Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, Ca

The weather forecast for the Mammoth area of the  east Sierras was for much colder temperatures, high winds, and considerable snow.  The red skies in the morning provided another warning!
 
For that reason, we vacated our excellent spot amongst the scattered hot springs, and headed for lower elevations.  We were also getting a bit low on propane fending off the very cool night time temps.  So we trundled down the big hill and ended up in Bishop where the Shell station took care of most of the requirements.  Took on fuel there and enquired where I could get my propane, and it turned out they had a propane facility just behind their large truck style wash bays.  Almost needed a mortgage for the propane that must have been over $4/gallon!  Then took advantage of the car wash to slosh some of the accumulated dust off the truck and rig.  After a quick stop at Von’s to refresh the grocery supply, we headed off south down 395 at a leisurely pace with no destination in mind.
The sun was starting to get a bit low as we were passing through Lone Pine, so what the heck, it was as good a place as any for an overnighter.  I’ve stopped here in the past and know that many RV bloggers have written about it’s virtues and scenery.  By the time we actually looked for a camp spot it was getting a bit dark, so we ended up in a rough, boulder strewn spot just off the edge of Movie road.  I’ve been experimenting with night time-exposure photos, so took this one at 30 seconds.  Believe it or not, it was dark outside notwithstanding the almost full moon.  You can see the stars if you look closely.

In the morning, the ‘plan’ was to go into Lone Pine and perhaps see if there was a convenient laundromat, and then carry on southbound.  Hailey was glad to get out and explore some of the rocks first though.

It took some convincing, but I finally got her into the truck.  It seemed a shame to leave without looking around a bit more in the light of day, so instead of heading back down for town, we turned further up Movie road, where the pavement soon turned to gravel, with the usual washboard and a bit of dust.  After a mile or so, the plans changed again when an excellent spot came into view.  That’s Mt. Whitney in the background – highest peak south of Alaska at 14,505’.  Before breakfast things were set up, blocked and levelled, slides out, solar and dish set up.  Well, that was a long day on the road .

That left some time for exploring the new location.  A short stroll across the road turned into a bit longer of a hike.

During the afternoon, some ‘movie’ folks showed up, scouting locations for a beer commercial.  They told me that my exact spot was in a key scene in Iron Man.
The sun dipped down behind Whitney rather early, at about 3:40PM, and before long it was dark and the full moon was up.  So I tried a few more night time exposures, that turned out rather well.  These were all taken in the DARK.  You can hardly tell, except that stars are visible, as are lights shining on the ground from the lights that are on in the rig.

That’s Mt Whitney in the background again.In this one, you can even see my ‘moon shadow’!

We’ll be here till we decide to leave!

Hot Springs Break

Coming down some of the long grades on 395 is a good way to save on fuel.  I checked at one point to see how the big diesel was doing.

Turns out, it wasn’t using any fuel at all.  Zero fuel / 100km, or in US terms unlimited mpg!  Of course, all good things come to an end, and on flat ground there was measureable fuel being consumed.  Luckily it was cheaper fuel from our brief foray into Nevada and not the expensive California type.  It was sunny and warm when we pulled in to the hot springs area, even though it is at around 6500’ elevation.  We pulled into the same spot we left in March.

Lots of snow up there in the mountains, and nearby Mammoth is open for skiing.  Lights from snow cats and groomers can be seen at night from our camp.

Speaking of cats;  it wasn’t long before the grey mountain lion was out prowling among the rocks and sage.

Some her furry and feathered friends watched from their rocky lookouts.

Further out, some of the ducks and coots were finding it a bit chilly at night.  The pond they are in is clearly not fed from the hot springs and mostly freezes over every night, only to clear off again in the warmth of the day.

It got down to –20C last night (about –4F), which sounds pretty cool for camping, but other than one morning when the tap dispensed ice cubes, it has been snug and comfortable.  Last thing at night I turn on both the furnace and water heater for about 10 minutes which keeps it somewhat warmer in the enclosed spaces and in the basement.  Bedroom heat is supplied by my Kozyworld heater, which does not use any electricity.

With ample sunlight all day long, the solar system keeps the batteries fully charged so I can watch hockey and the weather reports from home on satellite TV.  And of course it keeps the satellite internet running as well.

Daytime temps have been very nice all things considered around 18C or 65F.  Of course the native Californians show up in parkas and down vests and winter boots because they think it is cold, while I’m happy in a T-shirt.

It looks like the weather is due to turn really cold here this week, so I guess that will be our cue to find some lower locations to hang out.

Quebe Sisters - Southbound Again!

The weather in the north west corner of Oregon had pretty much turned to rain and wind, and more of the same.  Between squalls, we did manage to take a 360 degree photosphere from the top of the Astoria Column.  Check it out here!

The main reason for spending all the time here instead of heading to the warmer weather to the south right away, was to take in a performance of the Quebe Sisters Band in Forest Grove, OR.  You may recall that my first introduction to them live was last spring in Apache Junction when they played at the Mining Camp restaurant.  Since then, I have been watching their itinerary for a chance to see them again.  And since my route and timing going south was pretty close, it was a good chance to see them again and pick up their latest CD!

So, from Astoria we followed the south bank of the Columbia down towards Portland, and then cut off to Forest Grove, which is a small college city just to the west.  We got in a bit of a jam when pulling into the local McDonalds when it became clear that there was no exit, except the drive-thru, which is not really that fifth wheel friendly.  Turns out, it was a very small parking lot as well, and we were now at the far end of it!  Time to get creative.  First thing was to initiate the sliding hitch which I rarely use.  Then, by quickly jackknifing into a vacant parking spot, and a few extra wiggles, we were able to escape, almost unscathed.  I say almost unscathed, because it seemed that the sliding hitch was unwilling to slide back into it’s proper driving position.  But it was getting close to ‘show time’ so with a slightly longer than usual unit, we found a parking spot at the performing arts center on campus.  Since I had purchased a ticket online, and didn’t know the venue, I went to check out the building, and see if I could pick up my ticket.  Well, it was a bit early for that, but much to my surprise and pleasure, I ran into the Quebe sisters themselves after they had just completed their sound check and rehearsal.  We had a nice little chat before I went back outside to fight with my hitch!  It seems that a chunk of 2x6 had jammed under the hitch and was preventing it from returning to the correct position.  After unhitching in the parking lot, and hammering a few pins out to release the hitch, everything got straightened out in time for the show.  Because of the location on campus, I had assumed the crowd would be mostly college kids, but it turned out to be the opposite.

Luck was on my side again, as my seat turned out to be front row, dead center, between season ticket holders who had had the same seats for years!

They put on a great show of course, and I had the best seat in the house!

You can watch some of their performances on their Youtube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/user/QuebeSistersBand

Once that was taken care of, there was no reason to dally any longer – now it was southbound for real.  The weather was a mixed bag with a fair bit of rain, so the next few days were mostly just driving, with few photos taken.

There must have been a ‘homeless’ convention in the region because it was hard not to notice the small groups on many street corners in places like Eureka and Garberville, Ca.  Most appeared to be young folks looking for alternate lifestyle, as opposed to those just down on their luck.

Watched these guys try out some sort of mechanical stilts in a parking lot along the way …

We said ‘so long’ to the coastal 101 route at Ukiah, and began the trek across California.  The next thing on our possible agenda was to visit the hot springs in the Mammoth Lakes area – where we had been in the spring before having to head directly north for ‘work’!  The weather forecasts for the area had me worried and for a while it appeared that it would be much too cold to allow for comfortable camping there, but as we came down the coast, it didn’t look too bad, so what the heck, let’s give it a try.

We zipped over the I-5 at Williams, and continued to Yuba City, then to Auburn.  In hindsight, it may have been a better choice to go through Sacramento…

From Auburn the route that looks flat on the map – is Not.  Highway 49 plunges down into the narrow canyon where it crosses the north fork of the American river, before winding steeply up the far side.  Traffic was very heavy, it was dark by this time, and the switchbacks were all 15-25mph, and all the bmw’s were in some sort of panic to get home.  Note to Al and the Bayfield Bunch, you will not like this route with the Damon! Perhaps the jeep!  Eventually the route took us out to ‘civilization’ again at Placerville, where we got to join another mountain road race on highway 50, heading east up into the mountain high country.  At least this section started out with several lanes for a while.  After climbing to around 4000’, and missing what must have been some great scenery in the dark, we pulled off in a roadside Forest Service campground, which was closed, but open!  Closed, meaning no fees or water, but open for free dry camping.

The next morning we cruised on through South Lake Tahoe, Stateline, and Minden, NV in beautiful sunny warm conditions.  The passes were over 7000 feet and there was certainly lots of snow in the ditches, so it was an easy choice to avoid some more shortcuts through some mountain roads that were winding and shaded, and in fact some of them were already closed for the winter.

Eventually, we pulled in to the hotsprings, and parked in the same exact spot we had vacated in March!

    March                                                    November