On Saturday we continued our journey, leaving Bishop after an always pleasing stop at Schat’s Bakery. The variety of baked goods there is amazing and the quality is top-notch.
North of Lone Pine we took time to drive through the camp at Manzanar, where Americans of Japanese descent were interned during WWII. It was a contemplative drive as we both know people who spent part of their childhood at the camp. We also reflected on the climate of fear at the time and noted the parallels to today.
We continued south on 395, and as we got close to Lone Pine, we took off on Moffat Ranch Road, an unpaved back road, then turned on Hogback road, and ended up near the Mt. Whitney Portal; nice ride with great views. Also, while these kind of roads are fun with our Highlander, between this and a few other off-road experiences with this car we’ve come to realize we want a 4-Runner again.
After descending Mt Whitney Portal Road we spent a few hours exploring the Alabama Hills, driving and hiking among the very familiar rocks (seen in many movies and TV westerns) before heading into Lone Pine. Dinner at the Seasons was very good; in my experience better than can usually be expected in a town the size of Lone Pine.
We spent the next morning on a return trip the now brightly sunlit Alabama Hills before heading down to Las Vegas. We stopped to explore an old dolomite mine along the way; didn’t do much more than peek into the entrance, not being equipped for true mine exploration.
The views from Padre Point, on CA 190, are vast and sweeping, almost beyond description.
We’ll end this entry with a photo of some sand dunes in Death Valley:
