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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 395View of the Eastern Sierras from the RV parkPool & hot tubRV site
Alabama Hills – we hiked multiple days in the Alabama Hills, checking out the various movie locations and many arches. Hikes are short, and easy, on hot & dusty level trails.
I saw a post about the 2023 Perseid Meteor Shower on Instagram. One of the best places to see this event in California is Joshua Tree National Park, a dark-sky area. But Joshua Tree is 105°F during the day in August. Regardless, all available campsites at Joshua Tree National Park were booked. Our last trip to Joshua Tree was the same way, so we stayed at TwentyNine Palms RV Resort. It’s located 3mi from the north entrance and usually has available sites with full hookups. Until we install or buy a RV with 12v A/C, we prefer to stay at a place with electrical hookups when it’s that hot. We do not want to run a gas/propane generator for hours to stay cool. Since we arrived before sunset on Friday Aug 11th, we drove into Joshua Tree to find a location to photograph the Milky Way. The Perseid Meteor Shower was already happening but peak viewing was Saturday, the next night. I wanted to photograph the Milky Way with Joshua Trees. So we stopped at Cap Rock and I found a Joshua tree foreground for my Milky Way photo along the southern trail. On our way out, we stopped at Skull Rock to watch shooting stars for an hour before heading to the RV. Since Saturday night was forecast to be peak viewing of the meteor shower. I focused on getting a Milky Way+Joshua Tree photo Friday night. Saturday, I’d spend photographing shooting stars with a star tracker.
As we were leaving Joshua Tree NP Friday night, we noticed many people had chairs & recliners that made star gazing more comfortable. So Saturday, our mission was to find two zero gravity recliners in Yucca Valley. We found the last two on clearance at Home Depot. Tip: definitely invest in zero gravity recliners if you plan on spending any serious time star gazing. Saturday, I wanted to do a hike before we setup for the meteor shower viewing. The temperature that evening was cool enough to hike the Heart Rock and Arch Rock Trail before it got dark. Turns out the area around the Arch Rock Trail parking lot would work for meteor shower viewing. Especially since we were lucky enough to grab one of the last parking spots. The lot was full and people were already setting up for meteor viewing when we arrived before sunset. Little did we know how CRAZY crowded Joshua Tree National Park would be tonight.
We saw an amazing display of shooting stars but not the hundred per hour predicted. I set up my Move Shoot Move star tracker and shot 2 minute exposures of the northeast sky and straight-up. After 3 hours of exposures from 2200-0100, ~90 frames, I was disappointed that the many shooting stars we saw were not in frame. This was my first try at star-tracked astrophotography and I was successful at polar alignment & tracking the stars. But successful astrophotography images are the result of practice & patience and I definitely need more of both. I didn’t want to interrupt the interval to check for successful capturing of what we were seeing. I thought the 14mm focal length was wide enough to catch the meteor trails. We packed it in a little after 0100, after 3 hours of star-gazing. Our RV park is still in the dark area so if the meteor shower improved at 0200. We could still watch from outside our RV. As we left the park, the line of cars to get in stretched the 3mi to the main road. Crazy that hundreds of people were just arriving at 0100. Regardless, we had a great time and were glad we got there early – the zero gravity recliners were a wonderful, comfortable way to star gaze. We’ll definitely make it a point to visit Joshua Tree at night often.
We packed up and departed 29Palms at 11am. Unfortunately, all the other thousands of people who came to Joshua Tree for the meteor shower were also heading West at that time. It took a few extra hours to get home because of the traffic.
It’s been increasing difficult to find a spur-of-the-moment RV site this year, especially affordable ones. Our weekday schedule has been busy and campgrounds on the weekend are all booked. So we felt lucky to find a few days at San Diego Metro KOA to take the grand-kids for a few nights of ‘urban RV camping’. This San Diego KOA is close to most of San Diego’s sights like Sea World and the San Diego Zoo but we were able to find plenty to do at the KOA.
They offer a nice list of daily activities for kids and families plus they have a great swimming pool. It’s large and mostly shallow so the kiddos spent a lot of time in the water. August was warm so cooling off in the pool was a great way to spend the day. The RV sites are also nicely shaded by trees so we did not need to run the A/C all the time. But these trees continually drop leaves and seed pods on Howie so I needed to sweep the roof before we left. The KOA has special events celebrating holidays & special times of the year, such as Fall Festivals, and Halloween. But there’s always something going on Monday-Saturday during the summer, like Movies under the Stars. Some activities were not operational – the Rock Climbing Wall or Surf Shack Shootout were closed while we were there. So refer to the activities calendar when you arrive to not miss something. Some of the activities that kept us busy:
Swimming pool – the kiddos can spend hours at the pool and the KOA had a Mermaid/Pirate-hosted pool party Saturday morning.
Barrel Train – throughout the morning & early afternoon, there is a barrel train that takes kids and adults around the perimeter of the resort for a fun, free five-minute ride.
Jumping pillows – the large jumping pillow get hot during mid-day but morning and evening bouncing is great fun and will expend loads of energy.
Bicycle rentals – if you didn’t bring bikes or want to try some fun bikes that you don’t have at home! They rent 3-wheel Fun Cycles, 4-wheel Peddle Carts, and 2-6 Person Surrey Bikes. Hour or half hour rentals.
Cotton Candy or Shaved Ice – these activities have a small fee but are a special treat!
Bike/Scooter Decorating – add streamers and balloon to your favorite mode of transportation
Scavenger Hunt – follow the clue sheet to find different locations & fun facts around the resort, take a selfie when you get there, and be awarded a free craft coupon.
Magic ShowBikes RentedPanning For CrystalsScavenger Hunt Task “Take A Goofy Selfie”Scavenger Hunt Task SelfieBarrel TrainSmoresTablet Time Before SmoresBarrel Train
After spending the morning at Center of the World, & lunching in Yuma, we drove an hour to the Imperial Sand Dunes. We couldn’t find the turnoff for Ted Kipf Rd to North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area so we stopped at the Hugh T. Osborne Lookout. There are restrooms and a large parking lot & it was busy. This is the ATVs & ORVs meet-up place with large parking spots for their support vehicles. The dunes south of highway 78 are etched with tire tracks so not the best for sand dune photographs. It’s an epic place to offroad w/ friends & carve up the dunes, or take photos of such activities. A permit is required to operate vehicles on the Imperial Sand Dunes – permit info here; area Map pdf here.
North of the 78, is the beginning of the BLM protected wilderness area where motorized vehicles are prohibited. We parked at Osborne Overlook then hiked across the road (78) where the Wilderness Area begins and no vehicles are allowed. There were some photo-worthy dunes so I made the best of the afternoon light. Hiking the dunes is challenging and be sure to bring water.
I wanted to find the road to the North Algodones Dunes which google maps outlines so clearly. It turns out Ted Kipf Rd is a barely marked, easy-to-miss dirt road that turns north off highway 78 at Glamis. After hiking the nearby dunes and the busy morning, we decided not to navigate Ted Kipf Rd. I was okay with the few images I took near the Overlook – below is a mix of north & south dunes. I will definitely be back to explore the North Algodones Dunes at sunset & Milky Way season.
We stayed at Encore Pilot RV Resort in Winterhaven, CA ~10mi from Yuma, AZ. It’s an Encore/Thousand Trails RV Resort in southeastern California on the Arizona border. When searching for places-of-interest in the area, the Center of The World Museum came up. It was right across the freeway from our RV resort. Since I wanted to photograph the Imperial Sand Dunes in the late afternoon/evening for the best light. We spent ~90mins exploring the Center of the World, early in the day when it was cooler. It’s a really interesting, unusual, unique place in the middle of nowhere. Located in Felicity, CA, this ‘History of Humanity in Granite’ outdoor museum covers several acres. It reminds me of the roadside attractions we would drive by on our family road trips when I was young. It’s hard to describe all that is notable – the Pyramid, Chapel, Maze, Eiffel Tower Stairs, and multi-subject Granite Etchings. The historical panels, laser-etched in granite, have intricate detail, and information in English, French, & Hebrew. Each array of panels cover different, eclectic subjects and records significant moments in history, art, music, and biology. The founder, Jacque-André, was French with an affiliation with the French Foreign Legion and there are sections devoted to their history. Will these be 21st century petroglyphs in 4000yrs? Time will tell. Highly recommended if you enjoy unusual roadside outdoor museums – admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children 5yrs & up (as of mid-2023). Is it really the ‘Center of the World’? Probably not but there are some credentials, given to the founder, innovator & builder, that say it is recognized as such. Read more if you are curious about its creation by Jacques-André Istel.
Finding a campsite for 3 days at Anza-Borrego State Park, even during the week, is challenging during peak season (Oct-May). Desert spaces are extremely popular during the winter, especially around Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego. Fortunately, we found a spot at the Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort for 3 nights. It was a very different experience than last year when we dry-camped inside the park. This place has full hookups and is just west of downtown Borrego Springs. But for our first trip of 2023, we were happy just to be back on the road. We were hoping to see wildflowers everywhere but the ‘better-than-usual’ bloom was near its end. Update: starting the day we headed home, there has been a week of continual rain and cold weather. So there will be a bunch of new blooms and if it turns into a Spring Superbloom, we’ll day-trip from Oceanside.
Borrego Palm Canyon (Our only hike)
We hiked the Borrego Palm Canyon trail our first morning in Borrego Springs. This has become one of our favorite hikes in the area – a 3-4mi easy hike with a potential Bighorn Sheep encounter (often at ~1130am near the trailhead). It’s a great hike to start the year. The Bighorn Sheep did appear but I unfortunately made the poor choice of taking the alternate trail back to the parking lot. The Bighorn Sheep were on the main trail so we only got a ‘tail-end glimpse’. I should have listened to Carol’s suggestion to hike the main trail back. The alternate trail meanders along the west side of the canyon and is the less-traveled trail. These particular sheep do not seem to mind being around people and are not skiddish. They might be the same group we saw last year, in nearly the same spot, same time of day (noonish).
Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center posts wildflower locations (online as well)
There were wildflowers scattered around Borrego Springs/Anza-Borrego State Park when we visited. This was our first trip to specifically view them. But the weather was not our friend with high winds forecast for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Now we are familiar with high winds around Desert Hot Springs and Indio because we have family there and visit often. But the winds that blew through this trip were extreme, unlike any we’ve ever encountered. So strong, they snapped the poles providing power to Borrego Springs. The miles of toppled power lines caused a regional power-outage all the way to La Quinta. We had a nervous night trying to sleep in our wind-blown 20ft travel trailer. The wind break of trees and small slope behind our site helped but it was still an experience we won’t soon forget. The power went out Tues around midnight and didn’t come back till after midnight Wednesday. Because the power outage disabled the two gas stations in Borrego Spring. Wednesday became a search for gasoline since we needed to refuel before our Thurs departure. Not knowing when power might be restored, we ended up driving to Red Earth Casino, about 40mi, to fuel up. The other consequence of the storm was the snow level had dropped to ~2000ft so chains were required on our planned route home. So we ended up driving the long way back through Palm Springs to avoid the continuing stormy weather and ice. Thursday morning the winds had slackened but it was raining hard, even hailing. We made it home without incident and Howie handle the craziness without issue. This is the first time we’ve encountered these kind of conditions so it was good it happened on a short trip near home. Our preparedness for such a situation is okay – Howie has batteries and a solar panel. But we need to keep some fresh water in our tanks & be able to dry-camp even when we are staying at a full hookup campground.
