Visiting a ghost town…
Good morning from Bridgeport, California where the temperature is forty degrees at five am as I write this, Later today the forecast is for clear skies and a high of seventy five degrees. Those clear skies will be crystal clear as Bridgeport is at almost seven thousand feet of altitude. Just south of here at Mammoth Lakes they had a dusting of snow yesterday morning and the day before.
I am staying at the Silver Maple Motel. And it is a motel, a classic single story motel from the late 1940s or early 1950’s with a very cool neon sign typical of that era. The exterior is showing its age despite a fairly fresh layer of paint, but the rooms have been updated. However, the internet was spotty last night and is unavailable this morning, there is no microwave — an inconvenience, but particularly irksome since I bought food that needs a microwave for preparing.
Bridgeport is an unincorporated community of 553 residents that despite not being a “real” town, it is the county seat of Mono County. That says something about Mono County — an area of over three thousand square miles and population of just over twelve thousand people. Below is the decryption of the area from Wikipedia:
The county is located east of the Sierra Nevada between Yosemite National Park and Nevada. The only incorporated town in the county is Mammoth Lakes, which is located at the foot of Mammoth Mountain. Other locations, such as June Lake, are also famous as skiing and fishing resorts. Located in the middle of the county is Mono Lake, a vital habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. The lake is located in a wild, natural setting, with pinnacles of tufa arising out of the salty and alkaline lake. Also located in Mono County is Bodie, the official state gold rush ghost town, which is now a California State Historic Park.
I arrived here yesterday, a day earlier than planned. I had to cut short my visit with my sister. She has five cats, and I am apparently allergic to cats. This morning, just short of twenty four hours after leaving her house my nose has finally returned to close to normal. I have been around cats a number of times of times before, I worked at veterinary clinic right out of high school, and never had a problem. It may have been the number of cats, or the enclosed space — who knows, but it was a great visit despite the brevity of it.
I spent yesterday afternoon in Bodie, a ghost town just east of Bridgeport. Once again, I will lean on Wikipedia for a description of Bodie:
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet. Bodie became a boom town in 1876 after the discovery of a profitable vein of gold; by 1879 it had established 2,000 structures with a population of roughly 8,000 people.
The town went into decline in the subsequent decades and came to be described as a ghost town by 1915. The U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes the designated Bodie Historic District as a National Historic Landmark. Also registered as a California Historical Landmark, the ghost town officially was established as Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.
As planned yesterday was a scouting trip, a chance to reorient myself with the town. The last time I visited Bodie was over 40 years ago. The altitude and arid climate continue help preserve the remaining buildings, but I could see signs of more decay or patination since my last visit, mostly paint on wagon wheels I had photographed the last time I visited.
I did take a number of photographs. It was a chance to find things I will shoot today more carefully, and a chance to learn the capabilities and limitations of shooting exclusively with an iPhone.
It seems there is a decent coffee establishment in town that opens at six, so I will sign off and go get some caffeine.
The tourist season is winding down and there was nothing open when I headed out at 6:30 am. So, I came back, took a shower, and have spent some time creating a gallery of yesterday’s images. Since I packed light and did not bring my laptop, I am working on this site with my iPad. That means there are limitations. I cannot add a gallery to this post, so I have added a page for gallery — photo gallery