Our third trip to the Alabama Hills was a bit of consolation prize. We had planned to spend three weeks shooting several badland areas in New Mexico, but Carol started having back problems shortly after we got back from our last trip. For our normal trips, it probably wouldn't have been a problem, but the New Mexico trip was all hiking every day. Nearly every day included 4 miles wandering around in these wilderness badlands, and there weren't really any alternative activities. We would be in the middle of nowhere. I was looking forward to shooting the lunar eclipse over "the wings" in the Bisti Wilderness, but that wasn't happening. A third trip to shoot the eclipse over Lone Pine Peak would have to do.
Because it was only going to be a three-day trip, we drove the Explorer and stayed in the Best Western again. The Spring Break tourists packed every motel in town.
I carefully planned every detail of the lunar eclipse to be sure I was in the exact right spot at 5:00 a.m., so the maximum eclipse would be right over Lone Pine Peak. Thanks to the Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) and Google Earth, that was relatively easy. I checked each potential location on Thursday afternoon after we arrived and chose the final spot where I could shoot near the Explorer and still be away from any potential traffic or light sources.
On Friday, we drove up to Copper Top BBQ in Big Pine for our BBQ rib fix. The ribs were so good, we bought extras to warm up for dinner in our room the next night. They've made a few subtle improvements over the past couple of months, but it's still about the great food. Copper Top BBQ is certainly not a secret anymore.
Friday afternoon, we drove up into the Alabama Hills and hiked around the area north of Mobius Arch. This is an interesting area and included four arches we could search for. We tested the PDFs of Google Earth screenshots I had created and managed to find three of the four arches. The final arch, Sharkstooth Arch, was the best. The setting sun shone through the small arch and cast a perfect shadow on the boulders behind it.
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| Sharkstooth Arch | Jumbled Rocks | Mobius Arch (Alternate View) |
By the time we got
back to the Explorer, it was only about 30 minutes before moonrise, so we sat in the Explorer and waited for the moon
to pop up over the White Mountains. I wanted to align the moon and Sharks Tooth Arch to shoot the moon through the arch, but there was
no way to make that happen. I had to settle for shooting it through the surrounding rock formations. Eleven hours later,
the moon would nearly disappear in the midst of the eclipse.
I got up at 2:15 and drove up to the construction site off Whitney Portal Road that would provide the perfect view. Carol had no interest in standing out in the cold to watch the eclipse. And it was cold. The wind cut right through me, even with my layers. I needed my down parka.
The eclipse was pretty magical,
even from the beginning. The only sound was the wind blowing, and I had the entire area to myself.
It certainly seemed much darker than I anticipated. The changes in the moon were very subtle at first, but it didn't take long before
a sizeable slice of the moon was missing. Soon, there was enough of the moon dark that I had to change my exposure to provide enough light
for the "blood moon" to appear while not blowing out the tiny bit that was still illuminated. And then, in about a twenty minute span,
it suddenly got VERY dark as the eclipse reached its maximum. The skies were suddenly filled with stars, and the Milky Way grew
out of the darkness right over my head. Everything seemed to go dead silent. It was like everything held its breath
to see what would happen next. It was amazing......but it shouldn't have been so dark during the maximum according
to my calculations. And then I realized my mistake. I had checked the lighting from the previous
trip at 5:00 a.m., before Daylight Savings Time. Now, everything was an hour darker, and not an hour lighter. I had made a gigantic error.
The moon would drop behind the Sierras before the eclipse finished (expected) and before the Sierras were lighted by any part of sunrise
(not expected). The whole idea of the trip was to shoot the eclipse over Lone Pine Peak and have Lone Pine Peak lit at least partially by predawn light.
I still got good shots of the eclipse, but I could have gotten these shots from Borrego with a lot less driving.
By 6:00, I was warm and snug back in bed. The rest of the day was spent in the motel room. Carol caught a cold on Friday's hike and wasn't feeling well. I was content to watch the Final 4 on television. Staying in was much more tolerable after Duke won and Kentucky lost. It looks like the Duke freshmen have a good chance of winning the National Championship. I'd love to see Krzyzewski get a fifth title.
We tried three different local restaurants this trip with mixed results. The Bonanza Restaurant was pretty good for Mexican food, and the Mount Whitney Restaurant was pretty good for burgers, but The Grill was just plain bad. The reviews for The Grill were generally good, so maybe we just hit a bad night. I think we got spoiled with our camping food from our last trip.
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