Lone Pine, California – I Could Live Here!
How often do you find a town on your travels that you can say that about? For us, Lone Pine is definitely one of them.
I’m writing this on what may or may not be our last day camped in the Alabama Hills just west of Lone Pine.
Tonight will be night seven but we’re not sure we’re ready to leave. This is BLM land where boondockers are welcome to stay up to 14 days. I don’t think we’ll stay that long. Of course, it all depends on whims and weather.
We fell in love with the area 17 years ago, not only for the near-perfect climate, amazing scenic free camping, abundant hiking and fun rocks to climb, but we also like the feel of the town. Lone Pine, the small town less than 5 miles from our campsite, has a laid back feeling, friendly people, and all the necessities without big box stores. The nearest (only slightly larger) towns are an hour away: Bishop to the north and Ridgecrest to the south.
Aside from admiring the view, what’s there to do?
We’ve had the perfect combination of lazy and busy. Daily walks let us explore the many trails and roads through the area.
A real hike – one that’s been on our bucket list. We hiked the first 2 miles of a 4-mile (all uphill) trail from Lone Pine Campground toward Whitney Portal.
We spent an afternoon in town, shopping, browsing, and even treated ourselves to a rare and most excellent fine-dining evening. Seasons Restaurant was recommended by a local woman we met; she did not steer us wrong!
Friends along the way
We’ve had quite a few other experiences since my last post, too. Such as, sharing a bag of carrots with new friends (at the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Facility outside Ridgecrest).
But we have them to thank for getting Amnesia 🙂 At their suggestion, we visited a local brewery to taste several varieties.
But now – back to Lone Pine and the notion of moving here
As Canadians, we know living here is just a fantasy. I guess we’ll decide in the morning whether to move up the highway or stay on just a bit longer; there are few piles of rocks we haven’t explored here yet.
The full moon will rise over Lone Pine tonight; we knew we had to be here for that! If I get a good photo, I’ll share it next time.
Right now, I need to get this posted; the view and the last bottle of Amnesia are calling!
Days on the road at time of posting: 61
Total camping costs to date: $57
We are just back down the road from you at Tuttle Creek. We will be exploring the town and the arches at Alabama Hills. It is really beautiful here and the moon was beautiful last night. We came as we follow Interstellar Orchard and she had great posts last year. Safe travels ahead.
So you know how beautiful it is here then! We will probably come by Tuttle Creek cg on our way out (to dump our tanks) – likely be Friday (unless we decide to stay another weekend). That’s a sweet little gem of a $5 campground too, isn’t it?
I had an Angelino friend decide to move there when she wanted to downsize. She found it a very difficult town to “break into”. Everyone is either a life long resident or a foreign tourist just visiting for a day. And the locals just thought she was a visitor. She only lasted a year before headed back to LA. So I know you weren’t serious abut settling down, I just wanted to point out one personal experience regarding Lone Pine. It is a special place, though.
I suppose those kinds of stories are all too common everywhere – small town stuff, I guess. And I’m sure worse in some towns than others. Thanks for sharing.
Love, love, ❤️ Lone Pine! 😎
Where is lone pine? State?
Southern California, east side of the Sierras, on scenic Hwy 395.