It has been cold and wet in Bishop for the last week, and the spring pollen is hard on both of us this year. We have also both been busy with work, but the Muppet and I carved out a few days to escape to the sun this week. Heading over the hill, looking back on the valley where the intense and iconic Deep Springs College lies:


More information here: http://www.deepsprings.edu/downloads/DS%20Brochure%202010.pdf

Arrived to a beautiful day in Red Rocks, with the hint of the recent storm still lingering:


We targeted Great Red Book for our afternoon jaunt:




http://www.mountainproject.com/v/great-red-book/105732647

Then back to camp for food and libations:


The next day we headed out to Black Velvet Canyon:


We had a few climbs that we were interested in. Frogland had a party on it and another party almost there, so we kept moving - another trip for this one:


The stunning Black Velvet Wall:


We settled on climbing Sour Mash a fun climb with some tricky initial climbing:


http://www.mountainproject.com/v/sour-mash/105732407

No pictures on-route, but the cholla were in full bloom from a storm a few days earlier:


Nice shadow and color play on the Calico Hills on the drive back:


Then it was off to Claim Jumper for our rib fix:


The next day, we headed up to Panty Wall to get some early climbing in before the drive home. The colors and textures at the First Pull-out are wonderful:




Panty Wall:



The climbing is excellent on wonderful patina, and the view doesn't suck, either:


All too soon it was time to head back into the weather - just south of Beatty, NV: