Oh Those Hills

those Alabama Hills. When we were in Lone Pine doing some exploration for October’s rally adventure, we first stopped at the ranger station to gather info on fishing, hiking, birding, and arches. Then it was into town to check out a theater that was showing ‘Field of Dreams’. (Classic movie) check them out at http://www.lonepinefilmhistory.org

Yes, it was the ‘Museum of Western Film History. Five bucks will get you in, seven bucks will get you in and a tour of the film locations if you are with our rally group tour in October, more on that in a bit.

So, I set foot in the museum, (my inside voice is saying this might be tacky IT WAS SO WRONG). first thing out of the box I see an old car then my eyes caught a stage coach. The museum is well laid out and if you are still you can feel the ghosts come to life. Did you know a few Star Trek, Star Wars, Iron Man, along with many Westerns were filmed in the Alabama Hills.

On to the Hills. After getting some information on the museum and film locations, Roy and I headed for the hills. Off a well maintained dirt road we found the plaque marking the start of Movie Road, we journeyed on following the map saw some of the places, but also took in the landscape. Speaking of landscapes the arches are unique, especially Heart Arch. After seeing the locations we decided that the tour offered by the museum is an awesome idea. It is made up of admission to the museum and about a two hour narrated tour on Movie Road (cost $7 a person, will post more on rally page).

The takeaway from the Hills is the amount of nostalgia right up the road is amazing.

Ghost Towns

Even though I’m not fond of high places the view was well worth it. Cerro Gordo Mine and Ghost Town is 8500 ft above the valley floor, narrow road no guardrails, some ruts, and great photo ops. Today involved heading out into Death Valley to scope places for one of our day trips and photo walks.

The drive up involves a single lane and yes, we did pass a few cars and 4-wheels. I enjoyed the road and it was just the right amount of off-roading. The town itself seems to be in good condition, there are also mine shafts and mining equipment in the area. Information and more pictures will be posted on the rally Facebook page.

An interesting side note, seeing the amount of water in Owens Dry Lake bed. There has been numerous attempts to retain water. I have learned some interesting history concerning how and why Owens Lake became a dry lake. Another side note involves mule teams, charcoal, wood, and silver. After the up and back down we head out to Darwin.

Darwin, is not a ghost town but is close, the sign says 50 people. We saw no one but we felt we were being watched. Outside of town there are some mining ruins, this adventure is a work in progress. I think a requirement to live in Darwin is ownership of a VW, they were everywhere. The other amazing thing in Darwin was some statues

Side point update the only disappointment today was they do not do tours of the Crystal Geyser water plant.

I am enjoying escaping the heat of Palm Desert, yes it is hot already.

Planning

Today we are in Lone Pine CA getting ideas for October. I figure we will explore a few ghost towns because it will be Halloween, so plan on stories around the fire. Look for more info on fishing and golf. For the adventure junkies in our group I will get info about the pine trees that are older then Roy. Off to explore.