Lone Pine and Mount Whitney

Lone Pine, CA is the second of the completely unexpected surprises that has greatly enhanced our trip so far.  We were talking with our neighbor in Death Valley, Gary, who briefly mentioned Lone Pine and Movie Flats.  He mentioned that a lot of B, cowboy movies had been made here, which frankly doesn't sound like much of a draw.   I remember my dad talking about the Saturday mornings spent at the movies watching Audi Murphy, Hop-a-Long Cassidy, Randolph Scott, Lone Ranger, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, etc.  Initially, we breezed by the Lone Pine Film Museum, but stopped in town to look for a bracket that I wanted to elevate the cargo rack on the back of the Teardrop.  I've been concerned that the rack as currently mounted obscures the tail lights on the trailer.  Frances walked into town to get a California road map to help us plan our route up to Mount Shasta in Northern CA.  I found her talking to the father of the owner of a fishing tackle shop and joined her there.  Trout fishing is a big deal here.  Anyway, as we were leaving, he really praised the museum.  He didn't seem like the sort of guy to gush over just any roadside attraction.  Based on his recommendation, we decided to give it a visit.  You can see my photos from the museum on a previous post.  It was top notch, and easily as good as claimed.   Based upon a film we saw about the history of Lone Pine in film making, which is really impossible to overstate, we decided to drive up to the the Alabama Hills, which is where the 100s of films were shot.  As these things go, we missed the turn and ended up seeing a sign to Tuttle Creek (for the first day we called it Turtle Creek) Campground, and instantly decided we had to spend more time here. We grabbed a spot and made our way back to the movie location.  We did a quick drive through, but will have to get back to the site later to spend more time.

After returning to the camp ground, we decided we needed to spend another 6 or so days here.  With our Annual Pass for National Parks, it only costs us $2.50 a night to camp.  We carry water to the Teardrop and refill our tank which has a pump.  Our solar panels run the refrigerator all day, and the battery, also charged by the panels, runs it and the lights at night.  With the strong sun here, we can do without an AC connection indefinitely.

Today we took to the bikes and rode up to Mount Whitney Portal.  It is where the mountaineering trail to the peak of Mount Whitney starts.  The portal is about 8300 feet and the peak of Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US is over 14,000 feet.  The ride with gorgeous, with extensive full views of the peak for most of the ride.  Tomorrow, we will drive up to the portal and hike from there.  It is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen.  It may be in part due to the fact that I've been in the desert for many weeks, but the water and large pines, surrounded by granite mountains took my breath away.

One tip I've been meaning to post for some time, when on a trip like this Take Your Check Book!  It is not obvious, but most of the parks and campgrounds are fee areas.  I'm glad to support the use of these areas, but I rarely have exact change.  Most of the areas are unattended, but they always takes checks. So, I wish that I had brought mine along, but would have never anticipated that having a checkbook would turn out to be so helpful.

Somehow, Lone Pine managed to escape becoming a tourist trip, a la, Gatlinburg, Estes Park, etc.  It's a small town at the base of an amazing natural wonder, and an interesting cultural hub.   There is a great, traditional hardware store in town that is packed with supplies.  There are local diners, saloons and a coffee shop, where I'm now sitting to type.