We decided to spend our day exploring Bodie State Historic Park, which is an hour and a half north of Mammoth Lakes, along the eastern gateway to Yosemite. Today, Bodie stands just as time, fire and the elements have left it - a genuine California gold mining ghost town. It is maintained in a star of "arrested decay."Bodie was reputed to have been the wildest town in the west - a gold mining town where 35 million dollars in gold was discovered from 1877 till 1888.
By 1879 Bodie boasted a population of 10,000 and was second to none for wickedness, badmen and a very difficult outdoor climate. Robberies, stage holdups and street fights provided variety and the town's 65 saloon's were a place to relax after a hard day of work in the mines.
We had the pleasure of spending a number of hours exploring this extraordinary town. I managed to take over a thousand photographs and could not wait to get to a power source, charge my computer and start creating a photographic essay. I did spend some time wishing I cold have had a Year 12 Visual Arts class with me for just an hour!
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