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Sep 19, 2015 - 04:09pm PT
So sorry to hear JTM is having shoulder issues. Daphne and I spent a day up at Sunshine Wall a few weeks ago when the forcast was for possible rain and wind gusts of 50 mph. We did all 7 routes up there with the exception of the reachy crux on the 10.b which was just too damn reachy. We could hear the wind howling overhead all day but it was perfectly sheltered and calm at that crag.
Capt.

climber
some eastside hovel
  Sep 19, 2015 - 04:48pm PT
Horseshoe Piles are waaay better than Horseshoe Slabs. Check it.
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