On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
UncleEbeneezer
We decided this year to try our luck on an Early-Summer camping trip to the Sierra. We usually wait until Late-Summer/Fall to avoid the crowds, heat and mosquitoes so we decided to go just before Memorial Day Weekend and to try someplace new. We had really hoped to camp at Lone Pine Campground, which is on the way up to Whitney Portal, but rain damage to the roads still had that campground closed until further notice, so instead we decided to try our luck at Tuttle Creek Campground.
Our goal with this trip was to finally explore the Sierra near Mt. Whitney/Lone Pine, unfortunately for several reasons that didn’t really end up happening the way we’d hoped. But here you can see Mt. Whitney, tallest mountain in the Lower-48, viewed from downtown Lone Pine.
By the time we arrived in Lone Pine we were starving. So we decided to mosey over to the Mt. Whitney Restaurant for some burgers. Because Lone Pine is right near the Alabama Hills, which Hollywood has made famous as the setting for countless Western and Sci-Fi film, most of the restaurants in Lone Pine go pretty hard on the Cowboy/Old West nostalgia vibe.
This poster is in the bathroom and I have no idea what it means but it sure seems Patriotic!
Tuttle Creek is a campground between the Alabama Hills (sadly named after a Confederate ship) and the foothills of the Sierra. We chose it because it has great views of the mountains and decent access to Whitney Portal. Unfortunately, it’s also very exposed, quite windy and very popular with RV-campers. When we drove around the first loop we saw a great site that we almost grabbed but then we wanted to see if we could find a better one along the creek. By the time we got back someone else had grabbed the first one. We were so pissed. So we grabbed this site, which at least had a small tree to provide a tiny bit of shade.
The ground was so hard that we couldn’t get the stake of our umbrella into it, so we tied it the lantern-holder by the fire pit. It wasn’t Pride month yet but we still had our fancy rainbow umbrella.
View of the Camp host’s site with the Inyo Mountains in the distance.
View of the Sierra.
Our tent was ready for whatever the Sierra could throw at it. Turns out, that would be a lot!
The sun sets and we head to sleep only to wake up a couple hours to some brutal winds. From about midnight to 6 am our tent was being constantly pushed onto us from the 25+ mph winds. It was one of the most miserable nights’ sleep we have ever had camping. I now see why so many YouTube hikers/campers say that of all the weather you can get stuck with, the absolute worst is wind.
Dan B
In a tent wind can be no fun. I’ve got a newer tent that’s a rounded profile and tensioned so it doesn’t suffer from the wind as much. Another “worst” was one trip where the tent was pushing on us from wind… except it was a foot of snow in the night. Wet, heavy, snow. We were concerned we could get buried but it stopped. This was in the North Cascades in July. We were at altitude but WTF!
I’m looking forward to the rest of your trip (adventure).
Dan B
There are pictures of Secret Service vehicles parked at Gov. Walz’ house but nothing but State Patrol, as is typical, at Gov. Shapiro’s. I’m hoping for “Santa” who delivers coal and switches with a gleeful smile – and presents, with an exuberant smile, for good people
P.S. Your tent looks like it should be better than average in wind. What were other tears exoeriencing?
Baud
California is so beautiful.
OzarkHillbilly
The funny thing about that “Eagle Flies Free” poster is that there is not a single flying eagle in it.
Van Buren
@OzarkHillbilly: I noticed famous patriot Robert E. Lee in there, along with famous chickenhawk John Wayne.
vigilhorn
We used to drop our kids off one by one to hold potential campsites until we found the one we liked best.
P Thomas
May is still “winter” at 4000 feet, and passing “weak” cold fronts can make the Owens Valley a wind tunnel. I’ve been to Tuttle Creek several times (I have a small camper) and it is pretty convenient stopping point either to or from the LA area. The wind in the desert is a constant, however. I’ve seen helicoptering EZ-Ups flying away there a couple of times. I’ve camped in the Alabama Hills several times, just a beautiful place.
SiubhanDuinne
@Dan B:
Me too, but it could be a decoy move.
#wantwalzbuthappywithanyoneshechooses
Beautiful, rugged country, Uncle Eb! Thank you for sharing your adventures.
eclare
This sounds like the start of an adventure! Looking forward to the rest of the series.
HinTN
I had wind like that on the far side of the country. Just setting up and staking down my little tent at Cape Hatteras was an adventure. The Alabama Hills look like a great gateway to the Sierra. Thanks for sharing, Uncle E.
martha
We’ve never camped there but I love that part of the eastern Sierras. Great hiking and views. Also, if you’re in that area, go to Manzanar, the WWII internment camp for Japanese US citizens. Desolate and a good (horrible) history lesson.
Spanky
@vigilhorn:
Are they still out there?
Trivia Man
At the red rock campground near Vegas we discovered a pattern. Around sundown, every day, monster wind for about 20 minutes then… not a breeze all night. We estimate a steady 20-30 mph with gusts to 50. The first trip was shocking and chaotic. The second we kind of prepared but quickly reacted. The third trip we planned for it and had no trouble.
BretH
Not a wind story but camping with family when I was 6 or so, back when they had a canvas tent (I can still smell that smell) we woke up one morning to find my sister’s sleeping bag soaking wet. She was next to the side of the tent and there was a huge wet spot there as well. But it hadn’t rained.
When we all got out and looked around we finally spotted the small herd of cows that had wandered through the campsite.
Xavier
There’s a place called Mount Whitney where the mighty Kern River comes down. Well it’s not deep or wide but it’s a mean piece of water my friend. And I may cross on the highway but I’ll never swim Kern River again.
UncleEbeneezer
@Dan B: Wow, wind AND snow! That must have been rough.
UncleEbeneezer
@Dan B: There weren’t many other tent-campers (mostly RV’s) and we didn’t really talk to anyone the next morning about it. We had already decided to try our luck at another campground. This one is known for being crazy windy.
UncleEbeneezer
@Van Buren: John Wayne is EVERYWHERE in Lone Pine. And Clint Eastwood. It’s annoying.
UncleEbeneezer
@martha: We did Manzanar in 2019 and hard agree, it’s a place every American should visit. Really well done presentation and sobering history lesson. I knew much of it already, but seeing all the pictures and property of the internees really brings that shameful story home. That said, it also makes you appreciate the strength and determination of the Japanese-American community.
UncleEbeneezer
@OzarkHillbilly: The eagle must be beyond 6 weeks pregnant, so it’s not allowed to go anywhere.
Dan B
@UncleEbeneezer: We first woke up that snowy morning to the sound of muffled beating. Our friends had a cheap A frame tent and they were beating on the inside of the tent which was trying to suffocate them. We lost lots of cooking equipment which we’d left out in the perfectly clear evening. Mountain weather changes, as you know…
StringOnAStick
Camping in the windy Colorado Front Range taught us to always, always bring ear plugs. Sometimes the gusty winds at our home made them necessary there too! Heavy snoring in the adjacent hotel room in several places has confirmed the wisdom of always having a comfortable set along for any travel.
JaneE
It does seem that the more tent campers we have the worse the weather turns. Sorry about that.
The movie industry has loved the Alabama Hills for decades. And the film museum does movies – not always old westerns – which saves a 60 mile drive to Bishop for the nearest real theater.
UncleEbeneezer
@StringOnAStick: Oh we had ear plugs (always bring with us when traveling), but the wall of the tent was practically smothering me every 5 minutes. It was miserable.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
@Baud:
Now let me welcome everybody to the Wild Wild West
A state that’s untouchable like Eliot Ness
The track hits your eardrum like a slug to your chest
Pack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sex
We in that Sunshine State where the bomb-ass hemp be
The state where you never find a dance floor empty
Tehanu
A friend used to have a cabin at Whitney Portal and we would go up and stay for a few days every so often, back in the 1970s. And we would always have dinner at Margie’s Merry-Go-Round, a restaurant in Lone Pine that specialized in steaks and martinis and salads with incredible blue cheese dressing — it had been THE hangout for all the Hollywood people up there making Westerns, in the ’30s through the ’50s. It’s still there, but it’s a Chinese restaurant now.
waspuppet
Lone Pine was the site of (at the time) the strongest annual international chess tournament in American history. It ran for 10 years (1971-1981) and was notable for giving talented young players the opportunity to play some of the world’s best—always a critical aspect of development and much more difficult then. Is there any recognition of this in the town?
vigilhorn
@Spanky: They always found us.