Camping Alabama Hills

For some time now, the ranges and rock formations of Alabama Hills have been on my radar and weeks ago, I finally made some time in my schedule for a quick overnight with friend Breanne and photographer Brandon for some exploring, hiking and camping under the stars and moonlight of the Eastern Sierras. Alabama Hills is a a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in Lone Pine, CA. If it sounds or looks familiar its because it has played host to several iconic movies such as Tremors, Tombstone and many other westerns.

Perhaps the best part of this area is that it is BLM land, which means the land belong to US, to you. And that means, dispersed camping. No reservations needed when pitching a tent here. We came during the week and explored the entire area and only came across about six other campgrounds. Everyone sort of keeps to themselves, holed up against their own cluster of rocks. We got to set up camp in a great spot, away from the main road and close to the Mobius Arch Trail.

After some bouldering, yoga flow and hiking around this new place, we retreated to camp and set up our tents. The sun falls fast here behind the range, so keep that in mind when visiting. We were in full darkness at 5PM. We hung up a string of lanterns from Bio Lite to keep our camp lit as we started to cook dinner on the Bio Lite Camp Stove and Grill. We used two Powerlights and one set of Sitelights which literally string power to one another. We have previously talked about how handy the Powerlight is, its a flashlight, lantern and phone charger in one and it powers the Sitelights when attached to one another on its own 10 foot cord.

Next we got our BioLite Camp Stove fired up (literally) and with the grill attachment started cooking up bacon wrapped jalapeños as we watched the sun dip down behind Mt Whitney. We also used the Kettlepot and finished our camping meal off with none other than Ramen noodles. I have to say, nothing tastes better than ramen after a day of kicking around in the dirt, especially here as nightfall brought some cooler temperatures.

We cleaned up our camp early that night and went for a night stroll around our camp before getting into our tents. The next morning we woke up at first light and the views around us were absolutely stunning. The morning glow here in Alabama Hills is perhaps the best I have ever seen. Before packing up for the day, we trekked down a few more trails, caught sunrise and visited Face Rock before leaving.

I have to say, after many trips to Joshua Tree, Alabama Hills has stole my heart and I expect many more and often trips here.

For more information on there area, visit: https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/Education_in_BLM/Learning_Landscapes/For_Travelers/go/adventures/alabama_hills.html