Month: October 2023

18 Oct 2024: Last Day in Lone Pine

by JamesUncategorized

When we travel, we rarely sit idle by the RV. So we usually fill our days, especially our last day on vacation. So after a few short hikes in the Alabama Hills in search of Nightmare Rock/Miss Alabama Rock and Shark Fin Rock.

We drove north to historic Mt Whitney Fish Hatchery.
“The Mt Whitney Fish Hatchery was once the largest and best equipped hatchery in California. In 2007, a large wildfire burned upstream of the hatchery. A year later, a heavy thunderstorm resulted in a massive mudslide that swept down Oak Creek wash, damaging ponds, water supplies, and employee homes. The main building escaped the flood and the facility is now an educational facility…” Info from bishopvisitor.com.
Unfortunately, they were closed but we were able to walk around the fish pond and feed the fish.

We usually bring our folding Zizzos bikes (pictured) or e-bikes on our trips and try to bike ride at least once, even if only around the campground.
There really isn’t a great area to bike around Lone Pine unless you mountain or e-bike Movie Road. Fortunately, just a mile up the road from Boulder Creek RV park is Diaz Lake. This Inyo County Campground has a road the circles the lake and was the only place to bike. The road was bumpy then gravel but beautiful in the evening. But be sure to wear mosquito repellent.
A nice way to finish our stay in Lone Pine.

17 Oct 2024: Mt Whitney/Lone Pine Lake Trail

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

We wanted to hike a cooler, more forested trail so we headed up Mt Whitney Portal. The trails around Mt Whitney and the eastern Sierras here are hard with lots of elevation change. But we thought we’d give the 6mi Lone Pine Lake Trail as try.

I came to Lone Pine and the Eastern Sierras in search of fall colors to photograph. I didn’t realize the eastern side of the Sierras was high desert at ~4000ft. I’ve always pictured Bishop and neighboring towns as having lots of trees and fall colors. But you have to get to higher elevations to find trees and autumn colors in this part of California. Mammoth Lakes is roughly 8000ft so Mt Whitney Portal was our nearest option.

We started at 10am and it was cold at Mt Whitney Portal Store (8360ft). The day was sunny but unless you were in direct sun, it’s was cold. Fortunately, once on the trail, there were long breaks between shade so we warmed up quickly. In fact, the shade became a great stopping point as the day grew warm. The trail to Lone Pine Lake climbs 1771ft so the trail elevation gain over 3mi is pretty steep. Hiking from 8400-10,000ft is hard and Carol had a chest cough. We decided to turn back at ~9500ft (500ft below Lone Pine Lake). The switchbacks and climb at this point of the trail were grueling. We did see patches of fall colors and the hike was beautiful. But we were really disappointed we didn’t make it to Lone Pine Lake. It one of the few hikes we’ve been unable to complete. We’ve always been aware of our limitations, so rarely pick trails rated hard. All the forested, mountain trails in this area are rated hard so we picked one of the shortest. But the combo of hiking at over 9000ft plus the steep elevation gain, stopped us for making to the lake.
It’s the journey, not always the destination, right?

14, 16 Oct 2023: Alabama Hills Movie Road

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / Day Trips / Sightseeing / Trips
Courtesy of BLM.gov

The Alabama Hills &/or Mt Whitney are why you visit Lone Pine. Many highway 395 travelers stop here for lunch as they head to Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, or Lake Tahoe. But Lone Pine has a lot to offer, mainly hiking/climbing Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, and the Alabama Hills Movie Road & arches.
The Alabama Hills is renown as a movie filming location particularly for westerns. So much of it’s history is from the heyday of movie and TV westerns. Movies or shows starring Roy Rogers, John Wayne, the Lone Ranger, Gene Autry; movies such as Gunga Din, Star Wars, Tremors, Gladiator, Ironman, Django Unchained were all shot here. It’s close proximity to Los Angeles and unique topography and open rugged spaces. Make it a great spot to make movies or TV shows. There’s even a Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine that’s worth a visit, admission is only a $5 donation.

The landscape of the Alabama Hills reminds me of Joshua Tree National Park. Driving, biking, or hiking Movie Road is the main route through the many unique aggregations of boulders, movie locations, and arches. It’s dry, dusty, and often hot – definitely a Spring or Fall destination even though at an elevation over 4000ft.
You can spend a few to several days hiking to all the arches and movie locations. All the arch and movie location trails are short, level, easy hikes. Some movie sets have plaques describing the film or show shot on the location. The hike to one of the best arches, Mobius Arch, is short, easy with very few people in October. I got up before sunrise to take photos of Mobius Arch at sunrise and I was by myself. The sunrise hitting the Eastern Sierras and Mt Whitney makes for a wonderful background.

We visited the Alabama Hills over a few days, hiking to the different arches and movie locations. We paced ourselves, only doing a few hikes each day. You can see most of the arches in one day but we were in no rush. Our RV park was only a few miles from the Movie Road and Mt Whitney Portal. So our only long drive was to Bishop & the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.

Various Alltrails Trail Maps of Movie Road Loop & the Arches

We drove to the trailheads since it was pretty hot mid-day/mid-afternoon. Having maps of the arches or movie set locations is a good idea since many sites are not clearly marked. If you are driving the Movie Road, they are pretty hard to miss since they have parking areas. But having a map will help you figure out which stop you are at & there are many.

16 Oct 2024: Museum of Western Film History

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / Day Trips / Sightseeing

If you are a classic film buff, enjoy westerns, or movies in general, a short but worthwhile stop in Lone Pine is the Museum of Western Film History. It a relatively small museum but with plenty of memorabilia and information about the hundreds of films and shows filmed in the Alabama Hills. Admission is a $5 donation but you can contribute more if you really enjoy the place. I grew up watching the Lone Ranger and many of the classic western films they have on display.

Olancha Sculpture Garden

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / Day Trips / Sightseeing

An unusual roadside point-of-interest south of Lone Pine, is the Olancha Sculpture Garden. A much smaller metal sculpture array than Anza-Borrego’s larger metal sculptures. The Olancha Sculpture Garden is an installation by Jael Hoffman. It’s right on the 395 and free, although there’s a donation sculpture (“Give & Take”) with Venmo address. Quirky, unusual metal characters are worth the stop and a few photos.
The Fossil Falls Trail is nearby if you want something else to do in the area. We considered it but it had already been a long day so we just stopped to check out the sculptures.

15 Oct 2023: Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest

by JamesCalifornia / Day Trips / Hikes / State Parks

After our stop at Manzanar National Historic Site, we drove into Bishop for lunch. From Boulder Creek RV Park in south Lone Pine, Manzanar is about 18mi north, Bishop ~80mi. Manzanar was a surprise, we hadn’t planned a stop but being of Japanese heritage. When I saw the sign driving north, I thought it worth the detour. We stay a lot longer than I planned and this delayed our plans to find fall colors around Bishop & Lake Sabrina. So our plans changed to lunch in Bishop then the Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The Bristlecone Forest was definitely on my ‘must-see’ list. I had seen some wonderful tree and landscape photos. We still had plans to hike Mt Whitney the next day, so we might still find fall colors there.
There are two main trails at Bristlecone Pine Ancient Forest – 1mi Schulman Grove Trail & 4mi Methuselah Trail. With our late arrival and being at 10,000ft, we chose the shorter trail. The Schulman Grove Visitor Center closes early and the days are getting shorter in October. The altitude was definitely felt. The shorter trail is still considered moderately challenging and the first half mile climbs 265ft. Doesn’t sound like much but its a short somewhat steep climb at the start.

The trees are amazing and worth all the trouble to get here. Many look barely alive and their trunks are weathered from thousands of years. It doesn’t look like a forest in the traditional sense, with dense green trees. It’s an exposed forest at 10,000ft. Some areas have groves of trees but the ancient ones tend to stand alone. New growth is precious and rare – see red flag photo below.

15 Oct 2023: Manzanar National Historic Site

by JRWilkinsonCalifornia / Day Trips / Sightseeing / State Parks

We took a daytrip, north on the 395, to hike the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. On the way, about 15mi north of Boulder Creek RV Resort, we passed the Manzanar National Historic Site. We were in no hurry so we stopped. I was aware of the history of Japanese-Americans on the Pacific Coast being sent to internment camps after Pearl Harbor. The US was fearful of anyone who might be sympathetic to Japan, pose a “public danger”, and be potential spies. So anyone with Japanese heritage was sent here or one of nine other camps for the duration on the war. Most lost their homes, businesses, farms, and personal belongings.
In addition to Manzanar’s informational displays, the National Archives has more information.
This site can affect you when you read the many stories of Americans of Japanese heritage.
Myself, the son of a WWII Army Sgt & Japanese mom, became more emotional than I expected. It hit really “close-to-home” – if our family started during the war instead of after. My family & I, most likely, would have been interred here.

Particularly sad was many families had sons fighting and dying in service of their country. Private First Class (former Technical Sgt) Sadao S. Munemori was the first to earn the Medal of Honor. His family was sent to Manzanar & his Mom Nawa’s story resonated with me.

Entrance
Visitor Center
Names of interred residents
Barracks
Barracks
Barracks
Barracks Road
Barracks Rec Area

14-19 Oct 2024: Lone Pine, CA

by JamesCalifornia / Central California / RVing / Trips

Lone Pine is a small town on Highway 395 in the Owens Valley. Lone Pine has a few stores and restaurants and is mainly a portal to Mt McKinley & the Alabama Hills. Travelers often stop here on their way to Bishop, Mammoth Lakes and Lake Tahoe. There aren’t many RV parks in this area but there’s plenty of BLM campgrounds. Boulder Creek RV Resort, south of town, is the only RV park with full hookups in this area.
The years of drought in California, particularly the Eastern Sierra, made Owens Lake a small wetlands. But with the unusually large amount of snow pack melt & rain in winter & spring 2023, Owens Lake had returned to a lake. By October, the warm summer had reduced the size of the lake. But much of the lake and wetlands around the Owens Lake West Delta Birding Area were still prevalent.

After hiking the Alabama Hills Movie Road, we stopped at the Alabama Hills Cafe. It has a well-served 4.5 star rating in Yelp. But they close early at 3pm and all day Wednesdays so they are great for breakfast or lunch.
After hiking Lone Pine Lake Trail, part of the Mt Whitney Trail, it was after 3pm. So we tried the Mt Whitney Restaurant which claims “the best burgers in town”. The Mt Whitney restaurant has a classic decor with lots of history & memorabilia similar to the Film History Museum.

13-19 Oct 2023: Lone Pine Alabama Hills Trip

by JamesCalifornia / Campgrounds / Day Trips / RV Parks / Travel

We’ve been staying closer to home and taking shorter trips. So our RV trips are to locations that are within two-days travel from home. We were hoping that there might be Fall colors in the eastern Sierras based on some travel vlogs & Google searches. Plus some photographers in the UCSD Photography Interest Group have talked about their trips to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine California. So we planned a short trip in mid-October, hoping to catch some Fall colors.


Since we often start our trips at noon, we prefer to keep our drives on day 1 to ~3hrs. Towing our travel trailer at ~55-60mph, especially through traffic, can be nerve-wracking. So we stopped about mid-way at Arabian RV Oasis in Boron CA. There aren’t many RV parks along highway 395 in this area. There are plenty of dispersed campsites but we prefer hookups.
Oct 13th – Arabian RV Oasis was good for one night – not fancy, quiet and affordable.

Arabian RV Oasis Road Sign
Arabian RV Oasis Office
Facilities, pretty sad
Gravel, roomy sites

Oct 14th – Boulder Creek RV Resort

My friends recommended Lone Pine/Alabama Hills as a great plan to hike, camp, & photograph. They camp at Tuttle Creek Campground or other BLM dispersed campgrounds in the Lone Pine area. We wanted hookups so we stayed at Boulder Creek RV Resort in south Lone Pine. It’s a really nice RV park near the Mt Whitney Portal and Alabama Hills with great amenities and location. There are plenty of places to camp but this is one of the only RV campgrounds with hookups in the area.

Entrance sign on 395
View of the Eastern Sierras from the RV park
Pool & hot tub
RV site

Daytrips In or From Lone Pine: