Scenic 395 - The Official Guide 2018/2019

2018-2019 Scenic 395 28 Lone Pine the Bureau of Land Management parking lot. From there to the falls is a short hike through the rocky terrain (this trail is not handicap ac- cessible) with primitive camping available. To learn more about this geologic eccentricity here is a link to the BLM website for the area: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/fossil.html. Next stop for a unique landscape is the Alabama Hills just west of Lone Pine off Whitney Portals Road. A focal point for Native American life for over 10,000 years, this area of unique rock formations and home to miners is now a movie backdrop for the Hollywood filming industry for movies, commercials and TV shows beginning in the 1920s and continuing today. The area is named after the C.S.S. Alabama, a Confederate warship responsible for wreaking havoc during the Civil War. Prospectors sympathetic to the Confederate cause named their mining claims after the Alabama and the name just stuck. Formed by a process called uplifting and chemical erosion, these rounded stone monuments are a sharp contrast to the massive granite peaks chiseled by glaciers of the Sierra Nevada. There are over 100 stone arches scattered through the area, the largest of which is the Mobius Arch just off Movie Road. Make it a treasure hunt to find them all, and you can find maps online to make it a little easier. Try light painting and photographing the Milky Way after dark against JEFFREY PANG VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Mt. Whitney is seen at sunrise from Lone Pine. Continued on Page 29 Continued from Page 27