Tuttle Creek Rock Houses, Cal
/Visit Date: October 10, 2015
Why would anyone shoot at a door that is labeled "DANGER - EXPLOSIVES."
I guess that is a rhetorical question....
I was in the Lone Pine area and didn't have enough time to thoroughly explore the Alabama Hills (that is going to happen though), so I hiked to a couple arches and drove to a couple old rock houses. This is the story of the Rock House Expedition.
I had bought a book in Lone Pine the night before, entitled "Arches of the Alabama Hills," and in it were directions to a couple neat spots along Tuttle Creek. As luck would have it, I was in town on the same weekend that Lone Pine was hosting a Film Festival. That was pretty cool.
My guess is that the cement block building was used to house explosives, as that's what it says on the front door, and the stone building might have been someone's dwelling place. But I could be entirely mistaken.
A little bit south of these two structures is one of the most interesting little dwelling spots.
The book I had bought referred to this place as a "flow cave/miner's dugout." It certainly does appear that it is dug right into some material that at one time was molten and flowed down from up above.
Looking in and looking out.
The dugout/cave didn't go back very far, so I don't know that anyone ever really lived in it, but it's a good story. My guess? Storage.
And that brings to a close the Rock House Expedition. I don't thing you'll see any of these places soon on HGTV, well maybe on an episode of Tiny Houses.
