Waiting to be screwed by the cost of insurance of car insurance - NOT included in the price booked on the internet.
We had the option of a Prius or this V6 muscle car. No clearance, no 4WD, shit-house fuel economy and a boot. The red color sold us though...
When in LA you must fit in with the locals - so playing NWAs seminal 80s ganster rap album Straight Out of Compton is a must...
Venice Beach, California
A lost hippy from the 1960s still parked on Venice Beach
The rich and the poor of America.
Food in LA was excellent.This was a seriously kick ass breakfast.
Our camp below Mt Whitney. We randomly pulled in here not seeing all the rock at midnight and woke up to this amazing place!
Mt Whitney - highest mountain in lower 48 states of the USA. About 4500m high. I climbed it in a big headache inducing day.
Apparently this was used as a movie set in lots of old western films.
View down towards Lone Pine.
Mt Whitney! Incredible rock.
Altitude gain decreases pressure - thus my banana cake packaging has inflated at 4000m!
Happy with blue skies and big mountains!
Mountaineers route filled with snow. The guys up ahead are wearing tevas and attempting to bypass the snow by climbign the rock on the right side!
Mountaineers route goes up this gully
Opps - off route. I tried to avoid the snow by soloing up the rock on the right and ended up on this crazy rock ridge.
Not exactly appropriate footwear for big mountains. My runners.
Thousands of metres of ice covered slope. I better not slip.
The Mountaineers Route up this snow gully.
Getting near the top. Headache.
View from the summit - wow.
Officially the top of mainland USA.
The descent down the iced up tourist route was actually very dodgy without crampons and an axe.
The backside of the big cliffs.
Sunset and several hours of walking to go.
Owens River Gorge - the first climbers we bumped into were Australians - who knew everyone.
Owens River Gorge - a little chossy, a little hot - but long and sustained!
Owens River Gorge - seems a lot greener than when i was last there...
Campground at Owens River Gorge with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background. Snow was falling...
Pine Creek Canyon granite cragging near Bishop.
This corner was a sick 5.10 trad route - a full 50m pitch that I led in light rain.
Stemming up the corner.
Kathy the professional belayer
This is the famous Pratts Crack offwidth. 50m of big-bro size crack. I did not do this for obvious reasons.
Trying to find a hot spring near Mammoth Lakes I managed to get our car bogged in this mud. I had to push it back out...
