Anyone in Bishop, CA or eastern Sierra Nevadas?

Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
2,198
Reaction score
981
Location
Front range
I got a transfer down to Bishop, CA. The movers come tomorrow and I'll hit the road next Wednesday. I was hoping for Priest Lake, Idaho but Bishop called first and my supervisor said it is bad in our agency to turn down a transfer if offered.

It's kinda cool as ten years ago this May, I graduated with my wildlife degree from Humboldt State and went to work at Bodie State Historic Park about an hour and a half north and just south of Bridgeport.

I always like Bishop and just did my house hunting trip. It is pretty expensive but the people and community were awesome. Bad gun control laws in CA of course but at least the community and people are great.

Plus, it gets me out of a trailer park version of a Straw Dogs kind of town, if you know what I mean!

I look forward to the Bishop Gun Club for trap and IDPA, the Reno gun show and PPC at the CHP and Long Beach PD academies.

Anyone in Reno, Coleville, Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Mammoth, Bishop, Big Pine or Lone Pine ?
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
Bridgeport here, just open our new range. 8 rifle concrete benches at 50, 75,100,200,300 yds with room to shoot farther. Pistol 5-30 yds. Come by and check it out. Good dove hunting in Bishop-Big pine area, valley quail too.
Mark
 
Congratulations on the transfer. Anywhere on US 395 starting a few miles up the road from the Hesperia flats and continuing on north is a really pretty portion of the state. I get through there every so often, and every time I do I wonder why I let so much time pass since the last time I did it.

I love the Alabama Hills, where they used to shoot two-reeler westerns in the '40s and '50s. Roy Rogers and Gene Autry put in a lot of miles on horses in front of those caves and sandstone mounds.

(I don't dislike the Hesperia area, but over the decades it just got too built up for me to appreciate it the way I used to. Deserts: good. Cities: bad. Hesperia just tipped too far from one side of that balance to the other.)
 
When we come home from Joshua Tree we always stay at the same hotel, and in the same room, in Bishop on the west side of 395. It has a Swiss look to it. the reason I mention it is because there's a Mexican restaurant south a few minutes walk the makes the best Chile Verde. But I think there's two Mex. restaurants so be careful. That's my minor contribution here. But take a trip to Bodie for sure. I've never been to Death Valley but you have access to it off 395 some distance.
 
If you're a gun person, this is a very bad move. The Bishop area is nice enough, but CA sucks for gun owners. I live a couple hours south of there. The desert can be beautiful though:
RocksCafeCloudyDay1.jpg
 
Great trout fishing, a nice elk herd (if you get drawn), not too far from White Mountain. As a wildlife biologist, it'll be heaven'

For those who don't know, that was almost part of Nevada (ecologically, it should be). A "vote" and political shenanigans (one of the most fraudulent votes in US history) and it was California because Cali wanted Bodie.

If you are really interested, you should get:
McGrath, Roger D. (1987). Gunfights, Highwaymen & Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier. University of California Press.

Compares crime rate of Bodie to towns/cities today. Author is a professor at UCLA.
 
I stayed in Bishop back in 2007 headed through on my motorcycle. It was a Sunday and I recall a very nice range outside of town. they were having a CAS and everyone was very friendly and neighborly. Too bad it's still in Kalifornia.
 
I loved the area. To me, driving north on 395 Bishop is the start of the best part of california. The gun laws arent the best. For me living there, the one drawback would be is there just isnt that many roads. You sort of run out of "new places" to go once you are in a area for awhile. You have to drive for a day to see something new. We live in SW utah. People come here from all over the world to see the national parks around us. I live to ride the trails here. Yet after your here for awhile you find yourself wanting to see something new and you find you have to drive three hours one way to do it. That is because like Bishop that just has 395 going through it there are few other roads. Here in cedar city its I-15. We also have one other road that go`s east-west thats paved. Other than that once you are out of town its dirt roads or trails. This will sound strange but after you live in places like this for a year you will see what I mean.
I was raised in wisconsin. Back there, there are roads all over and usually another intersection every mile. The country may look fairly unpopulated but it isnt. Thats because it has many small villages and sometimes when driving less than a hour away you come up on a village or town you almost forgot about. Out here or in Bishop you can see a hours drive away from your front door!
 
We used to go fishing and camping in the area often. Good trout fishing at Jenny Lake. Interesting stuff along 395, in addition to the Alabama Hills, are the Manzinar internment camp (as I recall just a guard shack left) and a lava flow with some neat tubes you can crawl through (at your own risk). Been a long time since I've been up that way, though.
 
Last edited:
I was wondering what moving company you used and were they available specific to that area or do they move across any state? I have a move coming up in a few months and I have no clue who to use or where even to find movers.

My agency got Red Ball out of Reno to move me down. DO NOT use them under any circumstances.

I told them I have an 1100 lb gun safe and to plan accordingly with people and a vehicle (i.e. truck with lift gate and an appliance dolly or pvc pipe covered in carpet, golf balls, etc.)

Two guys showed up at 0900 with a U Haul with no lift gate and no appliance dolly or PVC pipe. One guy was covered in Hispanic gang tats.

They dropped the gunsafe on its front (yes, on the electronic lock.) It then sat outside for three hours (it was snowing) while they were waiting for the tow truck they called to help them move the safe.

I finally left the house at 1730 and they weren't done.

The office never answered the phone; you'd have to leave a message and they called you back.

They were then a day late to deliver everything. They had everything in Reno, three hours north, for a week and a half.

My closet shoe rack was broken, a cowboy hat had been put in a hamper then had jackets put on top. Half of the containers they put my bullets and brass in were broken.

The safe was fine! A great safe by Iron Man Safes out of Couer 'd Alene. The owner Jason is a great guy and makes a great custom safe at a great price.

I'll move myself next time before I use Red Ball movers again.

Graebel Van Lines did my first paid move. They were AWESOME!


All forum members: please let me know if you are coming through Bishop. The fishing is fantastic as well the hiking, backpacking, 4z4 touring, birding and scenery.

No good gun shops but a decent USPSA club.

I really miss WA state and hope to get back ASAP or to ID. I miss meeting up with DougM and A10. DougM needs close active supervision
 
yaktamer, I know of a Jenny lake in the grand tetons NP, but dont know of one around bishop or off 395. Where is it? Did you mean june lake?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top