Eastern Sierras Road Trip - In Search of Arches

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Val and I are not early risers, but Doug and Janis are so by the time we were up at 7:30, Doug had run a few miles and then gone for a walk with Janis.  After everyone had showered and eaten breakfast, we were ready to hit the road and start our day.

The first thing we wanted to do was to visit the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor's Center in Lone Pine and while we found the displays interesting, the ranger was less than interested in helping us.  It didn’t really matter as we are pretty familiar with the area, but it’s unusual to find a ranger that isn’t eager to share his knowledge.

Doug, Janis and Val in front of the Visitor's Center

They were taking in this great view of the Sierras.

Our next stop was the Museum of Western Film History that is located in Lone Pine.  The Alabama Hills area is a favorite place for movies to be filmed, particularly westerns.  Back in the 1930’s and 40’s they averaged a new movie being started every week.  Most of the movies were “B” cowboy movies but there were also plenty of feature length movies being shot too.  The museum was great; I was expecting just a small museum, but this was quite large and had an extensive collection of memorabilia as well as a full history the movies, actors and other information.  We really enjoyed our visit and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

For my birthday, Val had given me a book on the Arches of the Alabama Hills by Orlyn Fordham.  The author had located over 70 arches and other landmarks and provided GPS coordinates that I entered into a map program (GAIA Maps) and tracking some of them down was our goal today.  We weren’t going to try to see all of them, but we were going to try to see the author’s favorites and that was our next activity after returning to the house and having lunch.

After lunch we headed off into the Alabama Hills, which didn’t take long as our rental house is right in them.  One thing to bear in mind, the arches of the Alabama Hills are not like the arches you might see in Arches National Park, they are much smaller, but very interesting none the less.

Our first stop was the Whitney Portal Arch.  With the GPS coordinates marked on my map it was easy to find the trail.  He said the walk was an easy short hike, but he is probably much younger than we are and although it wasn’t too bad, there was a climb in and out of a deep gully with lots of deep sand making it more difficult.  When I was in my 20’s or 30’s this would have been quite easy, but at 74 I have to admit that my age is catching up with me a bit.

Nonetheless, we all made it, but were surprised to find that the arch wasn’t on a trail, but off in the distance at the top of a steep hill.  Val and Janis said they weren’t going any further, but would wait for Doug and I.  We started off cross country to get to the bottom of the hill and after hiking for a bit, we realized that the bottom of the hill still seemed quite a ways off so we decided it wasn’t worth it and headed back.

The start of the trail

The Whitney Portal Arch is very difficult to see in this photo without zooming in.  We had trouble finding it until Janis spotted it.

Here is a zoomed in view of the Whitney Portal Arch.

Doug and I decided to take the trek over and up to the arch, but as we hiked across the open terrain we realized it was much further and more difficult than we thought and gave up.

Val and Janis waited in the shade while Doug and I made our ill-fated attempt to hike to the arch.

We start our hike back to the car.

Doug and I on the trail.

The next arch we decided to visit was the Mobius Arch. It's very popular and well known among photographers as you can shoot a picture of Mt. Whitney framed by the arch.  That walk also proved to be a bit arduous (for us older folks) and Val decided to turn back.  After a hip and two knee replacements walking in rough terrain is a lot more difficult for her than it used to be.  Many years ago my dad and mom had brought us here to show us the arch so she had already seen it anyway.

The Heart Arch at the beginning of the trail.

The trail to Mobius Arch.

Doug, Janis and I pressed on and finally found the arch.  It wasn’t exactly the way I remembered it, but that was because of my memory not because the terrain had changed.  After spending some time at the arch and the nearby smaller Lathe Arch, we headed back.  We found the trail was actually a loop and the way back was much easier than the way in so if we had known that, Val could have easily made the hike.  Oh well, she enjoyed her time anyway.

The Mobius Arch with Mt. Whitney framed in the background.

There were a couple of old movie sites in the area so we drove by those, but you had to use your imagination as there was nothing left to see.  It was getting later and our hikes had taken lot more time than expected so we decided to forgo the last arch we were going to visit as that was another arch that required an overland trek.

The whole Alabama Hills area is interesting though, so we spent some time exploring some of the side roads and then driving the whole length of Movie Road that would take us back to US 395 north of Lone Pine.

We stopped to watch these mules on our drive back.

My brand new 4Runner covered in dust after only one day.

We were all a bit tired by the time we got back to the house so we relaxed a bit.  Tonight, Doug and Janis were taking care of dinner and Doug grilled some chicken and zucchini and along with bread and a salad we had a very tasty and wonderful dinner with more of Val’s chocolate cake for dessert.

We relaxed after dinner and made our plans for tomorrow and I decided to try my hand at astrophotography.  Another book Val bought me for my birthday was how to take pictures of the stars.  I had tried it a bit at home, but with the lights of Atascadero, the stars weren’t very bright.  I figured that here in Lone Pine the stars would appear much brighter and they did when you looked at them, but my photo results weren’t very exciting.  I don’t know what I did wrong, but the results were disappointing.  Oh well, I have a few more nights this trip to hone my skills.

Although this picture shows a lot of stars, the lack of something in the foreground makes it pretty uninteresting.

Eastern Sierras Road Trip - The Drive to Lone Pine

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

It is only a five hour drive from our home to Lone Pine, but we didn’t want to get there too late so we were on the road by 9:30.  It was an easy drive with our only stop being for lunch in Tehachapi.  I had read online that gas was well over six dollars a gallon in the area around Lone Pine so after lunch we drove through Tehachapi and found gas for only $5.45 a gallon, a real bargain for what we’re used to in Atascadero.

We arrived at our rental house in Lone Pine at 3:30 and found Doug and Janis there waiting for us.  We unloaded the cars and settled in and relaxed a bit after our drive until dinner time.

The house is very nice, nothing fancy but very comfortable and the location in the Alabama Hills is great.  It is a two story house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms plus a well equipped kitchen and dining area.  Adjoining the kitchen is a large recreation room with a ping pong table and other games.  If it were my house, I would have used the recreation area as a den or at least added some seating as the views of the Alabama Hills from that room are very nice.  There is a nice living room with a wood burning stove that is a comfortable place to hang out.

The best part of the house is the outside with views of the Sierras in the distance on one side and the Inyo Mountains from the other side and the rock formations of the Alabama Hills all around.  There is a large patio at the back of the house with a grill, plenty of seating and a fire pit.  In the front of the house there is another outdoor seating area with views of the Sierras, another fire pit and misters to keep things cool in the summer.  There is a deck off of all three bedrooms upstairs so there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the views and the outside while staying at the house.

The front of the house.  Two of the bedrooms upstairs share the deck above the garage.

There is a patio at the front of the house with misters for the heat of the summer.

The rear patio.  The deck above is off the master bedroom.

We had views of the Sierras to the west ...

and views of the Inyo Mountains to the East with the Alabama Hills all around us.

Val had prepared a taco casserole before we left for our dinner tonight and it was delicious.  She also brought a chocolate marshmallow cake that was even more delicious, an excellent dinner all around.

After dinner we relaxed, chatted a bit and discussed our plans for tomorrow.  We decided that we would spend our first day exploring the Alabama Hills. 

Eastern Sierras Road Trip

You may have guessed by the lack of any blog posts that we did cancel our Panama Canal Cruise.  We hated to do it, but the Omicron variant of Covid was raging and we felt the wisest thing to do was not take any chances and cancel, we'll do it some other time.  We did take a short trip to Lake Tahoe for my birthday, but that was all the traveling we have done since our Escalante Trip.  That is about to change.

A few weeks ago Val asked me what I thought about doing a road trip to the Eastern Sierras.  I told her it sounded like a great idea to me so she turned on her computer and started looking for a rental house and found a nice one in Lone Pine, a small town near the southern end of the Sierras.  We asked my brother Doug and his wife Janis if they were interested in joining and they were, the trip was getting better and better.

I am writing this on Monday, the day before we leave, and two days ago the trip got even better (for me at least).  My trusty Toyota 4Runner is 13 years old and about a year ago I decided to replace it, but they were in very short supply and sold quickly and I just couldn't find what I wanted.  Suddenly last Friday night everything came together and I found the car I wanted and by Saturday evening I had a brand new 2022 4Runner - just in time to break it in on a road trip.

So what could be better, we get out on the road again, we get to spend a week with Doug and Janis in the beautiful Eastern Sierras, and we get to do it in a brand new car. 

Grand Staircase (Off) Road Trip - Homeward Bound

Escalante to Flagstaff, AZ

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Today we left our tiny house in Escalante and headed for home.  We wanted to get an early start so we were up early this morning to do some final packing and getting ready to leave.  Unlike the sunny skies we have been seeing all week, this morning was overcast and looked like rain so maybe that was an omen that it was indeed, our time to leave.  We had our breakfast, did our final packing and loaded the car and were on the road at 9:00.

Out destination for the night was Flagstaff, Arizona and it was only 320 miles to get there, but it was all on two-lane, mountainous roads so the going would be a little slow in places.  The good thing is that it's a very scenic drive.

We retraced our drive on highway 12 past Bryce and Red Canyon to US89 where we turned south.  Utah SB12 has been designated an All-American Road and it certainly lives up to the honor; from beginning to end the scenery is amazing.  It is not anywhere near a main route, but is well worth the time to get off the beaten path and enjoy this road.

We followed US89 all the way to Flagstaff and it was a pretty scenic drive in its own right.  It steadily drops in elevation as it goes through forested high desert to red rock canyons.  After going through Kanab, Utah, the road follows the Vermillion Cliffs to Page, Arizona where we had lunch.  From Page south, the land became more of a desert, but still very interesting with many mountains and rock formations on the drive.  We have driven 89 from Page to Flagstaff many times and always enjoy it.

Thanks to gaining an hour as we passed from Mountain Time to Pacific Time we arrived in Flagstaff around 4:00.  We relaxed a bit, had some dinner and called it a night.

Flagstaff to Barstow, CA

Sunday, October 24, 2021

We would have liked to drive straight home today, but it is well over 600 miles and decided to split it up into a two day drive and spend tonight in Barstow.  It is 360 miles to Barstow, but it is all on Interstate Highway so it should go pretty quickly.  This will be the first time we have ever stayed in Barstow as it is usually not a destination spot, but it worked out best for us to stop there.

The drive was very uneventful and went by fairly quickly as we have been listening to David McCullough’s “1776” audiobook and it has been very interesting.  We passed through Williams and Kingman, Arizona before crossing the Colorado River and back into California.  We stopped in Needles, CA to buy gas and get some lunch and then drove the rest of the way into Barstow.

We arrived around 4:00 and settled into our hotel and started wondering what to do for dinner.  We still had some lunch fixings left over from our Escalante outings and decided to have those for dinner and clean out the ice chest.  That worked out fine as we were able to have a leisurely evening before our last day on the road before coming home.

Barstow to Home

Monday, October 25, 2021

Today is our last day of our trip and as always, we have mixed feeling about it.  We are looking forward to being home again, but it is also sad that our trip is ending.

It was only a four hour drive home so we were in no hurry to get started.  Our hotel was right next to the Barstow Outlet Stores so we decided to give them a look before we hit the road.  There was a Columbia Sportswear Outlet that Val wanted to check out so we went there and surprisingly Val didn’t find anything she wanted, but I did.  I have been looking for an everyday, lined rain jacket for several years and they had just what I wanted at a great price, so I bought it.

From Barstow, we took Highway 58 that, as I mentioned before, is now four-lane freeway all the way to Bakersfield.  This weekend California has been having some very heavy rainstorms and although it was only partly cloudy in Barstow, we could see ominous rain clouds on the horizon.  

It wasn't raining yet, but the clouds ahead were very ominous.

As we got about halfway across the Mojave we started to get some light rain and by the time we headed up into the Tehachapi Mountains it was really coming down, so much so that is was making driving a little challenging.

It was still raining hard by the time we got to Tehachapi, but we had to get gas and some lunch so we got off and drove through Tehachapi, got our gas and then had a very good lunch at Kohnen's Country Bakery.  After lunch it was time to get back on the road and brave the weather.  Normally, we would take 58 into Bakersfield where we would get on Highway 99 headed north, but they are doing a lot of construction in Bakersfield and traffic is always bad anyway, so considering the heavy rain, we decided to take a route through some of the backroads to get to Interstate 5.

That worked out very well, as the heavy rain did continue, but there was very little traffic so it was relatively easy drive considering the conditions.  The rain continued, but started to ease off as we reached San Luis Obispo County and by the time we were on Highway 46 headed for home the rain had stopped.

We got home around 4:00, unloaded the car and settled in for our first night home in over a week.  What was supposed to be an easy drive today turned into be a bit of a challenge, but it all ended well.  The good thing is we got almost 2 inches of badly needed rain in Atascadero.  We had a great trip, but it felt good to be home.

 

Final Thoughts

It was great to get out on the road again and actually take a real trip.  We had a wonderful time in an area we love.  Southern Utah is such a great place to visit, there are the well-known national parks such as Zion, Bryce, Arches and Canyonlands, but there are so many other lesser known areas to visit.  If you want to a get away from the crowds, try areas like Grand Staircase-Escalante where we went.

We had such a good time on this trip.  The tiny homes of Escalante Escapes that Val found worked out so well for us that we will go back to them whenever we visit the area around Escalante.  We had great weather and were able to do almost everything we wanted to do.  Road conditions limited us on several of our planned day trips, but we wouldn’t have had time to do everything anyway.

A map of our travels while we were in Escalante.

My favorite thing we did on the trip was to drive to the end of Hole-in-the-Rock Road; I have wanted to do that for such a long time.  It’s not the most scenic drive in the area, but knowing the history of the road made it a very interesting drive.

One worry I had when we started the trip never came to fruition.  We do most of our road trips in my 2008 Toyota 4-Runner and it’s getting a little long in tooth and I could just imagine us breaking down out in the middle of nowhere and having to figure out a way to get back.  I am very happy to report that the 4-Runner performed flawlessly, not a hint of a problem so kudos to Toyota for building such a reliable truck.

So that about wraps it up, our plans for our future travels are a bit up in the air right now.  We had planned taking a 30 day Panama Canal Cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale and back, but we are having second thoughts and may cancel.  Next fall we have our twice postponed, 74 day cruise around Africa so hopefully that isn't postponed again as we are really looking forward to that.  I do think we have some more road trips in the future, but nothing definite yet.  If you see a new post in the Blog, you’ll know we are traveling again so we’ll see you on down the road.

Grand Staircase (Off) Road Trip - Escalante Day 5

Escalante Day 5 – Posey Lake Road and Devil’s Backbone

Friday, October 22, 2021

It’s hard to believe today is our last day in Escalante, the week has gone by so fast.  It’s getting repetitive, but once again we woke up to a beautiful day with a few high clouds, but mostly blue sky.  It was also the warmest day of the week, but where we went today was quite a bit cooler.

The plan for the day was to take a shorter trip and be back to the house by 3:00 or 4:00 and do some preliminary packing so we can get an early start home tomorrow morning.  We decided to do a scenic loop drive to the west of Escalante that would take us up and over a 10,500 foot pass.

The red line is our route today and the blue line is our side trip to the Devil's Backbone Bridge.

The first section of our drive is on Posey Lake Road that starts in Escalante and goes up into the mountains.  We started our drive and after about 15 miles, we came to the intersection of Hell’s Backbone Road and decided to do a side trip.   

We have driven Hell’s Backbone Road before and it is a nice drive with some spectacular views, but the real feature is the Hell’s Backbone Bridge and the deep gorge it crosses.  Until 1937 there was no bridge and the road ended at the gorge, but a bridge was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) to create a shortcut from Escalante to Boulder.  It’s hard to believe this was a shortcut considering the modern highway that connects the two towns today, but then it was a long arduous journey so the Hell’s Backbone Bridge was a big deal when it was built.  The original wooden bridge lasted until 1965 when the wood timbers were replaced with metal and then updated again in 2005.

It's hard to get a clear view of the bridge so this will have to do.

From the Hell’s Backbone Bridge area, you look down on the remote and pristine Death Hollow area that is only accessible by hiking.  The views were amazing and made the 22 mile round-trip side trip worthwhile.

From the bridge we returned to Posey Lake Road and continued our journey for a few more miles until we reached Posey Lake.  Posey Lake has a campground and picnic area, but the campground is closed for the season as there is already snow in the area.  We decided to stop for lunch and had the whole place to ourselves; we didn’t hear a single vehicle go by the whole time we were there.  The road is dirt, but is very well maintained and drivable by any auto.

Lunchtime at Posey Lake.

We had been looking forward to seeing some fall color on our journey and we did at the start of our drive today where there were lots of cottonwood trees, but as we reached the higher elevations the cottonwoods disappeared and replace by aspen as a source for fall color.  Unfortunately, it was already winter up at Posey Lake and the aspens had lost all of their leaves already.

After finishing our lunch, we continued on Posey Lake Road, but the driving became a bit more difficult.  The road was still maintained, but now there was snow, slush and mud on the road that made driving a little more difficult and would get worse as we went on.  We were certainly glad to have our 4-wheel drive for that.

A few miles up the road from Posey Lake is Cyclone Lake and in one of my photo guidebooks I have used for this trip, the author said that if you go to this lake at the right time in the fall, the fall color of the aspen trees lining the lake is beautiful.  Well, not only were the aspen trees bare of all their leaves, there was no water at all in the lake and it didn’t look like there had been any lately.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Just past Cyclone Lake we came to a turnoff for Forest Road 140 and this was the road we were going to take.  It would take us up and over a 10,500 foot pass to an area known as Griffin Top.  We were beginning to get a little worried as we thought if we are having snow in the road now, what will it be like at 10,000 feet?  We saw a truck full of cut logs coming from the opposite direction (the first vehicle we had seen since the Hell’s Backbone area).  We were going very slow as we passed since the road is quite narrow so we stopped and asked about road conditions ahead and he told us that if we had 4-wheel drive we’d be fine.  It turned out he and his wife sell firewood and were hauling a load back.  They had a huge load of wood on a not so big truck, but they seemed to be moving along just fine.

The road did get worse and at times we had to drive through quite a bit of snow, but it was doable and we made it.  For people who live in a climate where it snows, it may seem like we were worrying for nothing, but we live in an area where it never snows so driving in it is very foreign to us.  Plus, if you start to slide in some places the only place to go is over the side and down.

The driving here wasn't bad, but there were times where there was deep slushy snow and mud that made us glad we had 4-wheel drive.

After the pass we started back down and the snow gradually lessened as we started on the last part of the loop back to the main highway.  Further down the road, the area opened up from forested plateau to sweeping vistas of the area below all the way to Capitol Reef National Park to the north.

As we got lower, we turned off of the Forest Road 140 onto Forest Road 17 that is called Main Canyon Road (also called Old Escalante Road).  Main Canyon Road follows Birch Creek and we started to see the cottonwood trees again.  They were mostly past their peak, but really spectacular in some areas and we made many photo stops.

 

Finally we were back at SB12 south of Escalante and headed back to our tiny house.  The roads we were on today (with the exception of Hell’s Backbone) didn’t have the spectacular scenery as some of the other areas we have been this week, but it was a great drive and we were glad we took the time to do it.  Also, winter had already set in up there so the leaves were off the trees and the grasses had all died so it is probably a much more beautiful area earlier in the fall.  Anyway, for us, it was another good day in the back country.

We were back at the house by 3:00 and after a brief break we did all the packing we could do today.  The evening was spent relaxing and snacking on the leftover food we have.  It will be sad to leave, we will miss our tiny house and the great time we have had in Escalante this week.  Tomorrow night we will be in Flagstaff, Arizona.