A little known fact in Mt. Whitney and Owens Valley history is several visits made to the area by Elvis Presley in 1963 during filming of "Viva Las Vegas." Filming in Vegas would come to a halt on weekends and Elvis' friends thought it best if they got him out of Sin City for a day or two. Someone in the group heard there was great fishing in the Owens Valley so they piled into two cars and headed west. Elvis had never gone fly fishing before and the results were disappointing but Elvis loved the scenery around Bishop and Independence and made several more trips until filming concluded. He stayed at least once in Lone Pine at the Dow Villa Hotel -- where today you can still see his picture hanging in the lobby.
Old timers say Elvis made at least one attempt to climb Mt. Whitney but was unsuccessful because of the late time of his arrival at the trailhead (two in the afternoon) and the fact that he had just eaten a huge lunch of hamburgers, chili fries and tapioca pudding at a Lone Pine diner.
I leave it to the reader to imagine how far Elvis got on the trail before turning back.
