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| Alabama Hills Wandering, CA | |
| | Alabama Hills Wandering, CA | | | |
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Alabama Hills Wandering, CA
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Hiking | 3.05 Miles |
350 AEG |
| Hiking | 3.05 Miles | | | |
350 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I got a permit to hike Mt. Whitney in early August, so I took a few days off work and turned it into a long weekend trip. The drive from Phoenix to Lone Pine took a little over eight hours with a few stops, and I arrived with plenty of daylight left, so I decided to check out Alabama Hills. It's only a 10-minute drive from Lone Pine and packs a lot of fantastic scenery into a short outing.
I made a quick stop at Nightmare Rock before turning onto Movie Flat Road, then parked near Three Brothers and found the alcove with the petroglyphs/pictographs--a little faded but still cool to see. As I explored that area, I passed Gene Autry Rock before driving to the the next stop at Arch Loop Trail. That's the most popular spot in the area and has a parking lot, bathrooms, and a signed trail. There were a few other vehicles in the lot and quite a few people on the loop, particularly around Mobius Arch, so I didn't spend much time there.
Farther down the road, I stopped again and checked out Boot and Cyclops Arches and had those to myself as the sun dropped behind the Sierras. Cyclops was the highlight, with two big arches and a smaller one in that single rock formation (which begs the question why a triple arch is called cyclops), and the views of Whitney and the other peaks at that time of the evening were impressive. Driving back toward Lone Pine, I pulled off at a small parking area that overlooks the Iron Man film site. Beautiful area, and nice to get a few miles of hiking in on a mostly driving day to start the trip. |
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