One of the reasons I enjoy going to the Alabama Hills area is because it is a movie location playground, but part of what makes it fun are the locations are the same 50-80 years after a movie was filmed there. A lot of the other locations I have been to are completely different than when they were filmed. The principle is that although people change and environments change, rocks pretty much stay the same over time. If we had millions of years to examine these locations, then that would be a different story.
Notice the protruding rock sandwiched just about John Saxon's head and left of Audie Murphy's:
Notice they are on the ground right underneath it. Audie is on his knees. Now, find that same rock in the middle in this next picture. It is in the center, but slightly to the right. Double click if you want a bigger version.
If you spotted it you will notice something strange. The rocks are certainly the same, but John Saxon and Audie Murphy must have been really small to get under that! No. This is an example of the environment changing some. If you watched the video you saw where I panned from the western side to the eastern side. What has happened since this movie was made in 1961 is any water that has run down from the western side past this area to the eastern side brought the sand in. Over time it has piled up. So, it looks like every 15-20 years it has gained 12 inches or so of sand here. If you were to ever stand where they were, your feet would be standing right about where their heads were!
