"Come on, now. It's gonna be a nice day" (The Alabama Hills Series)

(GPS: N36 36.608 W118 07.695)

I have actually talked about this area before. I call it the "The Tall T" area since most of the movie was filmed at this point. Refer to my other previous entries about this:

The Tall T (Part 1)

The Tall T (Part 2)

I like the ending of this movie because after the bad guys are defeated Randolph Scott "comforts" Maureen O'Sullivan with the following words:

And, yes, he is very dry and wooden in saying it. So, It comes across a little too sarcastically. In the picture below the exact location would be in the lower middle of the road. I parked to the left of there. You can see Lone Pine peak in the background in both pictures. Mt. Whitney is further to the right in my picture.
Of course, whenever I am in the Alabama Hills area it is always a nice day no matter what the weather is like!

The Tall T (Youtube Video)

The music in the video is taken from Song of the Volga Boatmen at Incompetech.com

Civil War Reenactment (Labor Day Weekend, 2006)

Yeah, But You Don't Have to Lose!

During last years Labor Day, I went to the Huntington Beach Library in California for their Civil War Days. I decided to go to the opening battle reenactment and check it out. I was telling everyone that this year the Confederacy would win! This is sort of a running joke I have since watching an episode of Southpark where Cartman tries to get the southern side motivated to actually win the war. Knowing the true history of the events, as most people in the U.S. do, I was really shocked when I got to the library area.

I actually saw Abraham Lincoln later in the lunch area. He was telling everyone he was 120 years old or so.
The above is Jefferson Davis of the South. I saw the Confederacy side as soon as I got there and I was naturally very interested to see what they were all about. One of the men at the Richmond, Virginia "Capital" house was telling everyone that, "We can still win this war! It is 1862, and I like our chances!" Funny!
Above is General Lee near his tent. When I got there most of the troops of the Confederacy were marching and preparing for battle. Jefferson Davis actually gave them a pep talk.
I went to the Union side and was shocked to see that there was hardly anyone around. I figured they must have been out marching, but no one was around. A lot of tents, but a lot of empty space. I did finally see some soldiers marching around, but the area was not as well populated as the Confederate side. I ate lunch and then prepared for the battle on the field.

The Confederacy struck first. It was like being on the sidelines of a football field that was shaped like a slight arch. There were many people around so it was difficult to take good pictures. The Union pushed the Confederacy back. The picture above is near the end when the South stole the cannon.
The above picture is some Union troops attacking.
Again, there were people all around.
The funny thing is the Confederacy actually kicked Union tail all over the place. This was a solid Union defeat. I was laughing inside because this year the Confederacy had won. However, keep in mind that they would skirmish another three times, but I would not be there since I left just after this.

I went to listen to one of the southern men speak about their weapons. He went into this long diatribe about how, "Lets suppose that God forbid the South loses the war. Wouldn't you suppose that 'West Virginia', the land stolen by the Union, would be returned to Virginia. By all rights, morally, legally, biblically, and in all intellectually honesty it belongs to Virginia." At that point I was wondering what type of alternative universe I was living in. It was very bizarre.

Overall, I had some fun that day. I learned that I would have probably wanted to be on the Confederacy side since they were more charismatic. They just kicked butt all the time I was there. All the different regiments were there looking for recruits. I even saw some Texas Rangers. I only saw one black guy there. Which side was he on you ask? The Confederacy! Who could blame him!

As a side note, I have three relatives that fought in the Civil War. A great grandfather, Seaborn Yarbrough Sr. fought in the Confederacy. I have two other relatives who fought for the North. They are a little more well known. One would be Rutherford B. Hayes who would become President; he is my 4th cousin. Also, John Millholland, who I have the honorable discharge papers of, is another great grandfather. If you ever read a biography about George Washington Carver who might come across John and Helen Millholland who he stayed with and encouraged him to go to college. Those are my great grandparents.

The CIA's Death Valley Albatross (Part 3)

Final Examinations

Some more of the tail:

These types of pictures I like since they show the steep angle and miles beyond:
You can see Telescope Peak in the background on this one. Unfortunatley, it was a little too hazy on this day.
The tip and beyond:
There was an interesting story on this next picture. It looked like some sort of cloth or fabric when you look at it. However, it was obviously metallic when you touch it. I was told that this was actually rubber de-icing boots from the wings that over the years of being there had turned into steel!

This gives you a good idea of what it is like when you approach the aircraft. I will always be amazed it actually stuck there and did not tumble down below. It is sturdy there, and it remains one of the most interesting monuments of Death Valley.
After we got all these pictures and videos we headed back to the car. At this point it was mid-morning, and I knew the trip back would be more difficult. It felt like I encountered more scree on the way back. Then, we finally reached Towne Peak again!

Then we climbed over the smaller peaks until we saw the car. Yet, like one of the first pictures I showed. We still had a long way down. I think I reached the car at some time after 2pm. It was about a 9 hour hike.

When I got back to the car I started drinking. I went through about ten different types of drinks (water, Gatorade, Diet Coke, etc.) that day and still had not quenched my thirst.

That evening I left out some ice to melt into ice water; I just could not get enough. I went to sleep pretty dehydrated. I felt great though about the journey. I felt better the next day, but when I got home I went through two large glasses of water and it did not even phase me! lol! I could have kept drinking.

This ends my epic adventure to this aircraft. I spent a lot of time on this and showed a bunch of pictures since it was such a unique thing.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)

The CIA's Death Valley Albatross (Part 2)

Exploring the Aircraft

As I tried to explain in the last entry, after the hike to get here, walking down the sandy scree, and then trying to walk around the aircraft at steep angle, it was not easy moving around. I was very slow walking around. Especially when I was underneath it. An interesting shot:

If you look closely you might see some of the debris below. It was way down there. No, I would not suggest trying to reach the plane from this way. That is seriously dangerous. One of the detached wings:

This was underneath it. Very cramped.

Here is part of the inside of the craft. You can see the chair in there.

The tail of the aircraft:

1001.

Stay tuned for my next entry that finishes up the pictures.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)

The CIA's Death Valley Albatross (Part 1)

The Descent

(GPS: N36 24.610 W117 19.430)

This is actually a continuation of the recent entries, but I got tired of writing the same titles for another three parts. So I decided to give this a different title for the last three parts of this series.

Before I continue, let me give a link to read the historical account of why this plane is here. It is good reading and gives a better explanation than I can on the crash. Please click this highlighted paragraph for the ALBATROSS ARTICLE.

If you read the article, you will notice in the second to last paragraph it mentions it is very dangerous to do the hike, and not suggested. Apparently, you can see the aircraft from some part of the highway. I would only suggest this hike to a person who is in shape, can deal with warm Death Valley weather, and, very important, can deal with scrambling on scree. I don't enjoy walking on scree.

After having the minor victory of getting to Towne Peak in good time we descended to our final destination.

It took us another hour and fifteen minutes to get to the aircraft. We reached the plane at around 8:45am. The final 150 feet to get to the plane is rather rough. It's a scree slope and you do have to be careful going down or you might really go down. My brother said he had a close call in an area where he lost his trekking pole.
The aircraft is rather intact considering the circumstances. It was a miracle that the craft is still here and not completely destroyed. One of the engines of the twin engine aircraft is what caused the problems and resulted in the crash. Here is one of the engines slightly attached, but mostly on the ground. You might be able to see some of the propeller.
Moving around this area above the aircraft was very difficult.
I was tired. I felt good, but there wasn't any rest here for me. I started shooting pictures and using my camcorder right away. The following area was difficult to descend through so I had to go slowly.

Keep in mind I did all of this twice. Once for the camera and once for the camcorder.

The underside! Notice the little "hill" I have to go over to get to it.

In the next entry I will show some of the inside of the aircraft and the tail.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)

Death Valley, Towne Peak, and the Mystery of the SA-16 Albatross (Part 4)

Lets Get Ready to Descend

We spent some time on the summit relaxing. The summit register at Towne Peak had some interesting notes to read. Many notes went back to the late 60's early 70's. Although some of the pictures you see below look the same as in the other recent entries. The angles of them are slightly different and I like them for that reason. I decided to include some of those.

Below is Telescope Peak in the distance.

Again, if you wanted to head to Trona and Ridgecrest you would go as far as you can see that way. The road taking you to Lone Pine heads to the right of the picture.
This note I read was interesting because it was written in the beginning of September of 1968. The father and boys note they had trouble and had to get a ranger to help them out. I can imagine that time of the year would be very difficult.
Again, this shows you the area we would have to descend to following the ridge.
They SA-16 from the summit.

This will be the last entry on our getting to the summit of Towne Peak. Then we are off to the site of the remains of the aircraft itself.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)

Death Valley, Towne Peak, and the Mystery of the SA-16 Albatross (Part 3)

The Summit

(GPS:N36 25.190 W117 19.095)

The next stretch was up one of the steeper parts of the hike to the actual summit.

We had to go up this thing.
Once on top of this it wasn't that difficult to get to the summit. We actually made pretty good time to get there. It took us about 2 hours 20 minutes. It was a minor victory as part of the whole hike. Like I mentioned in the previous entry, what was good was doing this early in the morning. The longer the hike would last, as far as the time we would be under the hot sun, the worse things would be. At the summit there was a slight breeze so we were feeling pretty good.
The above is looking to the southwest. Below, we are looking northeast.

It was nice to see Olancha Peak to the west which parallels the 395 highway below it.

Off in the distance we could see the snow capped Easter Sierra Range. Of course, we ended up staying at Lone Pine underneath all that off the 395; it is about 60 miles away.

I can't tell for sure, but I have highlighted two areas with dots below. The first one to the left I think is Mt. Langley. The second dot to the right is Mt. Whitney.

From the summit we could see our final destination again. We would have to continue to follow the ridgeline and descend to it.

In my next entry I shall show a few more shots from the summit before we continue on.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)

Death Valley, Towne Peak, and the Mystery of the SA-16 Albatross (Part 2)

Moving On Up

We continued along the ridgeline. There were various hills we had to cover. It was still early in the morning. Being in Death Valley one is always concerned about how hot it will get. I knew early in the morning that would not be a problem, but the trip back to the car will be.
I noticed some interesting rock formations as we went along.
This protruding rock seemed like the most interesting thing.
This is leading into one of the more steeper parts of the hike. It was actually easier just to follow the ridgeline to get to the base of the steep part than to walk more directly at it.

This is more looking to the southwest.

The day was a bit hazy looking in each direction. It always seems it is on the days I hike.

Before ending this part of the series I thought I would show a picture of our final destination from where we were at this point of the hike. After you get past the first ridge you can see the SA-16. In the following picture you can barely see it. There is also Olancha Peak in the distance to the right.

It is obvious to the naked eye right as you get up to the ridgeline at the beginning of the hike. However, to get there we still had to get up to Towne Peak first. So, it is time to climb one of the steep spots of the hike.

(Edit: I did this hike again in 2014. I took a video of it which can be found here: Hunting a Bird in Death Valley)