Thursday, July 10, 2014

Lone Pine, CA

Continuing north along US-395 we come to Lone Pine, California with the Sierra Nevada Mountains becoming even more impressive.  Here we are able to view Muir Crest with Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the Continental United States at an elevation of 14,508 feet and Lone Pine Peak at a mere 12,944 feet.  This is a climber and hiker’s paradise. 
We stayed in Boulder Creek RV Resort here, a wonderful RV park with beautiful trees, spaces and amenities.  One morning I got up at 6 am to watch the sun climb the slopes of Mt. Whitney.  It is an awesome start to the day with cool temperatures and singing birds to keep me company as I walked around the park taking photographs.  The rise in elevation has given us a welcomed relief from the heat especially early in the morning. 
 Just off Main Street, a row of rocky outcroppings made up of clusters of colorful granite boulders and sand called the Alabama Hills creates a barrier between town and the mountains to the west.  These hills were thrust up suddenly in 1872 during an earthquake equivalent to the one that leveled San Francisco in 1907.  An 1872 cemetery at the north end of Lone Pine attests to the devastation when Lone Pine was practically destroyed entirely by this earthquake.  A road leads through the Alabama Hills, across the desert landscape of Horseshoe Meadow and then ascends to the base of Mt. Whitney to around the 8,400-foot level along a narrow, winding switchback called Whitney Portal.
It is well worth the harrowing climb in your car for the views of the mountains as you climb and the valley views as you descend.  At the end of the road is the trailhead to Mt. Whitney as well as the John Muir trail to Yosemite through the mountains.  We shared a breakfast with a young man who had just completed the 225-mile hike from Yosemite in ten days averaging 22.5 miles per day only eating peanut butter and energy bars.  The over generous servings of pancakes, eggs, sausage and hash browns served by the café at the trailhead is a boon to hikers and to those of us who traveled there by virtue of the café’s reputation.  Eating amid the redwood trees next to a rushing alpine stream and entertained by birds anxious to share in the bounty was exhilarating.  Brandon shared a ride back down the mountain in our car after breakfast.  It was a pleasure hearing his story of following in John Muir’s footsteps and we enjoyed the unique pleasure of his company that arose merely from a friendly interchange of conversation over breakfast at a shared picnic table.
The town of Lone Pine is small and western styled.  We celebrated my birthday here in a Chinese Restaurant called the “Merry Go Round” with a wonderful waiter along with the restaurant’s owner whose authentic Chinese cooking was superb.  Steamed pot stickers, Hunan chicken and Mongolian beef were delicious choices and we went home with enough for lunch the next day.
 
This is the site of many Hollywood movies and their history is preserved in a local museum located in Lone Pine.  Up the road a piece is Manzanar National Historical site of the Japanese-American citizen internment camp during World War II with an interpretive center.  Remnants of foundations and still standing guard towers attest to the grim atmosphere of that war here. 

There is much to do in this little town and two days was hardly long enough.  We will have to linger longer on the next trip through.  

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