Alabama Hills and Awesomeness of Instagram

Being stuck in a tiny town of Lone Pine after my car broke down going through Death Valley, I was anxious to do something. Anything. Sure, it was nice to rest for a couple of days, but doing nothing got old pretty quick. So, after visiting Lone Pine film museum, one morning I decided to get adventurous and head over to Alabama Hills for some hiking and to see if I can find some of the spots where famous cowboy westerns were shot.

After all, the Hills were only three miles away from Lone Pine, so I figured I would be a nice two hour hike to get there, roam around, and come back.

That all sounded good until I started making my way out of the town. Even though it was around 10am, the heat was already getting intense and I was beginning to question whether I was bringing enough water with me for the hike. Maybe I should catch a ride to the hills and save myself the six miles of walking there and back?

As I was pondering that, I was out of the town, but nowhere close to the hills and realized that even if I could get a ride, it would probably be unwise to wonder around Alabama Hills on my own in this heat, no matter how enticing as the scenery looked.

So I made a wise decision to turn around and head back.

Still, I thought maybe I could get farther earlier in the morning. Besides, I felt sick of sitting on my ass all day and figured some jogging would be in order.

Once again, I didn't make it far - only to the bottom of the Hills.

Crushed twice, I thought of another idea. Maybe there are some couchsurfers that I could get in touch with and hang out, if not surf with to save myself some money while my car was in the shop.

Unfortunately, that didn't get me anywhere as the only two couchsurfing profiles in Lone Pine were inactive.

So I was back to my sit-and-wait routine. While I had time on my hands, I figured I might as well try to wrap my head around Instagram at last. Sure I have joined a long time ago and have been posting more regularly recently (are you following me?), but it was time to kick it up a notch. And that led to another idea - let's see who else have been posting images in Lone Pine.

These guys were locals and seemed to manage to have some fun around here so I left a quick comment on that photo to see if they would be willing to let my pour soul tag along with them.

They were up for it and for another evening I was rescued from my routine as they picked me up on the way to go bouldering in Alabama Hills.

Even though the lack of climbing shoes would not let me partake in that fun, I was still glad to be out of my hostel and in the middle of Alabama Hills.

At last! All thanks to Instagram.

Once my car was finally ready, I went back to Alabama Hills to test it out before embarking on a 300 mile drive to Las Vegas.

And to see the most photographed feature of the Hills - the Mobius Arch, which was just a quick hike away from a small parking lot (which by itself was not the easiest place to find ).

Alabama Hills turned out to be quite an interesting place and is definitely worth a quick detour if you find yourself traveling through that area on the way up to Bishop, Mammoth or Mono Lake. I am glad I was able to check them out while making a couple new friends, courtesy of Instagram.

(seriously, are you following me yet?)