Fort Independence Campground is located between Big Pine and Lone Pine, California. Lone Pine is where the Alabama Hills are located, home of the good ole western moviies. Lone Ranger, Maverick, Rawhide and even the Tremors movie filmed in these parts of the Alabama Hills. Actually there were over 400 movies and TV shows that have been filmed here. The Alabama Hills is one earth's oldest (85 million years) geological formations made of granite and was quite a site to see. We rode into the hills and found the arch which was where we took the picture that was on our address change postcard. We stopped in for the annual Lone Pine Film Festival held over the weeekend. Crowds were way down according to the locals -- again another sign of the poor economic times and maybe even because the western era is disappearing. The backdrop to the Alabama Hills is Mt. Whitney (14,497 elevation). After driving to the Mt. Whitney Portal which was 8,360 ft. up the mountain, there was a trail that is hiked by many to the mountain top. So as a challenging birthday (October 12th) adventure, Mike and Jason decided to conquer the hike up the mountain. 2:00 a.m. they were up and getting ready for their climb. After getting their gear ready and driving to the portal, they started their journey at 3:30 a.m. in the dark thin air. They switched back and forth up the mountain and saw some beautiful scenery with lakes, meadows, streams and waterfalls. They continued through the canyons on a trail that has been built and maintained by numerous volunteers for over 100 years.
Heading towards the snow covered mountaintop, they hiked with heavy backpacks. By two p.m. they were at about 12,000 ft. but decided to turn back because my flashlight quit working for some reason just at day break and he did not want to not have light coming down the mountain at night time. Plus the fact we were not really prepared for an overnight camp trip on top of the mountain. We thought they could do the 22 mile trek in one day and realized it was not going to happen due to their not having the proper equipment for the conditions. Jason continued another couple of miles as I turned around to continue back down the mountain. We both decided they would be back to conquer the whole trip someday. Maybe backpack to the top, camp overnight and then come down the next day. WE'LL WILL BE BACK!!!!! The next adventure took them to the gold mines in the Paramint Mountains. They thought they were going to be panning for gold but realized they needed flashlights to see into the mines that went in 100 yards or more and then split into more tunnels. With pick and shovel in hand they did discover that the mines were still open and you could enter them. No luck there. But they will be back with more tools and of course those flashlights! The day after the hike we decided to soak in the Keough Hot Spring pools and enjoy the Hot sun south of the town of Bishop, CA. Just south of our campground was a national historic site called Manzanar. This was the location where during World War II, all the Japanese descendants were brought to this site due to our government's fear of the enemy living amongst us. More then 10,000 Japanese/Americans were brought to these 504 barracks to be housed. It was called a relocation center and here there were schools built, a hospital, a post office, gardens etc. -- like a mini city. They lived here until after the war was over in 1945.
On our way out of the area, we stopped at the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery in Independence. It was a very sturdy stone building on 40 acres of land with a fish filled pond and is run by volunteers. It continues to be a California state treasure as committed by the California Fish and Game Commission.
Enough for one week; time to move on towards Los Angeles to seek employment for Jason.
For More Information Go To:
www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/
www.nps.gov/manz
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