Scott: Look into a one-way car rental from Ridgecrest. A guy I met on the trail last year snagged a car to Phoenix for about what the gas and beer would cost you. Apparently this is not unusual. I guess a lot of people are willing to pay the drop-off charge there, and they need a lot of dead-heads back to various airports. Who knew? And why the big center is in Ridgecrest rather than Lone Pine, I couldn't say. China Lake thing, maybe, your tax dollars at work.
Yes, I have done the one way rental. It pays to shop - the difference in companies was as much as 100% difference in cost. Also, the rental counter at the airport is closed frequently ( as there are few flights) so you need to go to the other counter nearer to the China Lake gate. Yeah, lots of military people rent one way to/from LAS.
