Museum of Western Film History & What You See In Rocks

Boondocking in Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, CA

Our big adventure today was going into town to visit the Museum of Western Film History.  For a $5 donation per person, there was lots to see, and included a short 15 minute movie about Lone Pine and the movie industry, and especially about all the many westerns filmed in the area, especially the Alabama Hills where we are camped right now.

With all sorts of movie and TV props, and so many posters pertaining to so many movies…it is well worth the price, that’s for sure.

    

From old movie cameras (and catch those posters behind that one on the left)…

   

…to the old projectors that they ran on at the movie house.  This place has it all.

Look at this old RKO truck that they would mount the camera on.  They shot so many of the early silent westerns…although most silent films almost always featured live music to go with the movie as it plays.

Marcia was able to walk this museum, here she is looking over a Tom Mix display, telling me that she saw many a Tom Mix matinee in her childhood…along with many other of the old stars on display.

   

   

Eventually we made it to the small movie theater, where they do show movies now and then, but have a TV set up for the 15 minute thing on Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills and Owen’s Valley area.  Good little information piece.

They do allow pictures, but no flash…I think I was able to compensate for that pretty good this time.  And as you can see, no big crowds…and all three couples (when you include us) are passing through in RVs…the other two at the local RV park, us up in the rocks.

Speaking of rocks…we have all played the “what do you see in the clouds” game.  Here, I played, “what do you see in the rocks”, right outside our motorhome.  Above, this one is easy…with the help of someone who added rocks for eyeballs.

This one here may or may not have had help, but I sure see something like Casper the Friendly Ghost in this rock.

    

This one reminded me of a dinosaur…could not find the exact one, but this one to the right is close enough.  (It’s my game, I make the rules!)

    

This one reminded me of like an Army Sergeant, but has a thicker neck than that cartoon character I found, and his helmet covers his eyes more.

    

Yes, even a rock that looks like the monster in the movie Tremors.  Principal photography took place in the Alabama Hills area in 1989. The mountains in the distance are the Sierra Nevada, and after filming was complete, the town set was completely torn down.  --OK, GAME OVER---

   

After the museum, we took a long drive down Movie Flat Road to see some more of the many rock formations.  The picture on the right is a close up of a rock hole or arch that is in the left picture.  (Remember, if you click on a picture it will get much bigger)  Marcia said that the one hole looks like a heart from this angle..got to agree, it sure does.

These rock formations go on and on…no wonder the filming industry liked filming in the Alabama Hills.  In the bottom picture you can see a couple of tents…we did see about 4 RVs and 3 tents as we went deeper along Movie Flat Road…but there seemed to be less campers today than yesterday.

I know, game is suppose to be over…but you got to admit that this looks a lot like a skull.

Finish it off with a panoramic of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Now, we just need to find some of the movies we like that were shot here to watch for the various things we have seen. 

Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, CA–And Kissack Bay

Boondocking in Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, CA

Many of you are wondering, what the heck is “The Alabama Hills”, and what are they doing in California….well, I will cover that later.

Looks like it is right out of a old western…or even Star Trek, huh?  More on that later.

Only thing that surprised me today was the narrow stretch of road leading up to Lake Isabella, California Highway 178…headed east, the walls get a bit close on the right side…but we made it just fine.

Our plan was to stay at Lake Isabella last night…but we both agreed that having electricity, sewer hookups, long showers, and even cable TV was worth the extra $25.  On top of that, I was able to take my time and wash out the black tank through our cleanout nozzle real good…and Marcia was able to vacuum, which had been well over a week.  Lake Isabella was created in 1953, and at 11,000 acres, one of the larger reservoirs in California.  However, in 2006 the Dam was deemed unstable, and they won’t allow the water level to get above 60% capacity until years (like 15 years) of studies are done, and then they might repair the dam…maybe.  Isabella Dam bisects an active fault that could lead to a catastrophic failure if an earthquake occurs along it--a fault which was considered inactive when the site was studied in the late 1940s.  Don’t know how those folks who were displaced when the dam was built, and the reservoir started to fill feel about this…one such person is a very active reader of our blog.

Nancy Kissack was born in this area…rode her first horse, worked the ranch, and was literally displaced before she was a teenager.  Yes, they compensated her family for the ranch…they moved to the Merced area and had another ranch…but this was a family ranch, to be passed on, not buried under water.

 

And this is Kissack Bay, or Kissack Cove (they call it by both names).  I could only imagine an old ranch house, lots of cattle, many acres full of brush, trees, snakes.  So “IF” they cannot repair the dam, will it revert back to her family???  Of course not…so sad.  (wipe your eyes and blow your nose Nancy)

A pleasant surprise was seeing the Joshua Trees along 178.  Just did not expect that, but it makes sense since they are also along Highway 58 to the south which we have taken many times.

Eventually we turn in a northeasterly direction on highway 14, and in no time at all, north onto 395 (although it was like 395 merged into 14 when 14 ended).  We were now on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Another hour up the road and we were in Lone Pine, where we turned west…Alabama Hills are just 4 miles in along Whitney Portal Road.

I parked at the intersection of Whitney Portal Road and Movie Flat Road.  I got into the HHR to find us a good spot, and Marcia got our first picture of Mount Whitney through the front window of the motorhome.  About 10 minutes later I returned, hooked up the HHR, and off we were to our new boondocking home in the Alabama Hills.

  

Go set up behind some rocks, out of the view of those traveling Movie Flat Road…set up the aircard antenna on the hood of our car and we have a weak 4G signal.  Set up the solar panels, and gave the dogs a bit of time outside. 

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Alabama Hills is kind of like a place that one feels like they have seen before…

In color, and in Black and White….

  

   

You see, LOTS of movies and TV shows were ‘shot’, in part, in the Alabama Hills.  Upper left, Have Gun Will Travel, Upper right, Cisco Kid, Bottom left, Gunga Din, and Bottom right, Star Trek Voyager.  Wikipedia list 386 films which were filmed, in whole or part, in the Alabama Hills/Lone Pine area.  Actors include John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, Spencer Tracy, William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Gene Autry, Tyrone Power, James Stewart, Errol Flynn, Will Rogers, Randolph Scott, Gregory Peck, oh, the list goes on and on and on. And a dozen or more TV Shows, like Bonanza, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, and Have Gun Will Travel had episodes shot here.

  

As the sun went down, the scenery changes…the sky looks angry over to the northwest…

And YES, we get a view of Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 in the United States, it is 14,505 feet in height, and lies 85 miles from the lowest point in the United States, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 282 feet below sea level.