Blogs from Lone Pine, California, United States, North America

Nate, Bekki, and Camilo hiked out early taking the 2 youngest boys. They left Dale, Zaya and I to pack up as we wanted and hike out at our own pace. But, before they left, Jasper found Camilo’s stash of pop-tarts. He had quite a smile on his face when he was caught eating them up. We were really tired of freeze-dried food and didn’t feel like cooking up a big breakfast, so we ate some snacks and started packing up. We took the time to enjoy our last moments of solitude. The hike out was, at least at first, a nice stroll. We didn’t hurry along until clouds started gathering on the north and western horizons. Then the winds picked up. We have backpacked enough to know when to pick up the pace and we ... read more

We had not camped near water, so we needed to reach our final destination sooner than later. Justin and his boys went to hike up a mountain while Dale and I hiked on to water. Justin left directions that we would take a left at the junction, staying on the Pacific Crest Trail and should stop at either Mulshy Meadow, or a mile or 2 further, Dutch Meadow. Both meadows would be by the trail with no signage. Nate, Bekki, kids and family friend Camilo, were to arrive in the afternoon and hike until they found us. Nate had most of our food, so we were hoping that they would actually make it. Dale and I hiked and hiked. Finally, after several hours we sat down on a log. The trail extended out beyond us and ... read more

Where in the heck is Lone Pine, CA? In the Owens Valley, near the Alabama Hills, not far from the Manzanar War Relocation Center (just north of Lone Pine). Can you imagine living here for almost four years? This area is called, for lack of a better term, "the "frontier"!!! In 1872, an earthquake almost destroyed the town, and killed 27 residents. Coming from Los Angeles and other communities in California and Washington, Manzanar’s internees were unaccustomed to the harsh desert environment. Summer temperatures soared as high as 110ºF. In winter, temperatures frequently plunged below freezing. The elevation is 4000 feet above sea level. Throughout the year strong winds swept through the valley, often blanketing the camp with dust and sand. Internees covered knotholes in the floors with tin can lids and scrap paper, but dust ... read more

America is a huge country with so many amazing sites to see so while we were here in California it made sense to go and see as many as we could. We hired a car set off immediately after the public holiday, Memorial day, on a six day trip.Hopefully most of the crowds would have gone home! We had intended to travel north up the along the coast road, Highway One as far as Monterey then over to Yosemite Valley, a place I had been wanting to see for years before driving back South inland. However on the morning we were due to set off the infamous Californian sea fog had moved in along the coast meaning there would be no views. Instead, we made the instant decision to turn the trip around and travel North ... read more

Thursday, 6 February, 2014 We left Furnace Creek and drove to Stovepipe Wells, where we stopped for gas at $4.459/gallon. Outrageous, but it was 60 cents a gallon cheaper than in Furnace Creek. But if you saw those steep, winding mountain roads the tankers have to traverse to deliver gas to the park, you might understand the high prices. It was more overcast today than any other day of our trip. As, we headed west we saw more and more clouds. The haze and dreary skies washed the color and distance out of the vistas, making photography almost a waste of time. Kerry had forgotten how steep and winding the road is on the west end of the valley, and he didn’t like it one bit. Once we left the park and started down the west ... read more