Lone Pine Trip: Part 3 - Alabama Hills Arch

So you know how sometimes someone invites you on a trip and you say yes and then they offer to drive and you say yes and then they decide to stay an extra day and you can't say no? Well, that's what happened to me Sunday. We were supposed to be home by dark but it turned out Monday was a holiday of some sort and little A had the day off so R, J, A, and I got to spend another day camping and would presumably be home by noon Monday.

So Monday morning came and R and J had "gone fishing" and left me to cook outmeal and entertain a 6 year old. We grabbed my new hiking guide to the Sierras and took the opportunity to search for the elusive, yet oft-photographed Alabama Hills Arch - a window to Whitney.

Here's the arch as you see it from the trail:After a scramble up some rocks we found the arch and I was able to get a decent shot of my favorite mountain through the arch:Note to photographers: If you go in search of the arch, take some climbing gear and/or a ladder because it's up high and rather precarious to get to the back side of to take the famous shot. Oh, and don't take a gutsy 6 year old as it's unnerving to watch them scramble along large boulders as you contemplate how you'd explain the fall to the parents.

Finally, here's my favorite shot of the arch, taken of my trooper of a hiking partner, Ariel, who made me promise to summit Whitney when she's 10 and her lungs are ready:Gotta love that stuff.