the cafe at the Whitney
Portal Store (www.
whitneyportalstore.com) for
enormous burgers and
plate-sized pancakes fit
for ravenous hikers.
As you get a fix on
this majestic megalith
cradled by scores of
smaller pinnacles,
remember that the
country’s lowest point
is only 80 miles (as the
crow flies) east of here:
Badwater (p333) in
Death Valley.The Drive » Double back
to Lone Pine and drive 9 miles
north on divided Hwy 395. Scrub
brush and tumbleweed desert
occupy the valley between the
copper-colored foothills of the
Sierra Nevada and the White
Mountain range. Well-signed
Manzanar sits along the west
side of the highway.3 Manzanar
National Historic Site
A monument to one of
the darkest chapters in
US history, the Manzanar
unfolds across a barren
and windy sweep of land
cradled by snow-dipped
peaks. During the height
of WWII, the federal
government interned
more than 10,000 people
of Japanese ancestry
here following the
attack on Pearl Harbor.
Though little remains
of the infamous war
concentration camp, the
camp’s former high-
school auditorium houses
a superb interpretive
center (%760-878-2194;
http://www.nps.gov/manz; admissionfree; (^) h9am-4:30pm Nov-
Mar, to 5:30pm Apr-Oct).
Watch the 20-minute
documentary, then
explore the thought-
provoking exhibits
chronicling the stories
of the families that
languished here yet built
a vibrant community.
Afterwards, take a
self-guided, 3.2-mile
driving tour around the
grounds, which includes
a recreated mess hall
and barracks, vestiges of
buildings and gardens,
as well as the haunting
camp cemetery.
Often mistaken for
Mt Whitney, 14,375ft
Mt Williamson looms
above this flat, dusty
plain, a lonely expanse
that bursts with yellow
wildflowers in spring.
The Drive » Continue north
6 miles on Hwy 395 to the
small town of Independence.
In the center of town, look for
the columned Inyo County
Courthouse and turn left onto
W Center St. Drive six blocks
through a residential area to the
end of the road.
4 Independence
This sleepy highway
town has been a county
seat since 1866 and is
home to the Eastern
California Museum
(%760-878-0364; http://www.
inyocounty.us/ecmuseum; 155
N Grant St; donation requested;
h10am-5pm). An excellent
archive of Eastern Sierra
history and culture, it
contains one of the most
complete collections of
Paiute and Shoshone
baskets in the country,
as well as historic
photographs of local
rock climbers scaling
Sierra peaks – including
Mt Whitney – with huge
packs and no harnesses.
Other highlights include
artifacts from Manzanar
and an exhibit about the
fight to keep the region’s
water supply from being
diverted to Los Angeles.
Fans of Mary Austin
(1868–1934), renowned
author of The Land of
Little Rain and vocal foe
of the desertification of
the Owens Valley, can
follow signs leading to
her former house at 253
Market St.
The Drive » Depart north
along Hwy 395 as civilization
again recedes amid a buffer
of dreamy granite mountains,
midsized foothills and (most of
the year) an expanse of bright
blue sky. Tuffs of blackened
volcanic rock occasionally
appear roadside. Pass through
the blink-and-you-missed-it
town of Big Pine, and enter
Bishop approximately 40 miles
from your starting point.
5 Bishop
The second-largest town
in the Eastern Sierra and
about a third of the way
north from Lone Pine to
Reno, Bishop is a major
hub for hikers, cyclists,
anglers and climbers.
To see what draws them
here, visit the Mountain
Light Gallery (%760-
873-7700; 106 S Main St;
admission free; h10am-6pm),
CENTRAL.CALIFORNIA
20
(^) EASTERN SIERRA SCENIC BYWAY