There’s an absolute tonne of climbing around Bishop, the outdoor capital of the Eastern Sierra. It probably has a similar claim to “epicentre” status as say Moab or Boulder, and as many routes and as much variety as either. Bishop itself is relatively low-lying at around 4,000ft so on our arrival we headed higher in search of some coolth, so I’ve organised these next couple of posts into “Above” and “Around” which makes more sense (honestly!) than north and south for example.

Pine Creek Canyon is only 25mins drive from the centre of Bishop, but you gain over 3,000ft as you head up this stunning granite canyon. There’s so much rock, it’s hard to get a sense of scale, and at first the walls look quite broken – but even the bits and pieces would be major crags. The 600 plus routes to date have barely scratched the surface, and most of the development has focused on the significant side offshoot of Scheelite Canyon.

There’s free dispersed camping within walking distance of the climbing…

… a portaloo in the parking area, and a view straight up to Scheelite Canyon.

Even at this altitude it was toasty in the sun and perfect climbing conditions in the shade (the main left wall faces more or less north) though puffer jackets required for belay duty. The first wall you come across as you enter the canyon is Mustache Wall (about 100m tall though most routes are 30-40m)…

… and Gimpenator, 5.8, and Blast Furnace, 5.9, are both good introductions to the style of climbing on featured, cracked granite.

Further right, Becky Route, 5.9+, is another great outing. Enough “warming up” I decided to have a go at something a bit trickier.

Coven (Seriously though) is an awesome 11b (Seriously confusing – that is the route name) up the long wall to the left of centre. Steady crimping on the patina patches before these run out, with sketchier moves to an overlap and a committing pull through it. Here’s Nate, making it all look very easy!

Here’s Helen rounding off a great day on Tiddlywinks, incredibly steep for a 5.8!

We headed a mile or so up the main canyon the next day to Crack of Noon Buttress (presumably because that’s when it loses the sun?)

… and did a couple of two-pitch routes: Inevitable, 5.7, and US Blues, 10b. You can just about make out a team on each in the picture below.

Here’s Helen on the former.

Further right up the hillside on Fashion Buttress, Blue Steel, 10b, offers contrasting thin slab moves into a thuggy roof.

Still scorchio, so we headed higher again to Mammoth Lakes. We were hoodwinked into visiting Sunshine Wall above Horseshoe Lake, to find a fine but very shady piece of granite.

We persevered to do Little Gem, tough at 5.8. Fingers frozen, at 9,000ft we’d clearly overshot in our efforts to find the Goldilocks zone. Here’s a team with a higher tolerance for cold on a 5.7.

Mammoth Brewery was just the place to warm up…

The BLM Campground at Crowley Lake makes a great base for the crags between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, about 25mins from each. Fab backdrop and only $10 per night.

Another high-altitude venue is Rock Creek, with Gong Show Wall being its centrepiece.

Glorious autumn Aspens make for a pretty spot, and seem to be very Instagramable, judging by the frequency of cars stopping for someone to jump out for a selfie.

There’s a sizeable stream to cross and a couple of handy fallen trees provide the answer.

Beyond that, the grim-looking scree (talus) slope is happily navigated by a well-constructed path.

Fab vistas.

Sideshow, 10a, is an absolutely brilliant route – a 30m rope stretcher, well-enough bolted so that you can really enjoy it, and just enough holds in all the right places to make it reasonable but also make you think.

The adjacent He She, 10b, is nearer 40m and a tad harder, but just as good. Both 4*!

There’s a mix of trad and sport lines – this is Wages of Sin, 10+ and also gets 4*.

We headed leftwards to keep the last of the sun. Grab a Handful, 5.9, and Unknown B, 10a, are two of the half dozen lines on the golden wall at the far left of the crag. Worthwhile.

With slightly cooler weather on the horizon, it was time to udge lower, but not before an overdue rest day.