Memory Lane: Visiting Bodie, California an American Ghost Town
In June of 2008 our time riding with Novos came to a close in the town of Lee Vining just outside of Yosemite National Park. While Kenny, Greg and I checked in to a hotel, Novos peeled off heading towards his home in SoCal. He was going back to real life and we continued on in our California riding fantasy world.
In the morning under a clear blue sky, three headed north on route 395 with a view of Mono Lake sparkling to the east. We were heading towards the Sonora Pass.
About 20 miles out of town we saw signs for Bodie Historic Park. I had previously seen photos of the park from Novos. It looked really interesting. So, I pulled off and asked the guys if they wanted to check it out. I don’t know why I even asked. It should have been one of those given moments. Who knows when I’d ever pass that way again? It’s best to just go take a peek rather than wonder what it might have been like for the rest of your life. On we went in to Bodie.
Bodie is frozen in time. By the time that the State of California took over the town in 1962, it had been abandoned and ravaged by fire. The remaining 200 or so structures in the town are all that is left as a result of a major blaze that occurred in the 1930s.
It was fascinating to stroll through the dirt roadways, peering in to the old buildings. The only inhabitants that remain in this old mining town are the swallows that make mud nests in the eaves.
Photo Gallery – Click to Enlarge
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11 Responses to this entry
11:36 am
Very Bodielicious. Thanks to Ed for pointing this out, well worth the run up the dirt road to get there and see an unblemished window into history.
12:32 pm
Color me jealous! Great pics
2:33 pm
Memory Lane: Visiting Bodie, California an American Ghost Town http://goo.gl/fb/jf9b
7:42 pm
Photos from Visiting Bodie, California an American Ghost Town http://bit.ly/9RIh5p
1:43 pm
Very nice. I love places like this.
4:35 pm
Thanks, Gunnar. It was such a cool experience to be in a place where time just stopped.
4:36 pm
Ms. Wendy – California would be heaven for you. GREAT riding and GREAT roadside stuff!
5:08 pm
Are those bullet holes on the Shell gasoline sign?
6:12 pm
Yessir, indeed they are
I guess that’s what happened in the wild, wild west.
3:00 am
California Road Trip Blog Post – Visiting Bodie, California an American Ghost Town http://bit.ly/9RIh5p
12:26 pm
Looks a very interesting place, Fuz. Was it originally a gold rush town that just got abandoned or something more macabre?