THE ALABAMA HILLS

by Robert Hitchman

The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range is a great destination for landscape photographers. Lying at the base of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, is Lone Pine. Between the steep, eastern escarpment of the Sierra and the town of Lone Pine, are the Alabama Hills.

Golden-brown boulders of all sizes lie scattered across sage-covered hills creating a highly textured foreground for a dramatic view of sharply rising Sierra summits that line the western edge of the Owens Valley–warm colors contrasting with cool gray granite and a deep blue sky. Smooth and rounded shapes below and jagged peaks above. Landscape photographers will quickly see the possibilities.

Turn west onto Whitney Portal Road at the only stoplight on the main street of Lone Pine. As you drive west, you’ll see mountainous piles of round rocks. Huge boulders of weathered granite line both sides of Whitney Portal Road.

These hills were named in honor of the battleship "Alabama" by prospectors from the South who were sympathetic to the Confederate cause in the 1860s. The Bureau of Land Management now is the care taker of 30,000 acres west of Lone Pine, designated as the "Alabama Hills Recreation lands."

Turn west at the stoplight in Lone Pine and drive 2.8 miles west to Movie Road. There is a sign at the intersection and a bronze plaque that was dedicated by Roy Rogers, commemorating all the western movies made in these hills. As you drive north along the unpaved Movie Road, you’ll see a network of dirt roads leading out into the desert and winding around all the formations. Follow any of these roads and you’ll find some fascinating subjects for your camera. If you enjoy photographing rock patterns and are interested in geology, this is the place for you.

Many of these roads were laid out and graded to accommodate stagecoaches being pulled by teams of horses. Many western movies and television shows were made here in the Alabama Hills. Although there is little evidence of any movie sets remaining, the back roads are still smooth and easily driven by most vehicles. A 4x4 helps when you want to cross a deep and sandy wash or climb a steep road to the top of a viewpoint.

When the sun first rises over the Panamint Range on the eastern side of the Owens Valley, it strikes the peaks of the Sierra. A few minutes later, it lights up the tops of the Alabama Hills, then works its way down to illuminate the sage-covered hills. You will want your tripod to be located in a good spot with a dynamic arrangement of the foreground–the jumble of the Alabama Hills–and the majestic snowcapped peaks rising 10,000 feet above.

Stop for a weather update at the Visitor Information Office as you drive into Lone Pine. Watch the weather channel before setting your alarm clock. But plan to make that drive up Whitney Portal Road even if the weather reports look bad. If you are staying in one of the motels in the town of Lone Pine, it will take you less than ten minutes to drive up into the hills and find a good spot to set up your tripod for the sunrise. Often the sun will break through an opening beneath a heavy cloud cover as it rises over the horizon. You may have only a few minutes of fantastic light across the Alabama Hills before the clouds close in and the rains start. Cold winter mornings can bring a dusting of snow to the tops of the boulders and the sage. One lucky break in the weather may give you the prize-winning shot. Don’t sleep in and miss the sunrise over the Alabama Hills.

When you stay a few days for an extended exploration of the Alabama Hills, you will get to know the layout of the many back roads through the hills. You will soon discover where the best places are to wait for a sunrise or a sunset. One of my favorite sunrise spots lies at the end of a steep side road off the eastern side of the Movie Road. From a distance, you can spot the steep, zig-zag road with a circular turn-around near the top. From up there, you’ll frame a high-angle aerial view of most of the hills and the Sierra in the background. It’s a great place for a panoramic camera.

Several times I have parked along a dirt road through these hills and started walking through the rocks in search of the perfect photograph. After an hour or so of wandering, I have no idea where my car is parked. It is easy to get lost in these rock pile mazes. I always have a small compass attached to the zipper pull on my LowePro backpack to get me oriented. It’s easy to spot Mt. Whitney, the landmark to the west. By walking downhill you can usually find a dirt road. By climbing uphill you can get a better view of the terrain and maybe you can spot your car in the distance. It’s always much farther away than you remember.

After a great sunrise and a full morning of photography in the Alabama Hills, take a break and drive back into Lone Pine for a hearty breakfast at PJ’s on the main street. Since it’s open 24 hours a day, you can get your coffee before starting out in the morning.

Drive west, about 13 miles from Lone Pine, on the Whitney Portals Road to the end of the road at the trailhead to Mt. Whitney. This road is usually cleared of snow and open from May to October. Just before the road starts to climb steeply up the switchbacks, you will see a wonderful view up the length of the Owens Valley. During summer months when the upper part of the Whitney Portal Road is open, you can leave the Portal Road and head northeast on the unpaved Hogback Road–all the way back to Highway 395. The Hogback Road defines the northern limits of the Alabama Hills.

The southern boundary of the Alabama Hills follows Lubkin Canyon Road. This paved road leaves Highway 395 about 3 miles south of the Visitor Information Center. Follow it several miles west to the sign at the southern end of Tuttle Creek Road. Turn north here and drive through the largest concentration of boulders in the Alabama Hills. There are some nice angles looking west through the cottonwoods along Tuttle Creek–not to be missed in late October.

The Alabama Hills Arch can be found by driving 5.3 miles up the Whitney Portal Road. Turn right onto a short dirt road and go about 500 feet. Park near the fence, walk through an opening in the fence, and cross the wooden bridge over Lone Pine Creek. Walk north up the bank of the creek and then follow the sandy wash that parallels the ridge on your right (east). Walk north for about ten minutes then scan the ridge on the right for the arch. Look carefully, it blends into the rocks. When you spot the arch, it’s another ten minute walk up the ridge to the base of the arch.

You can move in close to the arch and exaggerate its size with a wide-angle lens. This greatly reduces the size of the distant Sierra range which you may not want to do. Try a normal focal length lens to give you a "normal" relationship of foreground to background. Use your telephoto lenses to isolate the strongest elements in the jumble of rocks. Try to include something like cactus or wildflowers to give a sense of scale and proportion to these tightly-cropped telephoto compositions. Photographs of tightly cropped rock patterns may be interesting exercises for the photographer but may not have any meaning to other viewers. If you are shooting for a slide show, don’t forget to include some "establishing shots" or panoramic views of the whole Owens Valley to set the scene.

Wind blowing down the Owens Valley can be very strong and gusty in the spring. To stabilize your tripod, spread your tripod legs, hang your camera bag from a hook screwed into the bottom end of your tripod’s center column, or find a spot behind large rocks that’s protected from the force of the wind.

There are cholla, beavertail, cottontop, and prickly pear cactus growing in the sandy hills between the outcroppings. Spring brings wildflowers including bright red patches of Indian paintbrush. Cottonwoods growing along Tuttle Creek turn bright yellow in late October. In addition to your favorite color film, try some black and white and pack a few rolls of infrared film for your Alabama Hills trip. Don’t forget the red filter for the infrared film.

For guidebooks, maps, and more information about finding your way around the maze of dirt roads through the Alabama Hills, stop at the Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center. It’s located about 2 miles south of Lone Pine on Highway 395 at the intersection of Highway 136, the road to Death Valley. Start planning your trip by checking out their Web page at: www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo

There are about ten restaurants, eight motels, and several campgrounds in the Lone Pine area. The Portugee Joe Campground is at the intersection of Whitney Portal Road and Tuttle Creek Road. Drive about ten miles farther up the Whitney Portal Road to find Lone Pine Campground, lying at the base of the Sierra.

Add at least two extra days to your schedule when you plan your next California photo trip. Start with Death Valley and the Trona Pinnacles, then spend a few nights in Lone Pine while you photograph the Alabama Hills. Work your way up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada along Highway 395 as you photograph the Devil’s Postpile, Rock Creek Canyon, the bristlecone forests in the White Mountains, Convict Lake, the June Lake Loop, Lundy Lake, Mono Lake, Bodie, the railroad museum at Laws, Bodie, the Monitor Pass and then northward to Lake Tahoe.

Summer is not the season to visit Death Valley. I prefer to visit the southern regions, from the Mojave Desert to Death Valley and the Alabama Hills in the spring. In the autumn, I cross the Sierra via the Carson Pass (Highway 88) and the Monitor Pass then travel south to photograph along 395 as far as the Alabama Hills. In the summer, you can cross the Sierra Nevada over the Tioga Pass through Tuolumne Meadows and enter Yosemite Valley, making a large loop trip around the Sierra. Schedule a little flexibility into your travel plans to allow for the sometimes unpredictable weather along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada.

To learn more about California back roads, check out my Photograph America Newsletter Issue #57.  See www.apogeephoto.com/800get_foto.html for more details