Picture of the week

Winter in Bodie

The famous leaning building of Bodie.  While passing through the Owens Valley corridor in mid April a late storm covered the historic ghost town of Bodie in a few inches of snow the previous night.  Up at about 8400 feet in altitude Bodie gets more snow than back down on Highway 395. Due to the iffy road conditions that scared many away, I was fortunate enough to get here in a 4wd vehicle before others tracked through the area. It was a unique opportunity to photograph this well covered state park under winter-like conditions as normally the road is closed into Bodie several miles back during the off-season.

The town of Bodie originated in 1859 as a mining camp when gold was discovered here.  The town peaked at about 1880 with a population of about 7000. This was considered large at the time, with a 20 stamp mill operation and its own hydroelectric plant to supply electricty to the town and mining facilities.  As the gold ore was exhausted, Bodie declined signficantly with the last 3 occupants in 1943 in the middle of World War Two.  You can see more images of Bodie in my gallery on the old west here.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2013.  Last updated: 5/4/2013   ()