Climbing Conditions Report

Conditions Report by Climbing Rangers: ORG CLOSED JUNE 4-24, 2025

WEEKLY CONDITIONS REPORT:
@bishopclimbingrangers

LADWP will release higher-than-normal water down the Owens River Gorge from June 4 to June 24, 2025, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Mono County. During this time, no public access will be allowed within the Owens River Gorge from Long Valley Dam to the Control Gorge Power Plant.

For more information on current conditions, please visit ladwp.com/EasternSierra.
Real-time data on flow levels are available online: https://wsoweb.ladwp.com/Aqueduct/realtime/lvrealtime.htm

It’s officially that time of year when you start questioning if your chalk bag is just a convection oven. Swimming season is here, go jump in the water 💦 🥵 🤿

Patrols through the Bishop climbing areas are coming to an end for the Bishop Climbing Ranger Season. This is our wrap-up as we make our slow crawl toward the cooler granite of the Sierra alpine 🏔️

Moving forward if you’re bold enough to climb through the heat, plan for early starts or evening sessions, chasing shade, and lots of water and sun protection! Heat illness is a serious risk out here, so think ahead about sun exposure, heat avoidance, and hydration levels. ⚠️🥵

🐍Remember the snakes really be out there doing the dang thing, there have been many around the common climbing areas this season, so be sure to keep your dogs on a leash or close by and be cautious where you step. 🔥Fire danger is also very real through the summer, so be cautious!

Buttermilks: Hot, but morning and evening session will be nice, snakes are very active. The mudhole to the Pollen Grains/Get Carter is almost certainly going to worsen. We recommend everyone walk in from Buttermilks main to access these areas until it dries out. 

Pine Creek: Very much in season, shady climbs will be prime. Be mindful of rockfall in the canyon and don’t hang under the busy crags. Helmets are cool. Please be mindful of parking and don’t park on brush. Funds are being raised for a pit toilet! Stay tuned.Tablelands: Forkin’ hot. Like melt your little tips during the middle of the day. Evenings may cool off nicely. 🫠ORG: Quite warm, but chasing shade will be your friend. Bring lots of water down with you. Stinging nettle is very prolific in the gorge this time of year, so pants and long sleeves are recommended for areas near the river. It is particularly bad in the Eldorado Roof and Gorgeous Tower areas.Stay tuned for more Climber Coffees, come hang out with us before you pull on that nice granite. ☕️

 

See you next season.  🤗

🐍 Rattlesnake Season is Here 🐍
Temps are rising, and rattlesnakes are on the move in the Eastern Sierra. Recent sightings have been reported in the Tablelands (Happiness & Sads), Buttermilks, Druids, and the Gorge.

Rattlesnakes aren’t aggressive, but they will defend themselves if startled. That “ch-ch-ch-ch” you hear? It’s just their way of saying: “Hey, I’m here—please don’t step on me.”

Snakes play a vital role in our ecosystem. Give them space and respect, and they’ll usually return the favor.

Stay safe out there:
👀 Watch where you step, sit, or place your hands.
🚶 Stay on trails—avoid walking through tall grass or brush.
🐶 Keep dogs leashed and close.
🎧 Skip the headphones—you’ll want to hear that warning rattle.
🪨 Approach boulders, ledges, and cracks with caution.

💉 Dog owner?
Rattlesnake avoidance training and vaccines are available for dogs.👉 Bishop Veterinary Hospital is hosting a training on 4/16—call them for more info.

🚨 If bitten:
▪️Stay calm and call 911 immediately.
▪️Get to medical care as quickly as possible.📍 Northern Inyo Hospital — 150 Pioneer Ln, Bishop, CA
▪️Keep the bite below heart level on the way to the hospital.

Do NOT:
✖️ Apply ice or heat
✖️ Try to suck out the venom
✖️ Take medication, alcohol, or caffeine
✖️ Use a tourniquet

Be alert, stay safe, and enjoy the spring season responsibly.

Restoration Rundown: A Stewardship Series

We’re excited to launch the Restoration Rundown series— a collaboration between the @bishopclimbers and the @bishopclimbingrangers. We’ll be sharing stewardship goals, ongoing restoration efforts, and ways we can all minimize our impact while at the crag.

Since the ‘90s, Bishop’s bouldering scene has skyrocketed, attracting climbers from all over the world. Increased foot traffic, climate change, and water redistribution have led to significant vegetation loss and erosion.

Some areas have eroded down to bedrock, with expanded landing zones, hangout spots, and social trails destroying vegetation that may have been a hundred years old. This creates a vicious cycle where less vegetation leads to more erosion, which kills the remaining vegetation, leading to more erosion.

The Bishop Climbing Rangers have been working hard to help protect the remaining vegetation in these areas. Many areas have been reseeded, but do not yet have “Restoration Signs” or visible vegetation. Plants are working hard to grow in the desert and may not pop up until spring or after even a few seasons!

How can we keep the stoke high and the impact low?

Stay on trails & designated zones: Avoid compacting the soil and trampling fragile new seedlings by sticking to established paths.

Mind your gear: Keep crash pads and equipment off restoration areas to protect regrowth. Don’t drag crashpads around because it increases erosion. Please do not tie your pets off to any vegetation as it is very fragile.

Respect restoration zones: Even if they look barren, these areas are working hard to recover. Compacting the soil makes it harder for new seeds to germinate.

Be a crag ambassador: Kindly remind fellow climbers to follow these practices. Volunteer at our stewardship events—it takes a village!

☕️Bishop Climbing Rangers
Sierra Forever

ROAD CONDITIONS 📣
**For the latest information on conditions on the California State Highway System, please visit the Caltrans QuickMap website at quickmap.dot.ca.gov or download the app to your smartphone. You can also call the Road Condition Hotline at 1-800-427-ROAD (7623). Tioga Pass is CLOSED for the season to Yosemite. 

Volcanic Tablelands Geology

The martian rocks, deep canyons, and diversity of life in the otherworldly volcanic tablelands have inspired humans since first venturing into the area ~12,000+ years ago. Surprisingly, there is an incredible array of life in a place that appears rather hostile. While the desert feels tranquil today, it was born from a catastrophic volcanic explosion 🌋 more violent than any eruption humanity has witnessed. 767,000 years ago, the Long Valley Caldera erupted and 25 cubic miles of blazing hot rhyolite tephra rocketed high into the atmosphere and rained back down to Earth ☄️ in an apocalyptic scene. The crater left behind from this blast was 20 miles long, 10 miles wide, and over a mile deep. Ash from this explosion 💥 has been found as far away as Kansas and Nebraska! 125 cubic miles of blistering molten pumice raced out from the caldera soon after and smothered the landscape and all the life within it. Slowly, this material cooled and hardened into the rock we know as Bishop Tuff. Ash at the bottom compressed under the immense weight and became densely welded while the light fluffy material on top was stripped away by wind and rain. Slowly, life 🌸 came back to reclaim the area and the Owens River carved its way through the landscape, excavating the Owens River Gorge and the steep relief at the edge of the Tablelands. Faulting action combined with the eroding power of water sculpted the wonderful canyons of the Happy and Sad boulders where we climb today! 🧗