In less than 30 minutes, you can drive from the town of Lone Pine, California westward and be transported from a world of high desert to a realm of alpine mountains.
On the outskirts of town, you pass Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. The formations of rounded rocks and eroded hills have been the setting for hundreds of movies since around 1920.
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| One of the Alabama Hills |
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| Rounded Rocks |
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| Rocks Smoothed by Weather & Erosion |
As you continue on Whitney Portal Road, the Sierra Nevadas rise seemingly straight up from the floor of the Owens Valley.
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| I Stayed the Night Below this Section of the Sierra Nevadas |
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| Section of Steeper Slopes |
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| Far End Begins to Taper Off |
Just before you begin to the steep climb, you're able to see into the corridor that leads between granite walls and formations. You also get a glimpse of the tip of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States.
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| Mount Whitney |
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| Whitney Portal Opens Up |
Unfortunately, from a photography standpoint, there are really no places to stop on the drive into the mountains. At the end of the road is the trailhead for the trail to climb Mount Whitney.
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