Lone Pine, California--Movie Set of the Eastern Sierras

It was a short drive to Lone Pine, California. We made a stop at the Eastern Sierra Visitors' Center before heading to Tuttle Creek BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Campground. If you should happen to visit Tuttle Creek, DO NOT take Tuttle Creek Road! We had been warned and knew to take Whitney Portal to Horseshoe Meadows Road to get to the campground.

Once on the road to the campground, be aware of the diagonally placed speed bumps on the narrow road. In a car, you can angle over them, but in a big rig you will rock and roll no matter how slow you take them. Once at the sign-in kiosk, we unhooked the car to drive through the campground to find the perfect site for Sol. There were many sites available, but we chose site 47 for its proximity to Tuttle Creek and its views of the mountains. This picture was taken near the creek. Sol really is level, it was just the angle from which the picture was taken. It seemed strange to be in the desert with snow covered mountains so close.

Bob found the creek a nice spot to have his celebratory beer--for a safe arrival to our campsite.

Here is a view of the desert and mountains from the front of Sol.

After relaxing and exploring the campground, we drove back into Lone Pine and walked around town. It is a small town and it has several outfitters for hikers on Pacific Crest Trail. After a trip around town, we drove to the end of Whitney Portal. Normally the road goes to the campground at the base of Mt. Whitney, but on this day the road was closed about 7 miles from town.

The views from this area showed just how much snow was still on the Eastern Sierras and the breeze was a bit chilly. Lone Pine is at an elevation of 3000 feet, Tuttle Creek is at 5100 feet and this viewpoint is at about 7500 feet.

We finally returned to Sol and spent a relaxing evening sitting outside, enjoying the views.

The following day it was time to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Film History Museum. I remember watching many of the westerns when I was growing up. Many newer films were also shot in the area.

 This car was used by Humphrey Bogart in High Sierra.

 There were walls devoted to stars who were in many films shot in the Alabama Hills.

 Of course, Bob's all time favorite, Tremors, was shot almost entirely in Lone Pine's Alabama Hills.

 Everyone loves The Lone Ranger. Besides movie posters, there were costumes, saddles, holsters, and merchandise that was available for fans.

 We enjoyed seeing all the memorabilia at the museum. One of the brochures you get from the museum is a map to the places the movies were shot.

Bob and I left to find some geocaches and movie 'sets.' This geocache was found where John Wayne starred in several movies. In the cache was a book with coordinates to find exact places that were used in some of his movies. There was only one book and it was to be returned to the cache after use so we left it and continued on our way.

This was a fun place to explore and it was interesting to see where the movies were made. Now when we see an old western or any movie, we look for the tell-tale signs of Alabama Hills.