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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Movie Flat, Alabama Hills - "the movie was being filmed"

 We departed home very late and arrived at our destination at 2 A.M.
 Dawn in the Alabama Hills.
 Jan performs her morning wash in the comfort of the camper. I prefer a more open approach.
 Looking east at the Inyo Range from the Corridors. We have hiked the the summits of several Inyo peaks.
 Inside a Corridor.
 After breakfast we met John, from Santa Clarita and Tony, from Lancaster, who were camping around the corner in the Cattle Pocket. Later that evening I stopped by their camp and we talked history and ate bratwurst and beans. Thanks for dinner guys.
It was the week before the Lone Pine Film Festival and markers with story cards had been placed at various locations around Movie Flat. I spent the morning hiking around the area reading the markers and feeling the history.
 The markers are placed in the same location as the camera when the movie was being filmed.
  Audie Murphy Rock was about 300 yards from our camp.
 This marker was the first of about 25 that I visited on my hike. Curiously the location for the bridge/elephant scene from Gunga Din (1939) was not marked.
While hiking around Movie Flat I glanced up at Mount Williamson (14,389 feet) and wondered how two of my friends were doing on their summit attempt of this magnificent peak.
 Returning to camp I found Jan reading in the shade below Trevor's Crack. The temperature was 20 degrees cooler in the shade.
 Exiting the Cattle Pocket and headed into town.
 In Lone Pine we planned to visit a friend but soon discovered that he had moved.
 Driving north on the 395 we stopped at the Manzanar National Historic Site.
We drove to the Sheppard Pass trailhead west of Independence to check if our friends had returned from their Mount Williamson climb.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Between Two Canyons

 Several months ago a friend told me a road that was closed years ago was now open. Around 8 PM on Saturday I got the urge to go for a drive away from the city and camp. Never thought that I would see this gate standing open again.
 The road was not as rough as described, no 4x4 required, but it would be a mess when it was wet.
 The rock outcrops I remembered still loomed over the road.
 Driving past a section of road damage.
 A clearing on a narrow ridgeline made for a good camp. Time to break out the iPad, fire up the astronomy app and look at the sky.
The road north.
 Dawn breaks over Charlie Canyon.
Climbed to the top of the formation on the left 14 years ago.
Closer look at The Pile.
 The route south is the way home.
 The last remaining shadow before the sun begins to heat up the air.
Pavement is just a bridge away.