SATURDAY 18th JULY
From out of the campsite we climb some 8,000 ft to the ghost town of Brodie, half way there my engine boils over - we had just pulled in to let traffic past, was that steam or dust? It was steam, the cap had not been put on correctly from the garage, or left off, not sure which. We waited to cool down and then continued, I had been in the “shed” to get some more antifreeze and left the back doors open, not swinging but fastened open!!!! The last 13 miles were on unmade road so how much dust? or was there no dust? In the shed!
Bodie was named after William S Body in 1859, prospectors had crossed the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains to see the Elephant (to search for gold). A rich discovery was made in Virginia City. This huge gold strike was later known as Comstock Lode, this started a rush to the surrounding high desert country.
By 1879 Bodie had over 10,000 residents and was second to none for wickedness, bad men, and the worst climate out of doors. Killings occurred almost daily, Robberies, Stage Coach hold ups and street fighting were just the norm and of course a Red Light District. The town had 65 saloons and a selection of churches. In 1881 Bodie was described by Reverend F.M.Warrington as “a sea of sin, lashed by the tempest of lust and passion” it was by all accounts the wickedest of the wicked western towns!
Now a fifth of Brodie remains to act as a reminder of those days the climate is still wicked but the visitors are not!!!
Nice curtains!! The really fun part of this ghost town is that it looks as if everyone just up and left. Leaving behind everything they could not carry, looking through the windows is so interesting wallpaper, curtains, beds, chairs and tables, one house had a whole kitchen and laundry. Only one house has been made safe to walk into, there is work in progress for more. A very interesting museum with a large collection from the late 1880’s. The energy for the mills first came from steam generated by wood fires. Then a Hydroelectric Plant was built 13 miles from town with the idea of running the electric along wires! In 1892 the first test was made along with the telephone which flashed the message to throw the switch! (some of the poles that carried these lines are still there, in a straight line because they could not believe electricity could or would go round bends) The generators began to hum and the first motor to be operated over long distance power lines was initiated in Bodie.
It took us a couple of hours to walk around this ghost town peering in windows etc. $900million in gold and silver came from the ground here. We had a great time but could find no gold or silver!
SUNDAY 19th JULY.
We had a lovely drive from the mountain and Brodie to Mammoth Lake where we camped last night. Very large camp site we couldn’t camp together so Carol came and picked me up to go and eat with them on their site, Diane lit the camp fire.
We are going to catch a shuttle to “Devils Post Piles”.
As Basalt lava erupts from volcanic vents and then cools it shrinks and splits, sometimes vertical columns will form. These columns, formed as homogenous lava cooled at a uniformed rate, were exposed during the last glaciations. The tops of the columns look like a well polished tiled floor after being polished by past glaciers. These columns at Devils Post pile have from three to seven sides. In the foreground of the photo are broken poles/column. We climbed to the top of the columns to look at the “tiled floor” we were then at 8,000ft it was a very slow climb for me, no breath!!!!!!!!! It was a great and interesting visit. They tell me the other examples are in Scotland, Ireland and Iceland I have not seen them.
We left Mammoth Lake which is a huge tourist area, year round outdoor pursuits great skiing here, we also saw countless mountain bikes, I don’t think I have ever seen as many in one place and of course hikers. Mammoth Lake is on the east side of Yosemite and we have to get to the west, After lunch we head over the pass through Yosemite National Park which climbs to 9945 feet. This drive is awesome, on the west side the mountains are rugged with a fair bit of snow and beautiful lakes, we stopped a few times just to take in the view and let the engines cool down but once over the peak the landscape changes; we still have mountains and lakes with more trees, but the rocks are smooth they look polished as they sparkle in the sunshine, like little tiny pin points of light; it is amazing and very beautiful, we find a camp site which again is very crowded. Today we saw some Deer, no bears (I looked very hard) I got a nice photo of a Blue J and also saw a Western Tanager which is very yellow with an orange/red head beautiful.
The dog is Ting belongs to Carol and Diane she is beautiful and made a friend of me! Yosemite has Red Pine trees which are reddish to look at their nick name is “widow tree” because they rot from the inside out so no one knows when they are about to fall!!!!!!!! A bit of trivia for you
Tomorrow we head for Sabastopol and Carol and Diane home, where we will have fun with a waste tank............................................
