We woke up to a gorgeous, sunny California day at our campsite at “The Pit.” After a breakfast of coffee and some of the delicious apple-raisin pull away bread we had picked up at Erick Schat’s Bakery, we wanted to do some exploring. Bishop is a very popular rock climbing destination, so we decided we should try a little bouldering while we were there. We had heard a lot about the Buttermilks from people we had met, so we decided to head there.

We have seen lots of climbers with crash pads and all sorts of equipment but we were not prepared for all that. We settled for just a little hands and feet climbing. It was fun to try figuring out hand and footholds to get up some tricky areas and the views from the top of the boulders were incredible. After an hour or so of hiking, climbing, and picture taking we headed back to the car to take a drive.

As usual, we ended up taking a rougher road than we intended but it was fun. Francis enjoys seeing how well our Jeep handles these challenging roads and pushing the limits of his driving skills. I just hold on and close my eyes if it gets too scary. The trees had changed to a beautiful bright yellow which made for spectacular scenery and photographs.

Despite a few hairy moments, we made it back to town in one piece and headed to Wash Tub Coin-Op Laundry for showers. When we got there, we realized showers were only available from 8-10 PM. We did not want to hang around town waiting for several hours, so we decided to check out the nearby California Hostel instead. For $5 we got towels, unlimited hot water, and nice clean facilities. On our way out, Francis made friends with the hostel’s cute little dog.

After our showers, we headed back to our campsite to make some dinner and enjoy what we thought would be our last night in Bishop.