(GPS: N37 08.140 W118 27.940)
Nightmare #2 (concluded)
Nightmare #2 (concluded)
I thought this would be a good time to show the video I did for this one. I think this one really captures the atmosphere that I mentioned at the beginning of the month. Was that him looking up at me in the stream in front of his place? No, that had to be a tree reflection...I hope.
As I moved around the cabin I took this picture of the side. There are two doors to this place. Lots of windows and areas are boarded up all around it. I do not know about you, but it would freak me out a bit if someone I did not expect came to the door and started knocking way out in the wilderness like this. Especially at night. It is common for people to travel by these days, but during the time this place was built it must have been much more rare for people passing by.
This may not look that impressive compared to earlier in the season when there would be a lot more water. This is the North Fork of Big Pine Creek that comes down from the lakes down to Glacier Lodge. I can imagine Lon Chaney, family, and friends coming out to see this every morning. 
In an odd way this cabin was a movie location. Well, not really in the way I usually do things, but a replica of the cabin was used in the bio picture Man of a Thousand Faces starring James Cagney as Lon Chaney. From what I can tell the picture below shows the movie cabin with a view you would get looking west from Bishop, CA. which really isn't too far from Big Pine and where I was at. I assume the background was added in to the minature or replica. 
This shows James Cagney outside of the cabin replica they used. Notice they are fishing right out in front. That probably did not happen just like this in that he probably hiked to the nearby lakes. 
Notice how they did a pretty good job here recreating the cabin. You can even see the square spaces they have to what I assume was a small cellar or storage area. That is what I thought when I looked in them at the real cabin. 
One thing they do in the movie is show Cagney drive right next to the cabin. Okay, that would never have happened, but overall it is fun to see what they did with this place in the movie. 
So, that wraps this one up. My dad always used to tell a story about Lon Chaney Jr. sitting in front of him at a L.A. Rams football game at the coliseum. Not much to it other than saying that it happened. In any case, my next blog will not be about Lon Chaney Jr., but it will have a werewolf. Until then...The Lon Chaney Cabin (Youtube Version)
The Lon Chaney Cabin (Vimeo Version)
An old L.A. Times Article about this place.
