05-11-2025, 05:39 PM
We got up before sunset to catch the full moon above the Sierras. Turns out the Sierras are pretty tall and the moon had already dipped behind the mountains. We headed over to breakfast only to be told, despite the fact they were open they didn't serve breakfasts until 6. We hung out in front of the Dow Villa Hotel, home of the punishingly hot rooms before heading up to Movie Road to catch sunrise. It was pretty spectacular and the photos won't capture the magic of it all.
We returned to the Alabama Hills cafe to get breakfast and we bumped into my new friend, Steve, from the Lone Pine Film History Museum who sat with us and demanded to buy us breakfast. He wanted to thank me for the Perfection sign I had dropped off the day before. We spent most of the meal boring the Queen to tears with stories of the film industry. At this point, she knows all my stories. And Steve's weren't all that great. He was big on us visiting a movie town built by Roy Rogers near Palm Springs called Pioneertown.
After breakfast, it was back into the Alabama Hills to find the locations for one of my favorite films. One of the things Steve had done for me was to find the exact coordinates of a couple of the sites. We found the main camp, the Temple, the Bridge, Tantrapur, and the tent city where the workers stayed. Gunga Din was kind of important because my friend Lyndell's first business partner helped build the sets for Gunga Din and lived in that tent city.
I flew the drone over the Temple Location which was in a cool canyon. And I flew it over the rocks leading to Tantrapur. We stumbled/found the rope bridge area by spotting steel anchors still embedded in the ground near the rocks they used. You could also still see where concrete was poured in the rocks to hold some boards.
From there, we did the Arch trail to see the Mobius arch and took the picture all the Instagram Famous people take of Mt. Whitney through the arch. Along the way, the Queen continued to catalog flora and fauna. She also met a dog at the Arch and we became friends with the family.
At that point, the Queen broke down due to the heat. I was ready to spend time trying to pinpoint a Tremors location near the arch but realized it was probably better to get the Queen back to the hotel.
When getting out of the car, the Queen did not realize her camera bag was open. Her camera went flying out and landed to the sound of broken glass. She feared the worst. Fortunately, it was just the filter that cracked.
I went back to the Movie museum to take a photo of me with the sign in the Tremors exhibit. Steve felt it was an honor I was there helping him hang the Perfection sign in its new home. He kept trying to excite the patrons by asking them if they had seen Tremors. None of them had. But he then pointed at me and introduced me as a Propmaster who worked on the film. He's got it in his mind. I made the sign despite me keep saying I had not.
At lunch we bumped into our new friends from the Mobius Arch. We exchanged numbers so Nathan can call me next time they go to Yosemite. We got to see their Mika again.
We rested and then headed up to Whitney Portal which is 13 miles up Mount Whitney and the jumping off point to climb Mount Whitney. I'm sure DM will clarify that with his Mount Whitney hiking adventure. It was good to get out of the heat of Lone Pine and revel in the cool of the mountains. We saw a nice waterfall. The Queen met more dogs.
We could have left it on that high, but no. I insisted we got to the Manzanar Internment camp which is about miles north of Lone Pine in just a barren and inhospitable place. The whole place made me angry and sad. The size of the place was immense. You can drive around the whole compound which we did with a stop at the cemetery and its famous marker.
Currently, we are hanging out in the room, still unbearably hot, while waiting to go out to dinner.
After breakfast, we headed back to Movie Road to catch sunrise over the mountains.
We returned to the Alabama Hills cafe to get breakfast and we bumped into my new friend, Steve, from the Lone Pine Film History Museum who sat with us and demanded to buy us breakfast. He wanted to thank me for the Perfection sign I had dropped off the day before. We spent most of the meal boring the Queen to tears with stories of the film industry. At this point, she knows all my stories. And Steve's weren't all that great. He was big on us visiting a movie town built by Roy Rogers near Palm Springs called Pioneertown.
After breakfast, it was back into the Alabama Hills to find the locations for one of my favorite films. One of the things Steve had done for me was to find the exact coordinates of a couple of the sites. We found the main camp, the Temple, the Bridge, Tantrapur, and the tent city where the workers stayed. Gunga Din was kind of important because my friend Lyndell's first business partner helped build the sets for Gunga Din and lived in that tent city.
I flew the drone over the Temple Location which was in a cool canyon. And I flew it over the rocks leading to Tantrapur. We stumbled/found the rope bridge area by spotting steel anchors still embedded in the ground near the rocks they used. You could also still see where concrete was poured in the rocks to hold some boards.
From there, we did the Arch trail to see the Mobius arch and took the picture all the Instagram Famous people take of Mt. Whitney through the arch. Along the way, the Queen continued to catalog flora and fauna. She also met a dog at the Arch and we became friends with the family.
At that point, the Queen broke down due to the heat. I was ready to spend time trying to pinpoint a Tremors location near the arch but realized it was probably better to get the Queen back to the hotel.
When getting out of the car, the Queen did not realize her camera bag was open. Her camera went flying out and landed to the sound of broken glass. She feared the worst. Fortunately, it was just the filter that cracked.
I went back to the Movie museum to take a photo of me with the sign in the Tremors exhibit. Steve felt it was an honor I was there helping him hang the Perfection sign in its new home. He kept trying to excite the patrons by asking them if they had seen Tremors. None of them had. But he then pointed at me and introduced me as a Propmaster who worked on the film. He's got it in his mind. I made the sign despite me keep saying I had not.
At lunch we bumped into our new friends from the Mobius Arch. We exchanged numbers so Nathan can call me next time they go to Yosemite. We got to see their Mika again.
We rested and then headed up to Whitney Portal which is 13 miles up Mount Whitney and the jumping off point to climb Mount Whitney. I'm sure DM will clarify that with his Mount Whitney hiking adventure. It was good to get out of the heat of Lone Pine and revel in the cool of the mountains. We saw a nice waterfall. The Queen met more dogs.
We could have left it on that high, but no. I insisted we got to the Manzanar Internment camp which is about miles north of Lone Pine in just a barren and inhospitable place. The whole place made me angry and sad. The size of the place was immense. You can drive around the whole compound which we did with a stop at the cemetery and its famous marker.
Currently, we are hanging out in the room, still unbearably hot, while waiting to go out to dinner.
After breakfast, we headed back to Movie Road to catch sunrise over the mountains.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm