Lone Pine is a town nestled in the Alabama Hills, near the Eastern slope of the Sierra Mountains. Famous for housing the tallest mountain in the U.S. (Mt. Whitney) and doubling as cowboy country in the movies (LOTS of John Wayne flicks were shot here, also this classic) the rocky hills of Lone Pine are truly a site to see for the rock junkies needing a fix.
But amongst the crumbled arches and volcanic boulders that monopolize the area lies the centerpiece (in my humble opinion) of Alabama Hills— Nightmare Rock, a terrifying sculpture for the ages.
A little demonic and a lot scary (hence the name) in appearance, the ghoulish paint job done on this massive rock is oddly impressive. Our heroic artists of the area could've simply gone with the eyes and mouth motif, but why be so vanilla? Let's get creative here!
Amongst a few of the nice extra touches are some KISS style makeup on one of the eyes, a wide smile of razor sharp teeth and a slobbery tongue that almost touches the ground. Couple that with a boulder that looks exactly like the head of a mongoloid and you get one of the coolest random nature sculptures in California.
Now, what to do upon arrival? Well, you can climb the all over rock, offering stunning views of the surrounding mountains, poke the eyes and take some pretty incredible photos dancing on the top of its head. Then you can spend the rest of your life haunted by this...
Directions: Go 4 miles west of Lone Pine on north side of Whitney Portal Rd.
Sweet dreams, y'all!
