HOME | DD

Description
Bodie Ghost Town State Park
northern California in the Eastern Sierras
sometime in the 90's (exact date unknown)

An ode to my favorite Sergio Leone film, & favorite western of all-time.

Bodie...once a thriving gold rush boom town with a population of 10,000 established in the late 1870's. It's reputation is that of legend, for Bodie was a true town of the wild wild west. One of the most furious, violent, & lawless towns of the Mother Lode. Second to none for wickedness, badmen, & "the worst climate out of doors". At one point, there were 65 saloons, 7 breweries, a red light district, & a chinatown. The last of it's inhabitants left in the early 1930's. Bodie is now 5% of it's former self, now a ghost town maintained in what is called 'arrested decay'. Today, 170 structures remain. It is one of the best preserved, & uncommercialized, ghost towns of the old west.

Something draws me back to this place time and time again, but I can't pin-point the exact fascination. Maybe it's the connection to the past...a window of an era that no longer exists. I often wonder what life was like in this place, but the local cemetery gives me some clues!

Bodie sits at an elevation of 8375 ft. in the middle of nowhere. It's climate is very dry, & the landscape rugged, barren, & inaccessible. Very much a desert, though not surprising that the Nevada border is but 10 or so miles away. No trees grow here, & there is no shade. Weather conditions are harsh & unforgiving in the winter & summer months. The snowpak can reach well over 20 feet with sub zero temps, & summer temps well into the 100's.

...to learn more, & maybe even visit...

[link]
[link]

BTW, I think they need a separate category for ghost towns!

details:

Canon EOS 1
AGFA Pan 100

Description
Bodie Ghost Town State Park
northern California in the Eastern Sierras
sometime in the 90's (exact date unknown)

An ode to my favorite Sergio Leone film, & favorite western of all-time.

Bodie...once a thriving gold rush boom town with a population of 10,000 established in the late 1870's. It's reputation is that of legend, for Bodie was a true town of the wild wild west. One of the most furious, violent, & lawless towns of the Mother Lode. Second to none for wickedness, badmen, & "the worst climate out of doors". At one point, there were 65 saloons, 7 breweries, a red light district, & a chinatown. The last of it's inhabitants left in the early 1930's. Bodie is now 5% of it's former self, now a ghost town maintained in what is called 'arrested decay'. Today, 170 structures remain. It is one of the best preserved, & uncommercialized, ghost towns of the old west.

Something draws me back to this place time and time again, but I can't pin-point the exact fascination. Maybe it's the connection to the past...a window of an era that no longer exists. I often wonder what life was like in this place, but the local cemetery gives me some clues!

Bodie sits at an elevation of 8375 ft. in the middle of nowhere. It's climate is very dry, & the landscape rugged, barren, & inaccessible. Very much a desert, though not surprising that the Nevada border is but 10 or so miles away. No trees grow here, & there is no shade. Weather conditions are harsh & unforgiving in the winter & summer months. The snowpak can reach well over 20 feet with sub zero temps, & summer temps well into the 100's.

...to learn more, & maybe even visit...

[link]
[link]

BTW, I think they need a separate category for ghost towns!

details:

Canon EOS 1
AGFA Pan 100