(Early/mid May, 2019) From the Trona Pinnacles we made our way past Ridgecrest to Highway US-395 and turned north through the Owens Valley to our next stop, Lone Pine, California. This route passes through a region of spectacular scenery with the jagged mountains of the Eastern Sierras to the west and the more desert-like White and Inyo Mountains to the east. Due to the particularly cold and wet winter and spring, both the Sierras and Inyo mountains sported snow at higher elevations.

At Lone Pine, we checked into the Boulder Creek RV Resort for a one-week stay. We had stayed at Boulder Creek on other trips and knew this to be a well-run and reliable park.

Although we only planned for a one-week stay, we later extended our stay to two-weeks. We had planned on staying the second week at a BLM campground near Bishop, but changed our plans after discovering that fishing season had opened and most area campgrounds were booked or filling up with first-come-first-served check-ins.

We checked several campgrounds during day-trips in the Bishop area (few large sites available), before deciding to stay put in Lone Pine. Fortunately, Boulder Creek was able to accommodate us, although we still had to change sites within the park.

Highlights of our stay included day-trips and photography around the Alabama Hills, visits to the semi-ghost towns of Cerro Gordo and Keeler, and day-trips to Bishop.

On one day we took our flat trailer tire (went flat at Trona Pinnacles) into Bishop to repair or replace. The tire had been previously patched & the patch had failed, so we just replaced the tire. While in town we checked out some area campgrounds, stopped at the famous Schatt’s Bakery (bought too many bread & pastry products), and stopped at Spellbinder Books – a favorite local bookstore.

I was disappointed to learn that the Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop had closed in October, 2017. I had always enjoyed stopping by the gallery and browsing the wonderful landscape photography. I had always found the gallery a source of inspiration.

Our drives to Bishop passed through Big Pine, home of Copper Top BBQ, one of all-time favorite BBQ eateries. Of course we had to stop for lunch each time to get our BBQ fix. Yum!

During our stay in Lone Pine we experienced a wide range of weather – calm, sunny and warm to cloudy, high winds, rain, and snow showers. One storm dumped much new snow on the Sierras, White and Inyo mountains. Winds were so bad one day that traffic on US-395 was shutdown for all trucks, RVs and other high-profile vehicles!

All the snow in the mountains made for excellent photography conditions while shooting around the Alabama Hills, Cerro Gordo, and other areas in the Owens Valley. And speaking of photography, I made the acquaintance of several other photographers from the Darkroomers Photographic Club of San Diego and had a great time swapping notes and photo stories. (Rich & Bob – nice to meet you & stay in touch!)

Photos from Around Lone Pine

Here are some photos from our stay in Lone Pine:

Night Photos

I also went out a few nights for night photography around the Alabama Hills and Cerro Gordo. Like Trona Pinnacles, the Alabama Hills has been thoroughly ‘discovered’ for night photography. My first night shooting here was on New Moon weekend and the hills were absolutely crawling with photographers. While shooting at Cyclops/Triple Arch, three other groups of photographers (10 members total) dropped in to this site making for crowded and chaotic shooting conditions. We saw at least two other groups headed our way that diverted to nearby Boot Arch.

Yikes! Like so many other areas it’s really getting crowded out there at night. I think from now on I’ll have to skip shooting any of the well-known formations and concentrate on other less visited areas of the hills – or skip Alabama Hills entirely. Sad.

Here are some of the night pics:

Black & White Photos

Here, too, are black & white pics from the area:

Overall, we had a great time at Lone Pine and looking forward to many more trips through this area. Next stop – Bridgeport, California.

That’s all for now. Safe travels and enjoy the journey.

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