What's next? 3/26- 3/29

Where have we been, you wondered? In the boonies, without cell signal (how attached we've become to "being connected!").  Friday forenoon, Jimmy and I pulled into one of our favorite spots on earth, a wide-open wonder full of boulders, rocks, monsters, and movie stars: Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, CA, on Hwy 395. We knew to get there early to park Tergel in an optimum site (boondocking), 'cause the good ones would fill up fast. A giant chill wind was blowing and we wanted shelter, too -- so we backed up to a pile of rocks, tucked in snug-like. We spent two enchanting days here, though we were surprised (is that the word?) to see so many rigs, so many people, Out and About in March.

We clambered over boulders, hiked on trails, hopped across a snow-melt-running creek, and appreciated the absolute quiet while hiking alone alone on a trail.  If you're in the vicinity, stop by (day use is okay), it's really something to see.  Here are a few pics from Alabama Hills.  That's me in my pink parka playing peek-a-boo, above.  I also have a video to share, but not a strong enough signal to send it.

Jimmy, from our second day hiking along Rush Creek and into a deserted canyon, standing near a strange rock.  Alabama Hills IS made up of strange rocks!

From our site, we enjoyed a 360° view of mountains, the jagged peaks of snow-capped Sierra Nevada including Mt Whitney, and the "geologically complex" Inyo Mountains opposite.  Alabama Hills are a formation of rounded rocks and eroded hills set between these mountain ranges, with all kinds of crazy rock configurations.  Both geologic features were shaped by the same uplifting occurring 100 million years ago.  In case you've forgotten your geography, Mt Whitney is the tallest peak in the contiguous United States at 14,505'.

No wildflowers were blooming yet, but we spied several patches of Cholla, whose wicked spikes can pierce anybody's hide!  Ask Jimmy.  He got speared at Organ Pipe a few years ago.

If you use your imagination, on the left you'll see an eagle or hawk's face (beak) and on the right is a horse's ass rump with tail.  Notice I said rump.  There are hundreds of rocks you can make into faces or animals or whatever you fancy.  I only have these pics to show you.  Somehow, and I don't know how, all my 300+ photos, except these collages, from two days at Alabama Hills and one day in Death Valley have disappeared off my computer.  Beautiful photos, gone.  Gone where?  Nether world?  Maybe they are still in the computer and can be found, but right now I have marginal internet connection and don't feel like fooling around with it.  Trust me, though, those pics showed some wonderful scenery.  But, so be it.

We moved on to Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley where we camped overnight on a plain large tarmac with 150 sites, many of them filled, and no hookups.  Ten sites with electric had been reserved.  I didn't know they were reservable, so we were SOL on using our A/C, though the temp rose to 87 that day.  No matter ... we went out exploring on Emigrant Road, pretty much by ourselves, the way we prefer it.  Out there we wandered around the historic Eureka Mine, Cashier Mill and a ghost town.  Lots of fun, lots of photos, fun remembered, photos gone.  Very enjoyable day.

Today, Monday, we decided to move on from Death Valley, and aimed for Valley of Fire St Pk near Las Vegas, arriving early afternoon -- where we joined a line of 25 cars and one RV at the entrance gate.  When we were close to the gate, we saw:  Campground Full.  Phooey.  We paid our ten bucks and drove through the park, reconnoitered at I-15, called the St George Elks Lodge, and came here.  Then I tried Zion, etc:  Full up.  Now we're beginning to see the light.  Times have changed.  If we want to continue RV'ing, we'll have to plan in advance, which goes against our grain, and reserve, like it or not.  Maybe tomorrow I'll see about more photos.

Gunga Din side, Saturday, 3/27/21

Late yesterday afternoon, we left Tergel parked at her site and Jimmy and I drove the two-and-a-half-miles into Lone Pine.  I knew where the VC was and I wanted to see if they were a) open and, b) if brochures or info could be had RE Alabama Hills and Death Valley.  Yes, on both, sort of.  The VC wasn't open, but pertinent info could obtained at two manned tables outside.  We picked up what we needed.  As we'd passed thru town, we'd seen an eatery that boasted, "Best Burger in Town," and smelled the overwhelming aroma of burgers and fries.  Obviously we stopped!  Good grub, lousy ambiance.

What did we see when we got back?  A new small rig parked ten feet away from Tergel!  If we hadn't left, that rig wouldn't have been able to get in, 'cause that's where Smartie was parked (almost).  Geez, I thought, some people!  Next thing I knew, a few others showed up with tents and parked twenty feet from the new people.  Aw, well, c'mon.  Then I realized, boondockers go where they want and ... it's the weekend!  The people on top of us were foreign speaking (couldn't identify the language), but they had two young/ish girls who were active and cute.  No one really bothered us and I got over my snit quickly ... why let something like that ruin your day?  But ... The Hills were crowded!

Saturday morning we took off on Horseshoe Meadows Rd, aiming for the Gunga Din movie site.  Somehow we ended up on Tuttle Creek Rd, but we found a nice trail to follow along Tuttle Creek.  The rocks turned me around somehow.  Like the picture, above, all those rocks turning the other cheek! 😉

We had to find a way across the lively and cold creek (where the greenery is).  We followed a ten-year-old kid and waited to see if he could navigate a loose pile of sticks, rocks and logs.  He made it, so we said, okay, we can do this.  We didn't get a soaker, either.  The kid turned around.  We continued on, all by ourselves (hooray!).

So many strange-appearing rocks on top of boulders piled on bigger boulders.  In the pic above, it seems as though someone has plastered dark adobe bricks to the boulder beneath, though we know that isn't the case.  What looks to be overall drab is anything but.

We found quite a few of these small fragments of ... what are they?  You can find random pieces of leftover filmdom here and there, mostly small, jarring things that you'd look at and think, what the heck is this and why is out here among these fantastical rounded rocks and eroded hills? 

Always, the wonderful, snow-clad Sierras serve as a backdrop.  No wonder Alabama Hills was such a popular TV and movie location, especially Westerns.  Can't you imagine Roy Rogers or the Lone Ranger galloping madly across the flats, chasing bad guys?  Or bad guys with guns hiding behind boulders, waiting to rob the stagecoach?  Lone Pine has a Film History Museum, which we enjoyed ten years ago.  Me?  I'm just sitting there, enjoying the moment.

Paths intersect and crisscross, and we followed one deep into the "bush."  I think eventually the path we took, above, would've rejoined the main trail further on.  We weren't hiking, per se, as in see how fast or how many miles we could get in, we were Out and About on an EXplore.  Honestly, the quiet in this location was incredible.

After rejoining the main trail, we were led down to the road where Tuttle Creek crossed in a culvert.  We followed for a while but saw no easy creek-crossing access, so we gave up and turned around. 

Near the road, I found this huge boulder that I could fit under, which I was attempting to do when Jimmy took the pic.  You can't really see how far in I could've gone.

Nature can't be tamed, but someone in these hills, sometime ago, decided to "make a home" in the ancient lava flow, above. No one I talked with knew anything about this. I couldn't find the first word online about it, either. Inside, it isn't large, but tall enough to stand up in and large enough for someone to shelter in. The top has two round holes in it, one probably had a stove pipe, and I don't know about the other one unless, perhaps it pertained to mining?

The red x?  I was sure it was a raptor nest and, like a danged fool, climbed up there to investigate.  I couldn't get right next to it, but whoever had lived in there was gone.

Big enough for a bedroll and a table/chair, or maybe storage?

Life's mysteries abound!

View from the empty bird nest.

We circled around some, eventually finding the site we were looking for.  We could've driven down this pitted gravel road for more excitement, but decided to call it a day.  If you enlarge the photo, it'll be easier to read.  Use your back arrow to return to this post.

I almost forgot to tell you that in March 2019, the US congress designated the area as the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area.  Let us hope these hills remain scenic forevermore.

Once in a while you're in the right place at the right time, and it happened this evening.  We caught the "coyote howling at the moon" shot from our Tergel.  The Full Worm Moon.  Of course, this is an Alabama Hills boulder, not a coyote, but not to me ... I saw a coyote howling at the moon!  Love this pic!

Tomorrow we'll wander down the hill, so to speak, into Death Valley and see what's shaking.  We've had a grand stay here ... so glad we returned to hike around these peaceful and, yes, even beautiful hills.

Alabama Hills, Friday, 3/26/21

Did you know that:  California's Mt Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous US at 14,505' and Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation in North America, at 282' below sea level, and the two are only 84.6 miles apart?!  Yup.  And, sandwiched in between are the amazing Alabama Hills. This is where we're boondocking for two nights, and two days of exploring and scrambling over boulders.

Remember I said we'd lost the photos we took while at the Hills?  Where'd they go?  Unknown.  But, yeehaw!  Lookie what I found:  The photos that were lost have been found.  Here are a few:

Driving down Hwy 395 from Carson City NV to Alabama Hills is sensory overload.  Sage-covered foothills and black volcanic rock against the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mtns is a sight to behold, and that's a fact.  

From the little town of Lone Pine, we turned onto Whitney Portal Rd, which took us to Movie Rd, where we'd find a site to park.  Stiff winds are blowing snow from the mountain peaks.  One of those peaks is Mt Whitney.

With gale force winds blowing, we chose to back up to the rocks and keep our face (windshield) to the wind.  Ahem, not a bad view, either.

As soon as we finished lunch, we were off on our EXplore!

Under a vast and sunny blue sky.

Eroding sandstone makes for some truly interesting shapes/forms.

Neat seat!  Also in lee of the wind.

Another rig is backed up against the rocks.  Campers of every description were all over these hills, but you see there's enough room for many rigs.

Can you see me?

Dwarfed by rocks.

Across Whitney Portal Rd we discovered these two horses and a tree of sorts.  And a patch of Prickly Pear Cactus.  I assumed these horses belonged to someone; this corner is fenced.  Certainly, the desert offered nothing for them to eat.  They didn't seem inclined to move around. 

When we were here ten years ago, Jimmy found a "movie" rock that was as light as a feather, tho it looked as heavy as a two-ton boulder.  He picked it up like he was Superman and made to throw it.  The rock, above, is the real deal, and too heavy for Jimmy to pitch out of the way!

This place is so open, so cool.

Alabama Hills is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) territory leaving it open to the public for free hiking, climbing, mountain biking, 4-wheeling and camping across the area.  Unfortunately, as in many other beautiful places in this country, The Hills are being loved to death, overrun with too many people, too much trash (pack it in AND out, people!), and too little respect for Mother Nature's handiwork.  There's talk of instituting restrictions .... 

We climbed these big ol' boulders, Jimmy and me,

just some of them, carefully,

as befits the older set such as we.

Full circle.  I got turned around while Out and About, but Jimmy said if we went this-a-way, we'd return to Tergel, and he was right.  We spent several very fun hours wandering around in the hills, enjoying every minute.  Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll have more of the same, on the other side of Whitney Portal Rd.  O boy.

Alabama Hills, CA redux - Day Two - Wed, 3/27/13

We were ready for our second day here in the Alabama Hills.  Our morning low temp was 48 degrees, and we always like to wait till the temp rises to 50 before we go outside to play!  

Hiking shoes and long pants were the rule today and, tho a west wind blew, we needed Cactus Juice applied around the ears and face to ward off pesky gnats.  Stuff really works.  You wouldn't think gnats would be such a problem at 5,000' in high desert, but they were.

Good Morning! - colorful sunrise over the Inyo Mountains east of us.

We weren't the only ones Out and About this morning!  

I think the pilot must have been having fun.

Please, oh please, I give up, don't let it fall.

This is an actual (open) cave entrance,

with two chimney holes, in a weird lava flow formation.

Movie Flats.  If you can't decipher this, the sign reads:  Since 1920, hundreds of movies and TV episodes, including Gunga Din, How the West was Won, Khyber Rifles, Bengal Lancers and High Sierra, along with the Lone Ranger and Bonanza, with such stars as Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Glenn Ford, Humphrey Bogart, and John Wayne, have been filmed in these rugged Alabama Hills with their majestic Sierra Nevada background.

The arrow points to lavender-shirted me, taken by ...

... orange-shirted Jimmy opposite.  The camera did not have wings; I walked across to fetch and deliver.  You might see us better in the above pictures if you enlarge them.  Gives quite a size perspective -- and you realize just how big these rock piles are!

The area has a lot of arches and holes like these.  This particular hole had a resident!  Based on fresh little poopers and bits of grass and hay, I guessed a kangaroo rat lived here.

Smartie looks Small!  Smartie is Dwarfed!

Wondering if I could get to the top.  Nixed the idea.

When we weren't climbing or hiking, we studied.  I noticed what looked like praying hands at top, left center.  It's so easy to see "things" in the rock shapes.

This plaque is a couple of miles away from Movie Road.  I'll decipher for you.  Gunga Din Filmed Here.

In 1938, this hill area, among many others in these Alabama Hills, served as a stand-in for the Hill Country of Northern India when RKO made the classic adventure film, "Gunga Din," on location in Lone Pine.  Hundreds of horsemen raced across the hills, and elaborate sets were built here and nearby while cast and crew lived for weeks in a tent city off Movie Road.  Directed by George Stevens, the epic starred Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Victor McLaglen and Joan Fontaine, with Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din, the water boy who wanted so much to be a soldier.  The plaque was dedicated by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., in 1992... 54 years later!

The camera got a work-out today!  These few photos serve as a sampling of more than 30,000 acres of fantastic rock shapes, formations and piles.  A landscape or a moonscape?  Just a great place to fritter away a few days or weeks.  We recommend!

Tomorrow, we plan to continue our drive north on Hwy 395 to Reno, along the Eastern spine of the Sierra Nevada's, with snow-capped peaks all along the way as our backdrop.  One overnight in Reno, and then HOME.  We count this as another excellent three-month Out and About adventure!

Alabama Hills ... redux - Day One, 3/26/13

This is our second time to visit these Hills - we stopped here three-and-a-half years ago (see blog).  Big spenders that we are, we're dry-camped in Tuttle Creek again, a BLM campground that costs $2.50/nite for us Golden Agers!  The best part of Tuttle Creek, other than the price, is the view.  Alabama Hills is part of the Sierra Nevada Mountain chain, and the picture below is what we see from our big window.

We didn't want to drive up I-5 one more time to Nevada City.  Hwy 395 on the eastern slope of the Sierras is Option B, and that's what we picked.  Leaving Desert Hot Springs in the morning, we made it to Lone Pine on Hwy 395 by mid-afternoon.  Lone Pine and Alabama Hills are the portal to Mt Whitney, the tallest mtn in the contiguous United States.  Our elevation at camp is approx 5,000'.  Mt Whitney is 14,494'.  (It wins the prize!)  After picking our site and setting up, we hopped in Smartie for the short drive to "Movie Road."  I think you could spend every day of your life in these hills and mountains and never tire of it and never see it all.

Afternoon at Tuttle Creek Campground from our Motor Home.

Many movies were filmed here, mostly Westerns.

Jimmy (and Smartie) studying the spectacular landscape.

This ferocious customer is a Mojave Barrel Cactus.  Looks very lethal.

While Alabama Hills is different from Joshua Tree Nat'l Park, it has similarities.  For one thing, the term "monzogranite rocks" is used in both places.  Wikipedia sez, "monzogranite are biotite granite rocks that are considered to be the final fractionation product of magma."  You can look it up on Google to learn all about it, but I can tell you I'd never heard of it before.  Sure makes for some splendid climbing!

And the rocks go on and on and on ....

When I looked out Tergel's windshield at dusk, this great Full Moon had risen over the Inyo Mountains to our East.  Like I said, the view here is priceless.  Think we'll stay another day!