Owens Valley - The Reel West

Hi Blog!

On Thursday, May 4, 2017, we set out to explore the Owens Valley. The Owens Valley is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains.

The mountain peaks on either side of the valley reach above 14,000 feet in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is at 4,000 feet, making the valley one of the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain."

On the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains sits the Alabama Hills. Famous for its unusual rock formations, the Alabama Hills are a popular filming location for television and movie productions, especially Westerns set in a "rugged" environment. Since the early 1920s, 150 movies and about a dozen television shows have been filmed here, including Tom Mix films, Hopalong Cassidy films, The Gene Autry Show, Star Trek, Bonanza and The Lone Ranger.

Yesterday, we stopped at the Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine and explored their extensive collection of movie memorabilia. We also picked up a self-guided driving tour book which shows all the shooting location along Movie Road in the Alabama Hills. Knowing we wouldn't have time to find them all, we had to pick our favorites. Dave wanted see where the Lone Ranger got his start.

We drove up into the Alabama Hills in search of movie magic. Our first stop, the canyon where Tonto found the Lone Ranger. If you listen carefully, you can hear Dave say, "A fiery horse with the speed of light, A cloud of dust and a hearty hi-o silver! The Lone Ranger!"

Here is the box canyon where the ambush took place.

We took a few minutes to wander around the City of Arches, which lies just a hundred yards or so from Lone Ranger Canyon. The rock exposed here is 85-million-year-old biotite monzogranite which weathers to potato-shaped large boulders because of its relatively soft, loose consistency.

Wind creates hollows in the rock that erodes into rock windows and arches.

There are several famous arches in the Alabama Hills. We decided to hike to a couple of them. Below, Kathy takes a break next to the Mobius Arch.

On the way to the Eye of Alabama, we found this little arch - maybe Vader someday later.

We were treated to sweeping views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The large rock walls across the valley are favorite rock climbing locations. From there you can look down on the shooting locations for How the West Was Won, Gunga Din and the ever popular Tremors!

The Eye of Alabama can be seen from the road, but the only way to get blue sky in the arch is to bushwhack right up to the base.

As we traveled further along the Arch Loop Hike, we encountered - you guessed it - more arches!

We we first saw this arch on the way to the Eye of Alabama, we thought it was one little arch. On the return trip, we noticed it was actually two arches in one!

After enjoying a well deserved lunch break, we continued our drive along Movie Road. We passed the shooting locations for Iron Man and Man of Steel before heading back to civilization. On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Eastern California Museum in Independence, California. Founded in 1928, the museum houses a diverse collection representing the cultural heritage and history of the Owens Valley. We were really impressed with the petroglyph rubbings.

There was an exhibit on Manzanar, the Japanese Internment Camp we visited a couple years ago. We learned a little of the history of the Owens Valley which included mining, alpine hiking, farming and the controversial Los Angeles Aqueduct.

The Aqueduct delivers water from the Owens River to Los Angeles. Its construction was controversial from the start, as it is alleged that water diversions to Los Angeles all but ended agriculture in the Owens Valley. It also created an environmental nightmare as the Owens Lake dried up leaving a dust bowl behind. After years of litigation, the City of Los Angeles has agreed to mitigate the dust and is actually putting water back into Owens Lake.

By using native vegetation and shallow flooding to mitigate the dust, the LA Department of Water and Power has also created habitat for wildlife. The once dry and dusty Owens Lake is now a stopover for as many as 70,000 migratory waterfowl and shorebirds every year.  Below, you can see a stream and wetland that have been constructed to help supply water to a shallow lake area for wildlife:

The Owens Lake Mitigation Program is a work in progress. While there are several Visitor Centers and short trails, there were plenty of construction vehicles to watch out for. That said, standing in the middle of Owens Lake gave us a unique perspective of the Owens Valley.

Tomorrow, we hope to drive up the Whitney Portal Road and actually hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains! Stay tuned.