Happy/Sad Boulders, Bishop (California)

For the last three nights in Bishop, we had booked a camp site at the Pleasant Valley Owns River Campground near the Happy and Sad Boulders. These two areas are located in canyons in the ridge line around the volcanic plateau. The rock is very different to the Buttermilks as it is volcanic rock and the texture is much more skin friendly.

Unfortunately, many people are looking for this type of rock, so the Happy Boulders are even more crowded than the Buttermilks. There was also a climbing festival going on that weekend, which we hadn't known about. The place was packed. Especially on the famous boulders like The Hulk, V7, Standing Kill Order, V10, and Acid Wash, V7, we climbed together with thirty to fourty other people.

It was certainly a different experience to the weeks before, when we were happy to meet anyone at all.
But the climbing is great, the place is beautiful and the grading is a little less old school. Of course everyone wants to go bouldering here!
We spent the first and second day at the Happy Boulders, where we climbed some of the classics, such as Kill On Sight, V11, Slave to the Grind, V9, and Disco Diva, V8.

On the third day, we hiked into Sad Boulder Canyon, where it's more rocky and narrower than at Happy Boulders. I don't know if it's the name of the place or the fact that it's smaller, but there are far fewer climbers here. Over the course of the day, we hiked from one boulder to the next until we reached the end of the canyon and gloriously finished our Bishop trip by climbing Slunk, V9, and Slunk Left, V6, in the sunset.

We celebrated the fantastic week in Bishop with beer and burgers at the Mountain Rambler Brewery, a place where all climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts meet in the evenings. Everything tasted great and the atmosphere was wonderful. A fitting end to a flawless week of bouldering.Read more