Inyo County Visitors Guide - 11th Edition

standable why the town has one of the best Independence Day parades with traditional early morning flag raising, pancake breakfast, fun run/walk, small-town parade, homemade ice cream and pie social, kids’ games, an arts and crafts show, deep-pit barbe- cue and sunset fireworks show. L one P Ine – one of the most filmed and photographed landscapes in the county is found surrounding Lone Pine. West of town are the Alabama Hills, named by locals who were Southern sympathizers during the American Civil War. This collection of irregular, ruddy, windswept boulders backed by a horizon of Sierra peaks, has been the backdrop for about 400 Hollywood films from Gunga Din, to Gladiator, to Rawhide, to Iron Man. It’s where Roy Rogers first mounted Trig- ger, where Tom Mix rode to the res- cue and where Robert Downey Jr. got blown up. Lone Pine has been seen in so many movies, that it has commem- orated its fame by hosting the annual Lone Pine Film Festival. The Lone Pine Museum of Western Film History preserves the motion picture history of Inyo County with film memorabilia, cars, western carriages and an 84- seat theater. M AnzAnAR n ATIonAL H ISToRIC S ITe – During World War II, about 10,000 people of Japanese an- cestry, about 60 percent being Ameri- can citizens, were brought here to the Manzanar War Relocation Center as part of the “war hysteria” and racism that swept America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Manzanar was one of 10 Relocation Centers that eventually held about 120,000 people of all ages of Japanese descent for the duration of WW II. Finally, in the 1980s, the US government formally apologized to the internees for their imprisonment with- out charges. The site in now in the hands of the national Park Service. An interpretive center is located in the camp’s former auditorium, a number of replica barracks and buildings offer insights into camp life and a self- guided auto tours is offered. SOUTH COUNTY P eARSonvILLe – You’ve arrived in Inyo County, if traveling north on US 395 in a town often called the “Hub Cap Capitol of the World,” thanks to Lucy Pearson who for years collected a large collection of hubcaps and cat- aloging and storing each in a large warehouse. In Pearsonville, you’ll find gas, food, a towing service, wrecking yard and a ton of hubcaps! K eeLeR – This was once the southern terminus of the Carson & Colorado Railroad. When service ended in the 1960s, most of Keeler’s resi- dents moved away. The streets are mostly quiet and no services exist. However, if you have a 4WD vehicle, follow a dirt road east to Cerro Gordo, a ghost town with several well-maintained silver mine buildings and a small museum. o LAnCHA - This little ranching town has been a waystation since its incep- tion in the 1860s. Cooling cottonwood trees and an inviting café attract trav- elers along US 395. Hikers and back- packers will often set off into the South Sierra Wilderness and onto the Pacific Crest Trail from nearby trailheads. INYO COUNTY • 11th Edition 21 Where to explore, recreate and be amazed in Inyo County Continued from page 20 Continued on page 22