On March 16, 1872 at 2:30 a.m. Lone Pine, California was violently awakened by an earthquake. The magnitude of the quake was about the same as the "Big One" in San Francisco in 1906. It literally leveled the town of Lone Pine. Of the 80 buildings, built of mud and adobe, only 20 structures were left standing. Diaz Lake was formed by this quake. Twenty-six people lost their lives that day in the disaster. A mass grave, located just north of Lone Pine, on the upthrust block of the main fault that caused the quake commemorates the site.
They still do this.
Yes, this is Lone Pine's version of SexDrive. A fellow ODCer directed me to this ranch. It belongs to her uncle.
Movie Flats Road and Mt. Whitney. Many westerns were shot here. With its dramatic High Sierra backdrop, the Alabama Hills has long been a favorite location for television and movie companies. Since the early 1920's, movie stars such as Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger, have been shooting it out with outlaws. Classics such as "Gunga Din," "Springfield Rifle," and "How the West Was Won," were filmed on sites now known as "Movie Flats" and Movie Flat Rd. The area has been used for current movies such as Speilbergs "Tremors" shot in the 80s and most recently, in1992, "Joshua Tree." Some automobile commercials and advertisements are often filmed in this location.
The plaque.
It took me forever to find this granite formation. There are two more. One requires a ladder to get the picture of a lifetime. Maybe next time. The Lone Pine Visitor Center provided me with the "secret map."
I call this "Thumbs Up Rock." This was nearby the rock formation photo I took above.
On the way up.
The Whitney Portal Store is closed for the winter season from November 1 until April 30.
The frozen pond. People actually fish for brown trout here.
