On our second day in the Eastern Sierra, we drove to visit Onion Valley, then headed to Lone Pine where we visited the Museum of Western Film History, tried a bit of trout fishing in the nearby Owens River and Buckley Ponds, drove north to a motel in Independence to avoid camping in the rain, and took in a movie at the Bishop Theatre.
We woke up late that morning in camp. We had a zillion possible things to visit in Owens Valley, and no set timetable to see them. That’s life when you’re retired. No time issues, but too many choices on what to do with it. We decided to start with breakfast, and even then had to make decisions. We went with a freeze-dried meal of Biscuits and Gravy, one of Vicki’s favorites. I packed up the car and sleeping gear while she got it ready, then we sat in the morning sunlight at our trusty picnic table in the Upper Grays Campground. Afterward, we went for a little walk around the camp, and discovered a footbridge over Independence Creek.
We knew that this creek tumbled down from high on the Eastern Sierra. That’s when we decided to drive up the hill to visit Onion Valley, a spot we love. We’ve hiked and backpacked out of there many, many times. A perennial favorite.
There was minimal traffic as we climbed up the hill, mid-week in late September, and we drove as slowly as we wanted to. We stopped for views on the steep, winding road whenever they were available, and if someone came up behind us, we pulled over and let them by. There were pretty clouds and beautiful views the entire way. One of those views was of a mountain that Vicki and I call Golden Eagle Peak. That isn’t its real name, as it only has a number (Peak 11995), but it really should be given this name. From the right spot, you can see that there are layers of golden-colored granite within the dominant gray granite, and their shape looks to our eyes like a big bird of prey catching a fish in its talons. Since the trail to the Golden Trout Lakes goes right past this mountain, it seems evident that the fish in question is a Golden Trout (the State Fish of California, the Golden State). It only takes a small leap of faith to realize that the bird itself must surely be a Golden Eagle, the largest and most majestic of eagles. And there you have it. Now all we need to do is get the USGS to change its name officially. Vicki and I even caught a Golden Trout up there back in 2022, and we swore we saw a huge Golden Eagle soaring high above us as we hiked back down to Onion Valley. Good times.
This time, Vicki wasn’t quite acclimated to 9300 feet elevation, so we didn’t hike uphill on the trails, but simply wandered around the trailhead parking lot and campground. Independence Creek was flowing quite well for late September, although several of the local waterfalls were less exciting than they typically were in the Spring. But we knew what they really looked like. I told Vicki about how I got my food resupply here this past July while hiking the entire 500 mile PCT Sierra Section, and pointed out the big bear box I used. We also reminisced about other fun trips we’d shared over the years.
We decided that we were going to visit the Western Film Museum today, and it wasn’t open yet. So we hung around up in Onion Valley a bit longer. Then it was time to move on. We took in the excellent views of Owens Valley from Onion Valley Road, then headed south for twenty miles or so on US 395, the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway. It was certainly scenic! We arrived at the museum in Lone Pine in less than an hour.
The town of Lone Pine is currently famous for being the gateway to hiking Mount Whitney, but that wasn’t always its primary focus. Almost one hundred years ago, the rise of motion pictures and Hollywood transformed it from a sleepy town in a hot valley into its new identity as the center of the Western Film industry. It was only a few hours away from Hollywood by car, and the scenery (with Mount Whitney and the Eastern Sierra as a backdrop) was spectacular. The historic Dow Villa Hotel still has signed photos from many of the movie stars who stayed there while filming. It is interesting that most of the people in the world who think of the Wild West currently visualize Mount Whitney and the Sierra Nevada as part of their vision.
In all these years of camping in those mountains, Vicki and I drove past The Museum of Western Film History countless times, and never stopped in for a visit. Oh, we wanted to, of course, and really meant to, but it was always too hot down there in the Summer, or we were too busy going elsewhere, to actually do it. This time the weather was fine, in the seventies, and it was our big chance. And it was well worth the price of admission. There were lots of exhibits, and tons of things to see.
Of course, Westerns weren’t the only movies to be filmed there. Anything that required vast spaces and beautiful scenery would be perfect. Gunga Din was one of the big blockbusters filmed nearby, with huge battles on horseback. The recent movie Tremors was filmed out there, as was Iron Man. Still, the heyday of Lone Pine was during the era of Western movies.
Most of the memorabilia in the museum was related to Western films and the Wild West. It was fun to wander around, reading about all the big stars of bygone days. Even in the 1960’s, when I was a child, boys were still playing Cowboys and Indians. All due in part to Hollywood and the movies shot right there in Lone Pine.
The museum was fun, but we couldn’t stay there forever. We got hungry for lunch, for one thing. So we went to a local joint for some pizza. While eating, we checked our list of Places To See and came up with a plan. When we left home, the forecast called for rain this evening, so we already had a reservation to stay in a motel in Bishop. Or we thought it was in Bishop, but Google misdirected (i.e. lied to) us and I inadvertently made a reservation for a motel in Independence, which was 45 miles away from where I searched! But we weren’t about to change it, so we changed our itinerary instead. This meant even more driving, but that was life. Meanwhile, maybe we could get in more fishing along the Owens River, which was supposed to have huge trout. Vicki liked this plan. All I had to do now was catch one! So we headed east out of Lone Pine to the river.
Naturally, I didn’t catch a trout. I blame my gear, the weather, and the water flow. Anything but me!
By then it was check-in time at the motel. We drove to Independence and brought some of our bags inside. We put some food in the mini-fridge, too, for later on. It was an OK place, small but clean, and it would suit us just fine.
We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon travelling generally north, toward Bishop. The valley was very pretty with all the storm clouds beginning to form over the Sierra to the west.
We stopped at the Owens River yet again, near the town of Big Pine. Once again, I got shut out. But this time I blamed the wind, which was really howling out of the southwest. Yes, there was a storm coming. Maybe the fish realized it, too. Also on our list of things to see were the Buckley Ponds. We drove down a long dirt road to visit them. They looked like a fun place to go kayaking, but I wasn’t too sure about trout fishing. I didn’t see any rising, but I tried anyway. And got shut out. Of course. It seemed that I was doomed to buy Vicki her dinner tonight, not catch it.
We arrived in Bishop a short time later, and Vicki picked a place to eat. Now, Bishop is the largest town on the east side of the Sierra. It boasts some big-box stores and even has a hospital. The movie theater was over one hundred years old! We had a feeling that plenty of those cheap Western Films used to play there back in the good old days. Tonight, however, we didn’t have a big choice of films. There was a biopic of Ronald Reagan, and the sequel to the movie Beetlejuice. We didn’t really like either choice. We went with Beetlejuice because the timing made more sense. Now, I’m not an expert on films, being a literary fiction lover, so all I can say about the movie was that it probably would have helped if I saw its predecessor first, before viewing this current version. Or simply stayed at our motel and read some fiction.
It was late by the time the movie let out, so we drove down US 395 in the dark of night. Nothing scary happened, nor anything supernatural. Our arrival at the motel was a relief after the long drive. We’re older now, so we usually fall asleep around sunset, and this was a late night for us. We didn’t even bother making any plans for tomorrow, although we knew we’d be heading back to Bishop one way or another. For that was where we intended to spend the night. But all was well other than that, and we headed off to sleep in a soft bed for a change. Much better than on air mattresses in the back of the car. There is something to be said for civilized vacationing, it seems.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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