Mount Whitney to Lone Pine, Eastern Sierra, California

[NICENAD]

A  very scenic road but probably best avoiding traveling it at night.

[choofish]

I have been going to Lone Pine off and on since I was about 4 years old in 1954, our neighbors had a lease on one of the cabins at The Portals and we would stay up there. I have stayed at the Dow and it's a good motel, I have never stayed at any of the others, I would rather stay at the Motel 6 in Mojave before I'd stay anywhere in Lone Pine but the Dow.

[Sudomania]

Yeah, you should see the view, its a really beautiful landscape

[aelmo713]

If this was in Arizona the flat valley would be referred to as desert. But since it's in CA it's beautiful.

[fordroad]

Hi guys just saying a great posting, the view coming down the mountain in the opposite direction shown in High Sierra (41) & Long LONG Trailer(53). Well done parnter.

FORDROAD AUSTRALIA

[bapyou]

I don't think that I could drive on that road. The drop off the side of the road is too steep --- and no guardrail. It looks like the roadside at the end of the world. Yikes! Guess I'll never hike Mount Whitney because I couldn't go up that road. I'd freak out and panic.

[choofish]

@bapyou It's not as bad as you think when you are driving up there.



[trotchye]

Hi there, what is the closest lodging or campground to Mount Whitney? and how close can we get to by car?

Thanks for the video, btw.

[TJDOZIER1]

The nearest lodging is in Lone Pine down in the valley. I recommend the Dow Villa, it is the landmark hotel in Lone Pine, and you just may stay in a room that John Wayne or Gene Autry or any one of dozens of movie stars may have stayed in. There is a campground at the portals and another at the base of the mountain called Lone Pine campground, plus another just west of Lone Pine. At The portal campground you need reservations, and the bears have the rights in the area.

[bapyou]

Also, with respect to lodging at Lone Pine, the Dow Villa is the only place that keeps its prices steady. All of the other Indian-owned motels in town change their prices to whatever they feel like whenever they feel like it. It's totally random and you are at their whim if the twon is booked up. (The 2005 wildflower season was = the worst.) They'll rip you off if they can. The Dow Villa has never changed its prices no matter how many people were crawling through town on a given day.

[TJDOZIER1]

The local Piutes dont have a casino so...

But that is business as usual in most small towns with limited opportunities and a tourism driven economy. We get screwed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power everyday of the year, so a few extras dollars at the local hotels and retail business' really helps the local community. Either way, we certainly appreciate all of you who come to visit our beautiful little town. Bring money!

[bapyou]

Well now, Mr. Dozier, I wasn't writing of Native American Indians; I was speaking of Indians of South Asian extraction. Perhaps you're friends with some of these people? I have nothing against anyone's ethnicity. However, when someone makes a promise - as one of these motel owners did back in 2005 - and then breaks that promise, personally, I won't do business with that person ever again. And I haven't done business with any of these people again. And I won't. Please pass this on if you care to.

[TJDOZIER1]

I get who you are talking about now. And I agree with you on that one. So we still agree the Dow Villa is the ticket in Lone Pine. We have been in Lone Pine for about 100 years. I dont remember ever staying in a hotel in Lone Pine, but I have heard that some of them are pretty outragous on the charges. And I have no idea why so many "Indians" and others from that part of the world have migrated to the Owens valley. Maybe they all saw the movie "Rifles of Kyber Pass" or "Gunga Din" and liked it.

[bapyou]

Hello sir. With respect to the Indian motel owners in Lone Pine, personally I have no problem with anyone's ethnicity. I myself am the grandson of immigrants who came to the U.S. about 100 years ago. The Indian folks there in Lone Pine can do whatever they like with their businesses. But I will not be back to stay in any one of their motels. It's not a racial thing or an ethnic issue. It's a business issue. More than one of those Indian motel owners had a "roller coaster" pricing schedule.

[TJDOZIER1]

I wasnt thinking it was a racial issue, but an economic one. I believe in the content of character as a measure of a person. But it does not bode well for the community when some or a few gouge people when they come to our community.

[bapyou]

Mr. Dozier, since you're a lifetime Lone Pine resident, perhaps you could mention my story about the motel pricing to a local COC member?

Thank you.

I appreciate the exchange we've had. Lone Pine is a beautiful place. You're a lucky man to have grown up there. Best.

[TJDOZIER1]

I dont currently live there, but many of my cousins do and I am the President of the Olivas Ranch Corporation there, so I will certainly mention it around town for you.

I was just there last week and hopefully next time I might see you there, so come on back and stay at the Dow Villa. We'll leave a light on for you.

[bapyou]

In winter 2005, one of the Indian owner/operators in Lone Pine promised a room to me at set price on a day I'd be returning to to do some research out on the south end of Owens Lake. When I arrived the owner told me that the room I had reserved had been rented to someone else and he oferred me another room at twice the price. That is flat out bad business. And, again, I will never stay at any of those places again. In contrast, I appreciate the forthright way that the Dow Villa operates.

[TJDOZIER1]

Perhaps a letter to the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce would at least bring that type of predatory business practice to thier attention. As a side comment, when my grandmother was a little girl, they used to hitch up the wagon on the Ranch,(we own the Olivas Ranch west of Lone Pine) and drive to Owens lake, where they would cut out a chunk of lake bed...and that was what they used for soap. What kind of research do you do at Owens Lake?

[bapyou]

Don't know about sending a letter to the Lone Pine COC. I've never had any response from any COC when I've bothered to write to one. What could they do?

Thanks for the story about your family and the "soap" that they used to gather at the lake. This was after the aqueduct was built I assume.

The research I did at OL concerned the ancient shorelines that are found along some parts of the lake. OL was much larger during the last ice age, and shorelines formed at higher elevations.

[TJDOZIER1]

My great-grandfather came to Lone Pine in 1889from Mexico, and my grandmother was born on the ranch in about 1909. I was aware of the larger shore line dating from the ice age as my grandfather was a study of geologic history

[lucyspoon]

went up here for out breakfast in September 2006 - the view was so stunning it made me cry - absolutely beautiful!

[TJDOZIER1]

My grandfather helped build the Portal road, they used shovels, picks and horse drawn wagons to get it done.