BLM - Ridgecrest Area
Camp Review:
I camped in this area last year and the review is here: https://www.theweeklycamper.com/camping/blm-ridgecrest-area.
The site I ended up with this year was right off the road, but similarly close to the rocks for some fun bouldering.
Unlike last year, when I camped there during the Thanksgiving week, there were far fewer people in the area.
What I Learned
There was a bit of wind, which we were able to mitigate by positioning the tent on the leeward side of the boulders.
Friends
I shared the campsite with Darlene, Louie, Marina, and Sarah. Darlene, Louie, and Sarah slept in tents while Marina slept in her Subaru and I slept in Ramona.
Thanks to Darlene for this photo!
What Happened?
Darlene, Louie and I met up at my apartment and we started driving at around 2pm. During the drive, Darlene taught us a fun word game, so we played that for a few hours and it was pretty fun (especially for a car game). The game went like this—one person (the “word-master”) would think of a word and would tell the first letter of that word to the rest of the players. The rest would then have to say “1-2-3 contact(?)” and try to say a single word at the same time that starts with the same letters that were given before the word-master can guess the word. Which means that the rest of the players would have to give each other hints and converge on a single word without saying it (it’s like Taboo, but the word-master is playing offense trying to aggressively disrupt it). I got to use the word “intergenerational”, which was fun as it was super long and hard to guess until it got to the 6th letter.
We then stopped by an Indian restaurant that was attached to a gas station when we got hungry (I think between the three of us and our preference for the meal, it was either this or Subway). I was dubious about the quality of food, but when we got it, I was surprised at how delicious the chicken-tikka-masala tasted. I guess they knew they were good because they had the audacity to charge $5 for a bowl of rice! Still, with how yummy it tasted, I would totally go back (and bring my own rice/naan).
We arrived at the campground around 9pm. As Darlene and Louie were setting up their tents, Sarah and Marina arrived. With Darlene, Louie, and Sarah working on their tents, Marina and I started to climb the boulders at our campsite. After an hour or so of bouldering, we decided to go to bed.
The night was uneventful (though I think Darlene may have heard some small critters moving about) and we woke up refreshed the next morning. I dutifully put on my halloween costume (Donkey Kong!) and cooked breakfast while others stirred to life. The bacon-egg sandwich was well received, and we started bouldering with the power of bacon fueling us (though Darlene didn’t boulder... her bacon-energy went into studying economics!). After bouldering well past noon, we headed into Ridgecrest for refreshments before driving to Alabama Hills for some proper climbing.