[pct-l] smoky highs in Bishop

[David Hough on pct-l]

Probably the best news for through hikers (even better for section hikers) is that there's a brewpub
in Bishop, apparently since April.     Mountain Rambler is the name

http://www.mountainramblerbrewery.com/#welcome

Great brew, great food... I followed my JMT finish with Picture Puzzle, an IPA named after an
interesting part of the Inconsolable Range above Bishop Pass.     


http://www.summitpost.org/picture-puzzle/338909

With names like that, unwashed
unshaven uncombed hikers fit right in, though they don't care for argumentative or drunk customers,
according to their sign.     I had a Completo burger.   


They also have live music.    When I was there it was Mindy Dillard, who I had not heard of and could
not hear above the crowd noise - despite being a weeknight after labor day, the place was busy.

http://www.mindydillard.com/bio/

The one part I did hear was in an intro to a song when she commented that after a failed relationship
she had thought about the PCT - think about Cheryl Strayed rather than Yogi as the role model I suspect -
and asked whether anybody had hiked the PCT so I stuck my hand up and she asked when, so I said over the
period 2001-2013, which is true.     Then she started her song and I couldn't make out a word of it,
but applauded at the end anyway.     So did everybody else.

So with songs about the PCT and brews named after climbs, what's not to like?      The smoke from the
Rough fire, which was pouring over Kearsarge Pass into the Owens Valley for 

the entire week I was there.     I don't recommend
a visit to Bishop right now for that reason, but I hope to return to the brewpub as soon as conditions
permit.