OWENS VALLEY & SIERRA NEVADA (Waking Up in the Alabama Hills)

[@thehapagirl92]

Nothing like a beautiful sunrise 🌄.

[@Dpetree92]

the 395 in the Owens Valley might be my favorite stretch of driving in all of CA! Hope you’re enjoying your journey out here!

[@Daniel-xc3sv]

Perfection in California!

[@konazhang1025]

morning view is wonderful ❤

[@surfdetective]

Nice sunrise with a moment of silence

[@bhg123ful]

Glorious footage! I love 395, and Alabama Hills/Whitney Portal in particular. Glad you eventually found an unoccupied spot. Such spectacular scenery, gateway to the highest point in the lower 48, only 3-5 hours from LA the Alabama Hills can get a little busy on weekends. I've gotten used to booking campsites in advance just to be on the safe side, though I find that other than National Park sites, its usually not necessary, but I just don't want to get caught with nowhere to camp. As far as city of Los Angeles property, that is Department of Water and Power (DWP) and yes, they own much of the land along the Owens River. As one sporting/outdoor gear goods shop owner in Bishop once explained it (paraphrasing): "They're a double edge sword: Yes, they divert a lot of water in the LA aqueduct, but the fact that they own much of the land along the river, and need it, means its not be sold and parceled off to summer cabin/cottage developers, and its publicly accessible, so you get fly fishers who visit Owens River, even if its much smaller than before LA started diverting it 100 years ago).

[@michaeldeal1625]

So did you look inside that hole that looked like a mine shaft? And what does "10,079 feet of prominence" mean? In particular how is it measured so precisely? BTW, very nice video.

[@roamingbenji]

I hope you know that I'm kicking myself because, no, I did not explore the mine shaft! Not sure what I was thinking. If I'm ever back, I will be sure to check it out. I think a mountain's prominence refers to how high the peak is relative to the valley floor. In terms of how tall a mountain looks, it matters more than elevation above sea level. For example, a lot of the peaks in Colorado are very high above sea level (14,000+ feet), but they don't have much prominence. On the other hand, the Sierra Nevada have lots of prominence and thus look very tall. The Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges of southern California also have lots of prominence and look very tall, even if they don't achieve elevations of 14,000 feet or more.

[@michaeldeal1625]

@@roamingbenji Thanks for the explanations!