On the back side of California’s Sierra Nevada is a place any lover of the old western movies has seen a hundred times. Below Mount Whitney, you find Hollywood’s ultimate back lot:  the Alabama Hills. Sandwiched between the base of Whitney and the town of Lone Pine, you can journey through some of the most bizarre and fascinating rocks on earth. Some 400 movies have been filmed in “The Rocks” — the perfect backdrop for westerns and many non-western films. Stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and John Wayne were there almost constantly. In the 1920’s and 30’s film makers were so busy, they built a hotel. The Dow just celebrated a century in business, and they have marked off many of the old stars’ special rooms.

Actor John Mitchum, Robert Mitchum’s brother, and frequent visitor to Lone Pine, found the perfect way to experience the area. As part of the annual Film Festival put on by the Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine, John created the Sunrise Tour. If you have ever been there, you know it may in fact be the greatest place on earth to watch the sun come up. At 14,505 feet high, Mt. Whitney is the first to catch the new day’s light — and you can watch the orange glow creep down the Sierra Nevada — what they call “The Range of Light.”  When you add the stories, the poetry and the music, well, it is pure Americana. These days, cowboy poet Larry Maurice  — a good friend of John’s — takes over and the morning ritual is still a must see. He is joined by Buffalo Bryan playing some old favorites. You quickly learn, there is no better way to start the day than with a “Cowboy Sunrise,” on the back side of the High Sierra.