Mobius Arch (Inyo County, California)

About eight years ago, I spent a couple of hours hiking out in the baking sun of the Alabama Foothills searching for a specific natural arch noted in a hiking guide I had used for a number of years, I failed to find the arch, but did find an amazing place for off-roading and hiking. Three years ago, when my friends Van and Bill, and I made our first attempt at Mt. Whitney, we explored this location a bit, but still didn't find the arch. With no set plans for the outdoor adventures of this weekend, Bill and I decided to head across Death Valley to Lone Pine and finally find the Mobius Arch of the Alabama Foothills. Little did I know what an adventure it would turn out to be.

Leaving Valley of Fire State Park, our drive took us through the north end of Las Vegas, but instead of returning on US95, which is the most direct route home in Reno, we needed to take a detour across into California and return on US395. Instead of taking the normal route through Death Valley, I decided to take Bill through the jeep-friendly Titus Canyon, which I described to him in the past. The trip through the slot canyon would add some time to the trip, but it's an amazing ride in a jeep and seeing the slot canyons reaching hundreds of feet on either side of the narrow path is something that can only be experienced, not described.

Finally, we popped out into Death Valley to find winds so strong they would almost knock a standing adult over. While problematic in most places, winds like this pose an additional danger in Death Valley - sand storms and this one was raging!!! If you've ever seen the 1999 movie, The Mummy, you might have some idea of what we were dealing with. Luckily, the storm through the Valley of Death was blowing parallel to the road and so didn't pose much danger. However, once we turned toward Stovepipe Wells on CA190, we new our luck was about to change.

Huge volumes of sand were being lifted from the valley floor and flung by 70-80 mph winds across the landscape rising a miles into the sky and covering the length of the giant valley. When we reached the worst of it, we made the choice to enter the natural danger. We knew it would be additionally problematic since the top was down on the jeep and the strong winds precluded the possibility of putting the top up. We rolled up our windows, for what little good that would do (the entire back and top were exposed) and entered the heart of darkness. Sand slapped my face and got into my eyes and nose. Visibility was five feet or less at most moments. The cars in front of me would creeped at a pace of no more than 3 or 4 mph as we braved the storm. The 15 minutes or so it took to traverse the worst part of the sand storm was one of the most frightening driving experiences of my life, but coming out the other side, I knew we had a story to tell. The jeep, our gear, and even our selves were covered with fine sand grains. It was in our eyes, in our mouths, and in our noes. It was everywhere. So much so, that once I finishing typing this blog the next item on my agenda is to go vacuum out the jeep. However, we made it through without incident!

Arriving at Lone Pine, we turned up Whitney Portal Road and the right onto Movie (or Movie Flat) Road, we began taking the jeep on the confusing network of jeep trails looking for the arch. I thought I had good directions, but I had apparently failed to copy the entire document and only had part of what I needed to find the arch. After a short time exploring, we decided to take a break and grab some dinner. While we ate at a nearby burger joint, I searched for the missing directions. 

Now armed with detailed directions and a full belly, we headed back into the hills and quickly found the obvious trailhead, as marked by the Heart-shaped Arch described in my earlier directions. As sunset is quickly approach and my resolve to find the arch burning inside me, I tell Bill that I'm likely going to run to the arch. He understands and decides to remain with the jeep. 

At first, the trail is well-marked, but soon splits without clear signage of how to reach my desired destination. I end up trail-running at least half-a-mile in the wrong direction. I run back and finally see some photographers in the distance. I walk through the open-desert to reach them and ask for better directions. A kind gentlemen points to a stand of rocks just ahead of me and tells me that it is right around that corner.

With very little daylight remaining, I make a last push for the finish line. As I turn the corner, see the amazing Mobius Arch, named for the geometric mobius band, which is a conceptual construct where a strip of paper is connected end to end, but only after introducing a half-twist into the shape. The result is that one could take a pencil and draw a continuous line around every surface of the band. The arch is shaped very much like this and thus was named as it was. 

I take a some shots (including one that frames Mt. Whitney within the arch), trying to get all angles, before heading back to the jeep. I didn't measure my hiked distance, but Captain Ahab finally got his white whale!

P.S. The drive home (with the jeep top still down) saw us through a Blizzard, sub-freezing temperatures, and a light rain storm once we reached lower ground.