JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: Bodie: Images Of A Ghost Town

Bodie: Images Of A Ghost Town

By Jauder Ho

18 Apr 2007

Ghost towns. They invoke images of oft desolate places where pioneers once braved all odds in order to create a better life for themselves. Abandoned for various reasons, ghost towns dot America although you have to look much harder now.

My story starts when I first started taking pictures again after a hiatus of about 16 years. I had really enjoyed photography in high school but other activities then took priority. It was not until I took my first real vacation in 10 years that I realized how much I missed photography.

I had read about ghost towns but did not know much more other than some general history. Discovering Flickr and seeing pictures from Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) however increased my interest greatly. Therefore, the day after Thanksgiving in 2005, I set out to see Bodie and Mono Lake.

Bodie is one of the most well preserved ghost towns in America and is located in the eastern part of California, several hours south of Tahoe. Due to the time of the year, many of the passes were closed and I ended up backtracking multiple times before finally making it to Lee Vining, the closest inhabited town about some 30 miles away.

In order to get to Bodie, you have to go through miles of unpaved road which adds to the surreal feel once you get there. It is a place which at its peak had more than 10,000 people living there although only a comparatively small part survives today.

The first thing you notice is that most of the noise typically associated with populated areas is conspicuously absent. It is eerily quiet with not even the sound of birds. The only thing you hear is the wind whipping through due to the high altitude, lack of trees and the exposed location. Weather conditions are extremely variable; on the two occasions that I have been to Bodie, the first was when it was about -30F and the second had a temperature variation from 22 to 80F between dawn and noon!

As you can imagine, life out on the frontier was extremely hard and subsequently claimed the lives of many during the winter of 1878. However, there was still a large influx of people as Bodie held the promise of riches as it was part of the California Gold Rush. Strange as it may sound, I find Bodie to be peaceful and a welcome change from the hectic rush of life.

Because of its relative isolation, Bodie does not get that many visitors. However, it is definitely worth the trip to appreciate the stark beauty and I plan on returning at least once a year to capture the changes.