Bishop Peak 11-7-09

San Luis Obispo, affectionately known as SLO, is surrounded by mountains. Saturday we decided to hike to the top of one of them, Bishop Peak. After some post hike reading, it appears this mountain was named for resembling a bishop’s miter and since SLO was home to a mission, the name is very fitting. After smearing on some sunscreen, grabbing water and snacks, and donning some awesome bandanas, we drove to the trailhead in a residential neighborhood. The guys thought the hike was about 2 miles to the top with maybe 1000’ of elevation gain. I was already going to use my GPS but checking those numbers gave me even more reason. The trail was very popular and the sun was blazing over head. It was quite different from my recent hiking in 20 – 40 degree temperatures with some rain thrown in.

The first part of the trail wound through some fields along fences. The drive to the trailhead had already gained us quite a bit of elevation so I got a peak at SLO below. Soon we were hiking through some shade, basically the last of it on the way to the top, and admiring some large rock faces that local climbers frequent. We emerged into the sun and started up a series of switchbacks, gaining moderate elevation the rest of the way. I didn’t think I would miss all the trees I usually hike through in the northwest but some shade would have been a welcomed break. Nearing the top the heat started to get to me a little and I took a few more breaks.

Finally we reached the top with lots of large rocks to climb. After taking a quick fruit snack break, we climbed up the rock on the east side of the mountain. I had a great view of the surroundings and got a great bird’s eye tour from the guys, pointing out buildings and other areas. After taking a group picture, we climbed down the rocks and headed for the rocks on the west side of the mountain, gaining a little more elevation yet. The trail up, under, around, and over the rocks was not super clear but we made our way over and climbed some more rocks. After taking a series of pictures for a 360 degree panorama from the top, we started back to the car.

On the trail back down the mountain we encountered many interesting things like lizards and a new way of carrying children up mountains. Once down, back in the trees, we decided to take a very short detour to a cave one of the guys had been in before. I luckily had my headlamp so I led the group through the relatively short tunnel to the end. It is a very well visited tunnel evidenced by the remnants of many candles. There also seemed to be a lot of clay lining the walls. During my post hike reading I learned that this mountain was heavily mined in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. After a blinding group picture at the end of the cave, we found our way back onto the trail and continued to the car with a little fun along the way. It was a great short hike, reminiscent of my beloved Rattlesnake Ledge in terms of proximity (even though this was a lot closer to SLO), round trip mileage, and elevation gain.

View Bishop Peak 11-7-09 in a larger map Map for this adventure