Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23. Part 8 of 8: The Alabama Hills

After six days exploring Death Valley I think we were all looking forward to a change of scenery and a new adventure. Leaving Stovepipe Wells at seven, Bridgit followed Andrew and me in the Jeep to put less strain on the Navibahn climbing up to Towne Pass and down the other side. She loves driving the Jeep and thoroughly enjoyed driving all the way to our next destination.

The drive to Lone Pine was very scenic. Passing Panamint Springs we climbed up onto a ridge and then through an area of Joshua trees with views of the snowcapped Sierra Nevada mountains getting ever closer. By the time we reached the junction with Highway 395 just south of town I had to stop just to soak it in and get a photo. These mountains were epic!

We stopped for some breakfast in Lone Pine and then drove up Whitney Portal Road, passing the turnoff for Movie Road and then taking Horseshoe Meadows Road to Tuttle Creek Campground. You can not reserve sites here but I figured with eighty-seven sites and coming in early on a weekday we should have no problem finding a site and I was right. There were tons of spots. We ended up in Site 12 which had amazing and I mean amazing views of the Sierras. We absolutely loved this campground. It was situated in the hills right below the peaks with sage and cactus all around. Tuttle Creek gurgled right down the center of the campground by our site. It was a huge step up from our drab parking lot site in Stovepipe Wells.

**You know you’ve arrived in the Alabama Hills when you pass Nightmare Rock**

**Site #12 in Tuttle Creek Campground. What a view!**

**13,928’ Mount Le Conte right above our camp! Wow!**

After establishing camp we headed back into town. Our first stop was the visitor center where I got updated information. The road north from Lone Pine to Mono Lake was open and they finally opened 395 north of Mono Lake towards Tahoe. Even though they were open, there was still more snow in the forecast, there were major road delays for construction and cleanup from all the snow they already received and the temperatures were downright chilly. At that point we knew we weren’t going to Mono Lake so we figured we would also just bail on getting to Colfax to see Harry and just head for home after our stay in the Alabama Hills.

A quick grocery run and we were back at our camp, still early enough for a bit of exploring. Bridgit and I drove down and turned onto Movie Road. This is the main route to get into the Alabama Hills. It is called Movie Road because since the 1920’s, over four hundred movies have shot scenes there. Actors from Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger had shootouts with outlaws there. Humphrey Bogart was there in the film High Sierra. Even newer films like Gladiator, Iron Man and Tremors shot scenes along Movie Road. I would guess that many TV shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke must have had their hand in filming here as well.

It’s all about the rocks here. Somewhat similar to Joshua Tree, there are giant piles of rocks everywhere. These huge piles of granite are extremely picturesque and just beg for exploration. All along Movie Road are some of the coolest campsites I have ever seen anywhere. Many are up short 4WD roads but there are also plenty of them easy enough for a small RV to fit into. Most of them are fairly secluded and tucked into little spots surrounded by huge piles of rocks on three sides. Sadly, in recent times people have abused these stunning spots and many of the coolest sites have been closed to camping and only allow day use. As we drove around we saw lots of people camped in the legal camping sites, even another Navion. I kinda wish I had driven up here to look before heading straight for Tuttle Creek but we were only staying two nights, Tuttle Creek is still really close to the hills and it was only five dollars a night with my Senior Pass so it wasn’t a big deal.

Bridgit and I drove up Movie Road as far as the Arch Loop Trailhead. This is where the road closed which was too bad. I would have totally driven the whole thing and explored the side roads along the way had it been open. From the Arch Loop Trailhead there were still many little side roads to explore and we hit most of them just to see what there was to see. Many went to now closed campsites where they would dead-end. All along the way we had mind-bending views of the Sierras.

When planning this entire trip, one of the first things I did was to check when the full moons and new moons would happen. I actually based the dates of the entire trip around being in the Alabama Hills on April 5th. This was the night of the full moon. But having a full moon doesn’t mean much without something else in the photo. In this case, I calculated that on the morning of April 6th at 6:37AM, the full moon would set in the west directly behind the highest peak in the contiguous United States, 14,505’ Mount Whitney.

We headed back to camp and cooked chicken on our Weber bbq. During dinner I could see a thin layer of clouds forming behind the Sierras. As soon as we were done I excused myself and made a mad dash back over to Movie Road. Driving to the Arch Loop I turned west on a dirt road and drove up about a quarter mile. Here I found a monster view right in front of Mount Whitney. I was hoping that as the sun sank the clouds that were a perfect backdrop for Whitney would all turn bright orange, red and purple. As the evening progressed I did see some really nice color in the clouds but the ones that were all lit up were a bit further north and nothing ever quite materialized right behind Mount Whitney, Too bad, but I got an A for effort.

While I was waiting, I shot a few images of a really nice rock formation right next to where I was parked. Then I turned around and saw that the gigantic full moon was just rising to the east above the eastern mountains in the opposite direction of the Sierras. I got off some nice moonrise shots before giving up on the orange clouds and headed back to camp for the night.

I could barely sleep that night. I could die and go to heaven if I could get that moon setting right next to Mount Whitney. I had very high hopes but also wasn’t sure of my position. The sun was supposed to rise almost at the same time as the moon would set. This was the perfect scenario. There would be enough sunlight to light up Mount Whitney with an orange glow but the moon would still be above the horizon. It would be my greatest photo ever if I pulled this off.

Despite all my calculations, I still wasn’t sure I trusted when the moon was supposed to set. I was some ten thousand feet lower than the top of Mount Whitney so I was thinking the moon could actually set earlier than the predicted time. There are ways to calculate all of that on my Photopills app but so far it has still been too complicated for me to rely on. Instead, I got up at four-thirty and drove back out to the same spot as the night before. It was in the thirties as I set up my tripod and long lens but I was dressed for it.

The moon was thankfully still well above the horizon but I was pleased to see it was fairly close to the south side of Mount Whitney. As the moon slowly descended, it was on an arc that was moving it even closer which was perfect. I calculated that by the time it sank to the line of the ridge of Mount Whitney it would be right where I hoped it would be.

Photopills said the moon would set twenty-one minutes after the sun rose which was going to be at 6:26AM. However, as I expected, the height of the peaks to the west where the moon was setting and the east where the sun was rising affected those times. Whatever. Here’s how it went down.

As I had hoped, the moon moved right into my zoomed frame of Mount Whitney before it began to sink behind the peak. The alignment was perfect. The problem was that it was setting earlier due to the height of Whitney from my lower position so the mountain was still in the dark. I tried several settings but I was either getting a washed out moon to try and give the peak some definition or you couldn’t see the peak at all if I composed for the bright moon. In the end I never got a single good image while the moon was still above the horizon. Ahh, but all was not lost! Phase two of this epic morning was just beginning!

As it turned out, the moon was setting behind the horizon right at the beginning of the blue hour. With a very bright moonlight lighting up a few wispy clouds above the peak, the mountain began to come alive starting with a deep purple hue, slowly turning more reddish and brighter until the sun finally broke the horizon and lit up Mount Whitney with a brilliant orange glow. The fact that the Sierras still had a ton of fresh white snow helped immensely. I shot dozens of images during this period of time including the other neighboring peaks, 12,949’ Lone Pine Peak and 14,379’ Mount Williamson.

**Sierra Nevada pre-dawn glow over the Alabama Hills**

**Mt Whitney. Moonlit clouds, sunlit peak**

**Blue hour pink glow on Mount Whitney**

Finally spent, I headed back to our camp. We had a little breakfast and then we all headed out. We wanted to hike the Arch Loop Trail while it was still early in the day , not only to avoid seeing more people but also because there are several arches along the Arch Loop and I wanted to see them while the sun was still hitting them sideways.

The trail was a blast. The whole loop is only .6 miles long. It starts out with a view of Heart Arch before dropping into a ravine. The rocks around here are just so cool. Some have wind and water pockets in them, some have large cracks and slots. The entire area is one big playground and it’s so fun just to crawl around on the rocks. At one point we climbed a little hill. A side trail went to an overlook. To the north was a gigantic jumble of rock complete with pinnacles and huge round rocks. It was a ways off in the distance but not too far and looked like it would be a blast to explore.

**Lone Pine Peak from the Arch Loop Trail**

**Heart Arch from a not so heart angle**

Next we arrived at the most famous spot along the trail, Mobius Arch. My friend Greg Dilley brought home a really impressive shot of this arch which aided my desire to check this place out.

And just past Mobius Arch is Lathe Arch. It looks really big in the photo but it’s really only about a three foot span and maybe a foot high.

Since Andrew hadn’t been here on our first exploration the previous day we drove around the roads a bit before heading back to camp.

**Alabama Hills at the foot of the Sierras**

**Interesting view from one of the campsites in the Alabama Hills**

We still had the afternoon to kill so I took a drive to just go explore. First I drove up Whitney Portal Road. This is the gateway to the trailhead for climbing Mt. Whitney. I was hoping to get to the trailhead but the gate down below was still closed due to snow.

**I think this is called Wotan’s Throne with the pinnacles of Whitney**

**Nice tree above Lone Pine Campground**

Since the road was gated I made my way back to Movie Road and found myself back at the Arch Loop Trail. I hiked it again only this time when I got to the viewpoint for the cool rocks to the north I headed off trail and made a beeline for the rocks. It was no easy task. This was a very large jumble of rocks and they seemed to be in layers so even if I found my way through the front rocks I couldn’t get to the back rocks without making a wide detour. I was in no hurry so I just wandered all over the place out there and had a great time (and nobody else out there!). Eventually I made my way west of the rocks and came upon a single track trail which I followed back to the trailhead where my Jeep was parked. It turned out that I was hiking up in the northern section of the Alabama Hills between the Alabama Hills Trail and the closed part of Movie Road near the Eye of Alabama. I later found out that there were several arches in those rocks, Baseball Bat Arch, Sharkstooth Arch and Space Case Arch but I never found any of them.

The next morning was departure day and time to head home. I tried to shoot Mount Le Conte but clouds were building. It was still a nice sunrise though. I was so glad we were able to come to the Alabama Hills. It’s a really neat place.

There’s not much left to tell. We drove way south from the Alabama Hills around the south end of the Sierras and then headed north on the western side. It took two more nights to get home but they were smooth rides. Of course the rain started as soon as we hit Oregon. Welcome back to the Northwest.

Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23. Part 8 of 8: The Alabama Hills

Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23, Part 7 of 8, Death Valley National Park (con’t)

Mount Baker Snowshoe, 3.7.23