Love Those Hills

The last stop on our trip south along US 395 was Lone Pine, home of the Alabama Hills.  Why are they called that?  Well, I don't know, but I just love them.

Nestled at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Alabama Hills are a mixture of jumbled rocks and hills.  Many Western movies where filmed here, most before I was born.

Every year about this time, they have a Film Festival to celebrate.  This year's theme is 'Lone Pine, where the real west becomes the reel west.'  Catchy, huh?  For the event, they place signs in the Hills, showing where various movies were filmed.

You read the sign, look up, and there is the very rock formation that was in the movie.  I LOVE this!

Here's one of the signs showing a scene with the stunt doubles for Roy Rogers and Trigger.

I almost expected to see a horse appear to jump over Phil's car.

Probably the most photographed formation in Alabama Hills is Mobius Arch.  With proper framing, you can see Mt. Whitney through the arch.  Mt. Whitney, on the far right, is the highest summit in the lower 48 states at 14,505 feet.
                             
(I know the one on the left looks higher, but that's just because it's closer.)

There's another smaller arch nearby and, after taking our picture, Diana worked hard to get the perfect shot there too.

While Ron thought it looked like a good place to take a nap.

One more shot of some of the cool rock formations.  This area reminded me of the 'fins' in Arches National Park.

We stayed in the Lone Pine area for three nights, but on the last night we did something we had never done.  We spent $36 for a site in an RV park.  Imagine $36 for one night!  But we did manage to justify the expense.  First we really needed the use of an RV dump (I know, TMI).  The only dump in the area (and believe me, I asked everywhere) was at this RV park and cost $10 to dump and $10 for water.  So we decided for the extra $16, we would just move in for the night.  Then we found out they have free coffee and muffins in the morning, worth $6 at a conservative estimate.  I didn't have to turn on the generator to use the microwave, maybe another $1.  It was really cold and we used our little electric heater instead of the propane furnace - probably another $1.  So we figure it only cost us $8 for the night.

The next morning, on our way to gobble up those muffins, we noticed the mountains had gotten a picturesque coating of snow overnight.