Lights, Camera, Action! Lone Pine, California

Tuesday - Our destination is Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills, an area that has for many years been a favorite location for filming movies. On the way through town we stopped at the Museum of Lone Pine Film History.

This is just plain fun! If you've grown up with the old time cowboy movies, as we have, you'll feel right at home. We love this place, and we both agreed it's one of the most creatively designed museums we've visited. The Film History Museum houses an amazing collection of movie memorabilia - costumes, posters, props, personal items, and much more. Most of the items are related to western movies, but there are other, more recent movies that have been filmed here in the Alabama Hills as well as the surrounding area (such as Tremors, Star Trek V and VI) and and they are represented too. Here are a few shots of the collection.


The museum also has a nice gift shop, where you can pick up a self-guided tour brochure ($2) to assist in locating filming locations back in the hills. If you have a GPS they'll give you a list of the location coordinates. If you are interested in more of the history of the area and the films made here, also pick up a copy of On Location in Lone Pine. You can order it online or get it at the museum. It contains a wealth of history about the area as well as interesting details about the movies and has several maps. We found the maps rather confusing, but when combined with the small driving guide and our mapping program we finally got a good understanding of the various locations.

We set up camp around 2 PM on Tuesday, back in the Alabama Hills, between the town of Lone Pine and the Sierras.

What a picturesque location! We took the afternoon off and just lounged around and admired the view - the rounded forms of the Alabama's against a backdrop of jagged mountains that include Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the continental U.S.) on one side and the Inyo Mountains on the other. The changing light and variations of color in the rocks surrounding us and the distant mountain ranges make this a photographer and artist's dream. It's a good thing digital photos are free!

While relaxing late in the afternoon we noticed three "24" government type Chev. Tahoes parked on the road a short distance from our camping spot. They sat there for quite some time, no one moving in or out of the vehicles, so we started guessing what they were up to. Daph guessed they were scouting for a movie or fashion shoot. I went to investigate..... They had no licence plates. They had been there for about an hour at about 100 ft. away from our spot. They then moved across our road and I saw about 10-12 burly guys standing out in the middle of the valley. Wanting to get Jack Bauers autograph I walked out to the rigs. A big burly crew-cut guy got out and I asked if they were scouting a site for a movie (fashion shoot was definitely out). He said that they were training up "those guys" while pointing at the jet contrails over the valley.
He said the terrain was very similar to Afghanistan and they were doing air-to-ground coordinations. They were with the Navy out of China Lake Weapons Stations. We had been watching the fighters all day, some flew so low we could see the landing gear, so it was nice to have an explanation. They had evidently moved to another spot the next day as the jets were working other areas of the valley. Sorry to miss Jack.

Wednesday - We spent the morning touring with the tour brochure and locating the various filming locations. The area is riddled with dirt roads going to the various shooting locations, so the opportunities for exploration are extensive. The brochure highlights only a few of the many locations, and the directions get you pretty close, but you still have to do some walking to exactly match the photo provided from each movie to help you locate the exact site. The rock formations in the Alabama hills are amazing, so it's no wonder so many films have been made here over the years, and the scenery seems so familiar. As we walked among the boulders it really would have seemed quite normal to hear gunfire, running horses, and see Gene or Roy pop out from behind a rock. Turn one way and it looks like you're in the Himalayas (Gunga Din, Kim and others took advantage of that) view, turn the other and it looks like Death Valley, which actually isn't very far away. A few feet right or left changes the scenery and reveals additional fantastic shapes. Here's a pretty complete list of films made in the area over the years. Once you've been here you can't help recognizing the scenery in a bazillion commercials too. It's been a great business for the area over time, as there isn't much in the way of industry or employment in the area otherwise.

Many of the most outstanding have names: Hoppy Rocks, Gary Cooper Rock, etc. The album has photos of many of the sites we located as well as a few other interesting details. Be sure to read the captions as they include details on each location.

By early afternoon we could see clouds building up over the Sierras, and then the wind picked up. We had pretty good gusts all night, shaking the trailer and shrieking around the windows. It dropped to the mid 30's during the night. This is a place we'd love to spend more time in, but not in this weather! We left plenty to explore on the next visit, so we're moving on to a warmer location.

City of Rocks State Park, NM

We arrived in the City of Rocks State Park early in the afternoon on Monday. Approaching the park the formations look strangely like Stonehenge, only we're not in Britain, we're in New Mexico!

We'll be staying here for the next three days as we take in a bit of the surrounding area and recoup. After all, it was almost a 50 mile drive to get here!

This is a unique area geologically speaking. Formed of compressed volcanic ash that has metamorphosed into stone, then eroded over thousands of years, the formations resemble those in the Alabama Hills in California. Those formations are largely composed of granite however, so aren't counted among the six places in the world that have a feature like this.

We opted again for one of the few sites with power so we could safely leave Molly in the rig when we are out for the day. The electrical sites here are really nicely laid out. They're long, wide, nicely landscaped, and each has a small permanent shade over the picnic table which is sitting on a concrete pad (we could really have used that kind of setup in the Oregon rain!)

This mural includes 20 species who live in the area. 

It was in the high 90's when we first  arrived, so we took advantage of the cool interior of the visitor's center, admiring the murals and chatting with the host. Turns out we had met him last year at Rock Hound State Park. When we commented on the smoke in the air the host said this was really very moderate smoke, as a few days before there was a fire closer by and they had all been packed and ready to evacuate if necessary. 'Glad we missed that episode!

A quick drive around the perimeter of the campground gave us a better sense of the layout.
They have done a beautiful job of tucking campsites up in the rocks, providing privacy and a bit of shelter from both sun and wind for each of them. Each site has a picnic table situated on a perfectly level gravel pad, terraced with local stone.We noted this type of construction in other parks in the area. It's a really nice way to organize the sites without getting in the way of parking your RV, and helps slow down erosion.

The soil here seems to support a much wider variety of plant life than we saw in the Alabama Hills, and judging from all the last-year's yucca blossom stalks it must be breathtaking at the peak of spring bloom.

There is a Botanic Garden featured in the campground. It's well laid out, and does have a nice variety of species, but as a gardener, I must say it could use some loving attention. Overall the park does have a nice variety of vegetation and many of the yucca are in full bloom. There are a few stray wildflowers here and there, and many types of cactus have fruit that are starting to ripen.


There is also a really unique aspect to this park. It has an observatory.  The Simon Observatory is located in the group camp area, surrounded by picnic tables in alcoves formed by the rocks. there are also several placards describing various astronomical features. The solar system and space theme has been carried out in several ways around the park. There's a "campground scale" replica of the solar system, which starts out with a little garden with placards just behind the visitor center (oriented as if it were the sun) and then extends into the campground, and each of the sites has a name taken from the celestial systems. We're staying in Zena, for example (it's the 10th planet, now known as Eris.) Each site has a name taken from astronomy.

As evening approached the smoke in the air became even more obvious. As much as we've complained about the smoke, it does make for a colorful evening sky, a nice backdrop for all the yucca flowers and interesting rock formations. We're up over 5,000 feet, so the evening cools off quickly.We very much enjoyed sitting outside and watching the changing shadows as the jackrabbits and cottontails grazed around us.

We'll explore further tomorrow, as well as visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  For a few more shots of the area visit the album.

Escape from Orange County

Like a rabbit out of the chute with the hounds in hot pursuit we loaded up the rig and headed east, then north, toward the back side of the Sierras.

'Seems like we've spent more time in Southern California this year than at home or on the road, and we are anxious to get back in the traveling mode. We spent a week helping Steve's mother and visiting family, so now the traveling begins.

If it seems we've been "away" for awhile - from the blog that is, we have. First with the commitments in California, and then my computer decided to go toes-up and Steve's spent the last week trying to get it back in working order. 'My own stupid fault that I lost some data, nothing too critical thank heavens, but it was a major inconvenience. The fact that we travel with three computers may seem a little odd to some, but they all have their purpose, and keeping them up and running is a major part of the Trailmaster's job. Things always seem to break when you are out in the boonies too. It's a law! At any rate, we'll try to get caught up on our travels, so the posts will be a bit longer than usual.  

From Southern California we headed for Gardnerville, Nevada, which necessitates a long stretch through the desert, so where to stop that's both comfortable and picturesque? Our first thought was the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, as it's right on the way and one of our favorite places. The area was the filming location for many of the old cowboy movies, and is very picturesque. The temp was 104 when we arrived there however, and so we kept on going, up, as altitude usually equals degrees cooler.

We landed at Gray's Meadow campground, on Independence Creek, just outside Independence on Hwy.395. On the map below you can trace the creek as it flows from the mountains down into Independence.


View Larger Map

The campground has two sections, upper and lower, and the lower one looks a bit cramped for our equipment, so we took an outside space in the upper campground. Though the campground description says a 22 ft. maximum we unhitched so fit quite nicely.

The campground wasn't at all crowded, and what a gorgeous view! What looks on the satellite map (above) like a soft sandy surface around the creek is actually the steep gravel and boulder strewn foothills of the Sierras.

The steep, craggy Sierras tower at the back, while the valley stretches wide and slopes up on the far side to the White and Inyo Mountain ranges.

Toss in a few billowy thunderheads, A few pine and cottonwoods around the creek, and you have a vista to remember! The creek bubbling along the side of the campground made a lovely cooling sound too. We liked it so well we stayed two nights, enough to recharge our mental batteries a bit.

Shiner enjoyed her first real taste of sagebrush country, and appreciated the opportunity to dig around the bushes and sniff around the creek. She's done very little camping so far, so has no idea of what awaits her on down the road. This trip will be a real education for her!

Heading for Nevada

Our next stop on the way to Gardnerville, NV, was the campground at Sonora Bridge. It's an unassuming little campground. Just the basics, but really nice views of the Walker River canyon. The spaces are fairly widely situated, and the tall pines provide spotty shade for most of the day, provided by what I think are Ponderosa pines. Their big, beautiful cones covered the ground, along with a nice bed of long needles. Shiner liked to lay on them in the sun. Very comfortable, but now she's complaining as I work to get the pine sap knots out of her fur. I think they'll be with us for awhile, so she looks like she has spots!

Sonora Bridge Campground

The entertainment for the afternoon was provided by the Marine Corp Mountain Warfare Training Center, located just over the hill in Pickel Meadow. We had jets and helicopters of several types flying overhead as the left and returned to the base. It kept us pretty busy trying to determine exactly what each aircraft was, especially since the jets fly at such a high altitude.

The Mountain Warfare Training Center is one of the Corps most remote and isolated posts. The Center was established in 1951 to provide cold weather training for military personnel bound for Korea. It has been the source for mountain training for every generation since. Now, the MWTC provides pre-deployment training in support of the war in Afghanistan.

Flight training over the Sierras, Lone Pine, CA

We ran in to some of these folks a couple of years ago when we were camped in the Alabama Hills, down near Lone Pine, CA. They were flying exercises over the peaks of the Sierras, and over our campsite, then too.
They use this part of the Sierra Mountains extensively for combat training as it's so similar to the mountain regions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This area where the training center is located, just south of Lake Tahoe, is well over 6,000 feet, so the winters are harsh and the air thin. Maybe not quite as severe as conditions in the middle east, but a good training ground none the less.

One night was sufficient at Sonora Bridge, so we loaded up and pulled in to our host's home in Gardnerville by lunch time. They have a heavy social schedule planned for us, so we needed to take the afternoon off to rest up!