A Day In Owens River Gorge

A Day In Owens River Gorge

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Additional Information Image Type(s): Rock Climbing

Change Of Plans

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Surgeon GeneralSurgeon General
Owens River Gorge
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Valley 5.8Valley 5.8
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Owens River Gorge
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Owens River GorgeRoadtrip Sights
Warning Signs Wall

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. Thanks to Michael & The Chief for a stoke from a while ago :)

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AJones

AJones - Apr 9, 2010 10:52 pm - Voted 10/10

Any beta?

My wife and I are heading to Owen's (first time) May 8 to 15th. Any beta on climbing at Owen's? Are the trad routes any good, or sketchy? Are the river crossings straight forward (like a bridge) or do you have to wade?

Aaron

rpc

rpc - Apr 12, 2010 11:55 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Any beta?

Hi Aaron,
so whatever I say, pls. treat with a big ol' chunk of salt as we've only spent one day there.

First perhaps I'm committing some sort of big sin here, but I think that a week in Owens would be a bit much (for us, coming from somewhat far away)…a day was nice, three would’ve been perfect had we not had the limitation of “x” vacation days per year. I think there are much better cragging destinations on the east side (again, if you’re coming from afar) of the sierras than owens (unless you have climbed them all that is). Second, I also suspect it might be pretty darn hot in mid may there. Sorry, I hope I’m not coming across like a prick! Think we’ve done two crack routes there (one was a bit chunky) the other was fully bolted (“Valley 5.8”) but had very nice climbing. Lastly, the scenery is different but something tolerable in small doses IMHO (old as well as functioning power stations)…something out of a post nuclear apocalypse world I thought.
Sorry Aaron – I’m sure others can give a different opinion. Cheers!
Radek

AJones

AJones - Apr 16, 2010 8:27 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: Any beta?

It's funny - there's lots of opinions out there on ORG. Some folks I've talked to love it; others hate it. Got any recommendations for other crags in the general area? We're flying into Vegas and then renting a car, so can go pretty much anywhere. I've done Red Rocks a few times so are looking for something different; also not too much interested in JT. Thanks for the feedback!

AJ

rpc

rpc - Apr 19, 2010 12:14 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Any beta?

Aaron, how's the Needles this time of year (might be too early, never been)? Also, there are 2 books for Bishop area cragging (same series as the Owens guide). Flipping thru. those (did not buy) I do recall some nice granite crack type climbing etc... I'd definitely try Owens for a day or two - perhaps you will like it. Who knows. Enjoy your vacation & hopefully post up some photos for the rest of us to "stoke the fire" :)
cheers.

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