2011 Wild Western Adventure Pt. IV

These cool arches can be found in the Alabama Hills area of Inyo National Forest.

Heart Arch!

More than 100 movies and TV shows were filmed in the Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine, CA. The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and John Wayne movies. More recent movies included "Tremors" and "Iron Man" were filmed there and then of course, the Flintstones was also filmed here. It was a really cool area with lots of neat dessert views, arches, and high sierra views. The most recent film action there is the new Subaru commercial.

Many folks wanted to know what a bear box looks like so here it is. This box is where campers put all their toiletries and food. It is bolted down and has bear-proof lock on this steel box! This is one of the only amenities of camp grounds out west. This and a pit toilet and MAYBE a water tap for a few campsites to share.

Mono Lake is an interesting place that we passed through after leaving Sonora Pass. This extremely salty desert lake (yes, that is strange) has its own special kind of brine shrimp. They are minute little things that can only be found in this lake. The lake formed after volcanic action occurred in the Sierras. Mono is considered one of the oldest Lakes the planet. This photo is a shot of the "tufts" that form there. I had never heard of this word. They are basically limestone towers composed of carbonate materials. This place is quite interesting to biologists because it is such a strange but successful ecosystem.

I had never seen a real sheepherder before. This man has a very lonesome job herding sheep with his border collie dog out in the middle of nowhere. Still, after reading so many Bible stories about sheep herding it was cool to still see that there are sheepherders out there with rods driving sheep.

(from Bodie.com)
Bodie is an original mining town from the late 1800's. What's left today stands in a state of "arrested decay" and is maintained by the California State Parks System, who took over the town in 1962 to make it a State Historic Park.

In 1859 William (a.k.a. Waterman) S. Bodey discovered gold near what is now called Bodie Bluff. A mill was established in 1861 and the town began to grow. It started with about 20 miners and grew to an estimated 10,000 people by 1880! By then, the town of Bodie bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters, prostitutes and people from every country in the world. At one time there was reported to be 65 saloons in town. Among the saloons were numerous brothels and 'houses of ill repute', gambling halls and opium dens - an entertainment outlet for everyone.

On a daily basis miners would emerge from the mills and head for the bars and the red light district to spend their earnings. The mixture of money, gold and alcohol would often prove fatal. Bodie had the reputation of being one of the most furious, vehement, violent and lawless towns in all the Mother Lode. Law and order took a back seat to doing whatever was the inspiration of the moment including putting a bullet into someone as the only way to settle an argument. $75million in gold was taken from Bodie Butte. This was one cool town almost untouched over time. I had never seen a more intact ghost town. We saw some in CO when we lived there, but none this sophisticated.

We toured through Bakersfield and back up towards Fresno area where there were load of orchards and family-owned farms. We stopped at a great fresh fruit market and I could have spent about 100 bucks on fresh cherries, plums, peaches, blueberries, oranges, dried fruit, homemade pies, smoothies, and parfaits. We were on our way to Sequoia National Park and King's Canyon...that'll be in the next post!


Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
John Muir