Have you seen the bathing woman?
Bathing Woman of Alabama Hills
Every morning the mysterious lady appears, a towel draped over one arm. She sits on the same rock to bathe her voluptuous body in the shadows. With head bowed she shampoos her long, dark tresses. Some say she lost her true love to the harsh, unforgiving desert which compels her every morning to wash the sand from her hair. All morning she lingers, oblivious to strangers who pass below, and at noonday she leaves as silently as she arrived.
We meet our new neighbors!
Nina and Paul of the Wheeling It blog ride their bikes up to our campsite. They’re camped with friends not far from us, barely within sight of us actually. Their dog, Paulie, is with them which thrills Spike to no end. Bridget? . . . ah, not so much. Anyway, it’s always a treat to meet fellow bloggers. We’ve been hopscotching down Highway 395 and were bound to connect at some point. I’m glad we did!
I play with my camera every day.
I conclude that there is no soft early morning or soft late afternoon light here. By the time the rays of light come over the Inyo Mountains to the east, the sun is high in the sky. And the sunbeams disappear pretty quickly behind the Sierra Nevada to the west. Not to make excuses or anything! I’ve looked for the soft lighting and haven’t found it yet.
So I say to the harsh light and dark shadows . . .
“Bring it on!”
The Alabama Hills
“Rocks, Rocks, and More Rocks”
[slideshow]
Our fourteen days of primitive camping on this Bureau of Land Management land end on Monday.
rvsue
Canine Corner: “Just having a little fun” by Spike
Bridget sits in the canine condo like she owns the place. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me. What do I care about a dumb condo? I’ve got the whole desert to explore and I can lie down wherever I want. It’s kind of fun though to walk by and say stuff.
“You’d better quit it, Spike. I’m warning you!”
“Hey, Bridget. Nice condo. Must be custom made with that REALLY WIDE door.”
“How’d you get in there, Bridget? With a back hoe?”
“Oh Bridget? Bridget, honey. Your room service truck has arrived!”
She bugs out her eyes and lays her ears back flat. Heh-heh. I get to laughing so hard I have to hide under the BLT so rvsue doesn’t see me.
LOL OMG I love that picture of Bridget!!
Clearly Spike gets on her last nerve.
What a nice place !! When your 14 days are up, if you wanted to could you go somewhere else nearby? or go somewhere for a couple days and then come back and do another 14 days??? Just wonderring. Because at pay campgrounds you can lv for a day or so and come back and start over. How has the weather been Sue ? Warm in day and cool at nights ??
I believe I have to move at least 25 miles away and wait 14 days. I’m sure a reader will correct me if I’m wrong — please do! The campgrounds are BLM also, so they would be part of the 14-day limit.
It’s warm during the day and cooler at night, but not very cold. Wearing pjs to bed is too warm and I leave a window open until early morning.
Great slide show. I always enjoy seeing pictures of the Alabama Hills.
And Bridget, just two words…Sic ’em!! (great canine corner)
I notice Bridget is less subservient to Spike and his antics. She’s becoming empowered!
It’s so cool when you meet someone else w/ an RV Blog. So tell me, how does it go: “HI, I’m Sue of RV Sue and who are you and what’s the name of YOUR blog?” lol
Ha! We knew of each other before we met. At first I didn’t recognize Nina of Wheeling It until she said “Hello, RVSue.” What I’m trying to say is…. the blog comes first, the meeting comes later.
Love the pictures! I can’t believe you’ve already been there nearly two weeks. I have added the Alabama Hills to my list of “must-sees.” Thanks for taking us there, Sue.
You’re welcome, DeAnne! Happy you’re with us . . .
What a hoot that Bridget is…so expressive!! We both had a good laugh at that photo…sure looked like she was at an end of her patience!!
Bridget does lose her patience with Spike. I’ve got some more photos of her being driven nutso by Spike… I can’t tell her to make those faces. They happen for good reason.
Rolling around laughing here!! If I don’t get my fix of RV Sue and her sidekicks each day then something is missing in my day.
Sue your photos are great………………you have caught some magical light even though you say there has not beed much chance to catch some soft light. I would be proud to show case your photos and put them in competition if they were mine!!! Good work !! Much enjoyed !!
Your appreciation of my efforts at photography means a lot as I have the impression you know photography. Thanks for the encouragement. About the Canine Corner . . . Of course, the details come from my imagination, but, really, the way these two act together, I don’t think the Canine Corner is far from reality!!
What an interesting area you’ve been camping in lately. Kinda stark when compared to some of the forests you were in earlier this year, but pretty just the same.
Did you notice that the big rock to the rear of the BLT looks like a face?
Hi Cari,
The crew and I left a world of green to a world of tan. The contrasts have been part of the fun of our travels this past year. Love it!
You’re right! It does look like a face. This is no place for the paranoid.
I can’t believe you’ve been there 14 days already. Seems you just got there. What a beautiful spot.
I think when we live with our canines they make their personalities clear. I would put words in my beagles’ mouths all the time and I swear they practically looked up and nodded. Better tell Spike to watch out, one of these days Bridget will take her shapely figure and just sit right down on him. Now that would be a great picture!
I spend so much time with Bridget and Spike I feel like I can read their minds.
Way to go, Bridget! Hold your ground. But I think that if Spike teases you it’s because he likes you and he is too proud to admit it. You got him wrapped around your little paw 😉
Yeah, Spikey loves the Bridge.
Sue, how was the road going in? It was kind of washboardy (sp?) when I tried to go out there in June. I wish I had made it farther. I really love the area and 395 is a great road. Love the pics and the pooches are always a joy to see and hear.
Movie Road isn’t too bad. There’s a short section of washboard. Apparently it’s scraped periodically. Once you get through the washboard it smooths out again.
Love the Alabama hills and your pictures show why. I check on the camping limit for you here is what I found:
The Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) permit program was established to accommodate the increasing demand for long-term seasonal visitation and to provide natural resource protection through improved management of resources. The program assures that specific BLM campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra between Lone Pine and Crowley Lake are available for long-term use and that inappropriate areas are not used for extended periods. The annual LTVA use season is from the first Saturday in March to November 1st. During this use season, visitors who wish to camp on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office for extended periods greater than 14 days, must stay in the designated LTVA campgrounds and purchase an LTVA permit.
The intent of this program is to provide full time camping opportunities to the public. It is not designed for residency, intermittent usage, or recreational vehicle storage.
Hope it helps!
I don’t think the Alabama Hill are a LTVA. It’s interesting and helpful to learn there is LTVA between Lone Pine and Crowley Lake. I appreciate you taking the time to post this for us, Nancy.
I read about that recently as well. And , I dont remember the charge but you could buy a pass to boondock all around some certain areas (LTVA) for the whole season and I believe the pass was very cheap.
I love your Mt whitney summit pic (see link)….. long ago I walk up its trail and slept on its summit….(July 4th 1975) Kids!….. ..LOL……..
Wishing you and the crew the “best off the road“… :)))
.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://runbikebeer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/MtWhitney-rwb1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://runbikebeer.com/2010/04/26/changes-at-run-bike-beer/&h=902&w=1170&sz=397&tbnid=ReQsJcPqKsmB4M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=127&zoom=1&usg=__3hOiLOrJMmZGwx-0mmzFxuTX6w4=&docid=WMKqhIoZwiK7fM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=namAULCILuau0AGM_YHwDA&ved=0CCcQ9QEwAw&dur=6289
Lots more snow on Whitney in your pic!
Maybe you just need a filter for your new camera.
I didn’t know about that. See, I’m new to photography beyond point-and-shoot.
It was great to meet you and the doggies! Love that pic of Bridget…you totally captured “the look”!
Nina
Nice to meet you, Paul, and Paulie, too!
Boy the two weeks seems to have gone by fast. Does the holding tanks fill up when you are boondocked that long? I really like the rock formations there and the story about the bathing woman. I think you do a good job of writing what Bridget and Spike might be thinking, lol.
Thank you. I’m going to have to take care of the tanks soon. It’s funny . .. Never did I expect that my waste tanks would receive national attention!
I do love that Canine Corner!!!!
Now that I’ve started the CC, I wouldn’t dare quit.
Another great addition to a great blog, Sue! The Hound Herds favorite! RV Resources is great for us but we’re waiting patiently for ‘the Book’ !!!
Are youicoming to NM this winter at all, supposed to be warmer than usual, FYI.
I don’t know if I’ll get as far as NM or not. I’m starting to get cramps from all the money I’ve spent on gas.
I can’t see the bathing woman but love the story. If I sat by those rocks for two weeks I’d see all kinds of shapes.
The lady almost fills the frame. Her elbow is in the middle of the photo. She’s showing mostly her back. She’s facing left and the dark vertical shadow is her hair hanging down.
Thanks. I’ll look again.
Oh, that lady.
Oh my. Your photos brought back memories from 50 years ago when our parents took us to the Alabama Hills/Movie Road and we stayed in cabins right across the street from those rock formations. For kids, it was da bomb! We scrambled all over those rocks, made up cowboy and Indian stories and had a blast.
Thanks.
TravelBug-Susan
What a wonderful memory for you! That’s the kind of play that boosts the imagination. I see kids climbing the rocks here and wonder if they are imagining anything. They probably don’t know about all the film and tv stars like we did at their age. I guess they could be imagining aliens, monsters, drug lords and hit men.
Spike, you are a hoot! Ill nominate you as guest blogger on the Rat Terrier forums. Love your entries, they keep me giggling all day. Thanks for another one 🙂
I should visit the rat terrier forums. I used to a lot when Spike and Bridget first came to live with me, and then I was caught up in the RV forums. I’m happy you like the entries. I have to admit that sometimes I think about something said in the Canine Corner and I giggle, too, because it seems real to me.
I am loving the pics of the Alabama hills. I keep expecting to see the Cisco Kid in one of them.
Horse rentals are available. When I see a couple of folks on horseback coming around a pile of boulders, and they’re wearing cowboy hats, I feel like I’m living in a Western.
Teresa is right! If the lens accepts a filter, you will need a circular polarizing filter.
It is good accessory to use, plus a filter protects the lens from getting scratched. It is like sun glasses for the camera lens! Takes glare off your water shots too.
You are having too much fun! You will be happy to note that last night the weatherman predicted warmer than usual weather for the Southwest this winter!
Maybe someday my level of photo-taking expertise will warrant a filter. Right now I’m not sure how to focus! Thanks for explaining, Geri. I bet you’d take some award-winning shots if you were here.
Nina and Paul heard it was in the high nineties south of here the other day. It’s tricky at this time of year, trying to keep a southerly move going, yet not rushing into an oven. I moved to the Alabama Hills to get out of the cold. Now I have to move again, but it’s too hot ahead! The art of boondocking and fulltime RVing . . . .
I just read that those multi-month LTVA’s are good on any BLM LTVA area and you can stay or move between LTVA’s during the time you specify on the permit.
The compact camera lens retracts back into the camera body and it has a shutter that closes to protect the lens. There is no room for a filter. The camera does have some digital signal processing that helps somewhat with sun problems but it is still best to keep the sun behind you. SLR’s are another story and filters are the best solution; but they are huge!
Got it, Mick! I try to keep the sun behind me and a bit to the side so my shadow isn’t in the picture. I think I’m in a very challenging locale, photography-wise. I’m curious how I’ll do when we’re back in the Sonoran Deserrt. The early morning light there is good. I tell you, I’ m lovin’ this camera!
Love the Canine Corner. Ratties have their own personalities and are silly little loves. Enjoy your blog.
I love all the quirks that ratties have. They have the cuteness of Jack Russells without the endless energy.
I always thought I was a “big dog” person, until Scout (my 16 pound rattie) came into my life. Then again, his motto is “I may be small, but I’m BIG!”. I agree, they are just the right balance – ‘Jack’ with an off switch!!
You didn’t mention what type of camera you have so I don’t know if your camera will support this or not.
Have you checked out using a remote control? This might be a possibility for you to capture those self-portraits and not stress out doing it. There are two types of digital camera remote controls: cable or wireless systems. Google you camera’s Brand/Model to see if it supports a remote control feature.
I take photo of pets and it is a challenge to get them where you want them and to make them stick until you get the shot.
Photoshop would place YOU in a good picture with THEM 😮 LOL