Lone Pine Favorites

Favorite thing: These pages chronicle my epic overland journey of the United States from New York on January 28th 2002, to Oahu on April 7th 2002...

Lone Pine: From Death Valley – on to the Sequoia National Park.

A classic case of when a handy shortcut turns into an adventure of its own...

From Death Valley the only place that seemed to present itself as a place to stay was Lone Pine. Our guidebook only really said that John Wayne used to stay at the Dow Villa Hotel and that a lot of westerns used to be shot in the hills around...

When we arrived, we found that there was a lot more to do here!

Arriving at night along the potentially difficult and dangerous route 136/190 from Death Valley, we got a room for the night in the old part of the Dow Villa Motel, where John Wayne stayed, for only $21 as it was winter...

For that price the room was fairly basic, but it was all we needed! We then had pizza at a diner across the road before turning in.

We woke early the next morning because we knew we had a lot of distance to cover - we had to be on the Californian coast by nightfall after visiting both the Alabama Hills AND the Sequoia National Park!!!

We first visited the Indian Trading Post for directions and also to admire their 'autographed wall' before taking a quick tour of the Alabama Hills and Movie Road to see where all the the films had been shot before heading south down I395, stopping only in Olancha for some Jerky.

Next we took a shortcut into the High Sierras along route 178 and past some fine Joshua Trees to the beautiful Lake Isabella where we turned off into high forested mountain country along route 155.

Once we crested the range, we came down into rolling meadows of dairy country before turning north onto route 65 with orange groves on both sides of the road.

Just outside the small town of Exeter, we turned onto route 198 for the Sequoia National Park...

Fondest memory: The best things were being able to stay in the same hotel as so many past western stars and producers, seeing the autographs carved into the walls at the Indian Trading Post was also very memorable.

The Alabama Hills themselves were amazing to see because of their curious formations and because of all the movie history they hold...

It was slightly disappointing that the Whitney Portal road was closed as it would have been nice to drive at least as far as the lake below Mt Whitney.

Stopping at Gus' Jerky was a good journey breaker as was when we stopped with all the Joshua Trees around us.

Driving up into the mountains above Lake Isabella gave us our first taste of driving in mountain forests in the US, then we had the fun of passing a herd of cows on the road in the meadow foothills of the sierras followed by the huge groves of Oranges - it was great to see such a huge diversity in such a short time!

Favorite thing: The visitor center is an excellent starting point for a trip to Death Valley National Monument and of course for the Alabama Hills.
They give you every information you need. Like the temperature in Death Valley:-)
And of course maps, brochures, books.

Favorite thing: Armed with this trusty map which you can also get from the Indian Trading Post for a nominal fee - or download it from here!

You can visit the sights of all your favourite movies - see which were filmed here by following the web address below...

Have fun! Who knows, if you're armed with a video camera, perhaps you could re-enact your favourite scenes...? ;-)

Fondest memory: Now I can say 'I've been there' whenever I see a movie scene involving an Alabama Hills backdrop... :-)

http://www.lonepinefilmfestival.org/movielist.asp

Favorite thing: Hollywood first came to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine in 1920, to use the unique scenery in more than 300 feature films since that time...

Old Movie stars such as Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger, used to shoot it out with outlaws here. Classics such as 'Gunga Din', 'Springfield Rifle', and 'How the West Was Won', were filmed on sites now known as 'Movie Flats' and Movie Flat Rd (pictured). The area has been used for current movies such as Speilbergs 'Tremors' shot in the 80's and in 1992, 'Joshua Tree'.

The Alabama Hills, the Sierra Nevadas and the Owens Valley are still being used in movies and countless car commercials - perhaps you will remember them?

Such is the volume of work filmed here that if you watch films or the TV at all, you cannot hope but have seen this location at some time or other! Some of the most recent include the 'Mask of Zorro' and 'Gladiator'...

It is a perfect backdrop that will be used for many years into the future...

Fondest memory: The best thing about coming here was being able to retrace the steps of some of my favourite movie stars with a map that I bought at the Indian Trading Post which marked each of the most famous areas, which movies were filmed where and who the different movie stars were...

Favorite thing: Drive away from highway 395 to the foot of Mt. Whitney, crossing the unique landscape of the Alabama Hills. There are some campgrounds along this road. It's absolute a must to stay one night, just to notice how peaceful it is there...

Favorite thing: Mountaineering is a team sport. Choose your team wisely. At the very least, make sure there's at least one person willing to lend a hand when needed.