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| Old home in Bodie, CA. This particular building perched on the hill above town, caught my eye. |
While the primary objective on the weekend of Sept. 12-13, 2015, was the White Mountain Double Century, perhaps the highlight of the weekend, as it turned out, was an impromptu visit to Bodie, CA, the famous Ghost Town in the Eastern Sierra, between Lee Vining and Bridgeport, CA.
After the Gold Rush (yay Neil Young!) in 1849, prospectors began to drift to the Eastern Sierra in search of new strikes. W.S. Bodey, discovered Gold here in 1859. He died a few months later in a blizzard, but was not forgotten, save for the spelling of his name. The town that formed in his honor came to be known as "Bodie."
Mining was slow until about 1875, when a mine collapse revealed a rich body of gold ore. The town's boom years were from about 1877-1881, when as many as 8,000 inhabited this remote place at over 8,000' elevation. At this time there were 30 mines, 9 stamp mills, 60 Saloons, Opium Dens, Cat Houses, gun fights, the whole bit.
Mining dwindled into the 1900's, but the town limped along, and some mining continued, until 1942. Part of the reason the town is preserved, is that James S. Cain, Bodie's last major land owner, hired caretakers to watch over the town to prevent looting. Because of his efforts, we have this amazing State Park today. California State Parks purchased the property in 1962, and efforts continue to preserve its history. Although only about 5% of the buildings remain, one can spend many hours looking at the structures, peering in windows, and imagining what life would have been like in Bodie's heydey.
Below is a photo essay, from our visit. Sarah Schroer and I roamed around for a couple of hours. The weather was a bit windy and overcast, and we had a few sprinkles. This was perfect for taking photographs, and we took many. Click on any photo to enlarge.
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| The visitor to Bodie is first treated to some old mining equipment. The Boiler. |
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| The boiler ran the large winches that lowered miners and raised extract from the mines. |
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| Steam Winch |
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| Steam Winch |
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| Large building is Miner's Union Hall |
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| Bucket still hangs above a well. |
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| This lovely Surrey survived inside the "Surrey Shed." |
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| Burely-Ass Cart. No doubt used to haul mine extracts. F-350, go home! |
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| These Heavy Duty carts were used to haul supplies from Carson City, several thousand feet below. One can only imagine the difficulty of this journey on dodgey roads with huge loads and pack stock. |
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| Two prominent buildings, the Post Office (left) and I.O.O.F. Hall.That would be Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In later years the lower floor was an athletic club! |
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| The tiny Swasey Hotel. I can only imagine four cramped rooms on the upper floor with kitchen and reception below. |
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| The Jail House. Photo by Sarah Schroer |
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| An overview of the last mine remaining. |
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| Many of the homes are sided and roofed with small pieces of tin. These are recycled gas cans. Proof positive that folks will recycle and reuse if there is a need. The patina of the weathered wood, and rust of this metal is quite beautiful to the eye. |
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| Someone clearly had a sense of humor reconstructing this early automobile, substituting a 55 gal. drum for the engine. |
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| Much time is spent peering through windows in Bodie, seeing artifacts left behind when the town was abandoned. |
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| Old Wood |
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| One comes to Bodie with a "Gold Rush" town mind set. However, since the town carried on until 1942, there some "modern" appointments. |
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| Many automobiles did not make it out of Bodie. |
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| Bodie Fire Department. |
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| Gas Station. |
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| Gas Pumps |
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| Jail and Stable. Looks like one of the locals is hanging out. I didn't dare go closer. |
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| Another fine home in Bodie. |
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| The gas can next to this automobile will be of no help in getting it running. |
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| Modest home in Bodie |
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| The Saw Mill is struggling to survive. |
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| On the side of the Saw Mill. That is a large blade. |
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| I was struck by the somewhat ornate lamp fixture on the door step. This later cabin had electricity. |
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| More tin work with recycled gas cans. |
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| Old Automobile and cabin. This car still had the engine and transmission. Others were gone. This is one of my favorite photographs of the visit. |
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| Tom Miller Stable and Ice House. |
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| These photos represent only a fraction of what there is to see in Bodie. Do have a visit when you can! |
8 comments:
Nice pictures, Paul; well exposed. Janet and I had the opportunity to go to Bodie (we had some time to kill over there)... After seeing your pictures (and your comment at the end that the photos only represent a fraction of what there is to see), I now lament skipping it.
We visited last year. Amazing place. Your pictures are stunning. Totally makes mine look like snapshots. :-)
Brian,
Although I was there once perhaps 20 years ago, I can't tell you how many times I've passed the junction thinking it would be nice to visit, but instead chose to forge ahead to my destination. Sunday was perfect. We needed a relaxing day after a bike ride that turned out to be much harder than we expected (White Mountain Double). The forecast was for 50% chance of T-Storms, which made for perfect shooting conditions, cloudy skies with a few sprinkles. We certainly lucked out! Sarah also has some great pics which I will try to add to the blog.
You did a very good job choosing your subjects and framing them perfectly. The lighting definitely helped with the "old stuff." Makes everything dramatic.
Hi Paul!! Leland and I were at Bodie a few years ago and we both loved it!! There is so much to see, so much history I would go again in a hart beat. I too highly recommend it as a must see! Question, did you take the blk and white photos too? Also are all the photos on your blog pics you took? If they are there wonderful. Nice job. That is such beautiful country out there. Glad you had a good trip! Stacey
Stacey, Yes I did take all the photos presented here, including the B/W. The B/W photos are color photos converted to B/W. Most were taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX-7, with a few others with the iPhone 6. I only edited out a few photos, this is pretty much all of them I took.
Note: I plan to add a few photos taken by Sarah Schroer, and I will give photo credit on those.
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