Mobius Arch Loop Trail is one of the popular hiking trails in the Alabama Hills, California. The arch had been featured in hundreds of Hollywood movies and in good old cow boy movies. Mount Whitney hikers would love to frame the peak through this arch before proceeding to hike the peak the next day! Very easy hike and not to be missed if you happen to be near the area.
Mobius Arch Loop Trail is one of the popular hiking trails in the Alabama Hills, California. The arch had been featured in hundreds of Hollywood movies and in good old cow boy movies. Mount Whitney hikers would love to frame the peak through this arch before proceeding to hike the peak the next day! Very easy hike and not to be missed if you happen to be near the area.
It is an easy 0.5 mile loop trail where you get to enjoy the sweeping views of the Californian desert and rock formations. The Heart shaped rock is visible from the trailhead and for Mobius Arch, you will have to hike across the desert. The trail is very well-marked.
Mobius Arch and the surrounding rock formations are identical in composition to the rock formations of Mount Whitney but the weathering process is faster down here. Up high, the freezing, expanding and thawing of rainwater and melting snow have created the more chiseled splintering of the granite seen at Mount Whitney. Down in the warmer Owens Valley, the Alabamas took shape when the climate became drier, and erosion slowly stripped away the soil mantle, exposing and shaping the piles of boulders. Water and wind continue to shape the landscape and rocks to this day. The beige and blacks in the mottled coloring are the result of being stained for millions of years by the oxidation of the iron minerals in the rock.