Bodie, California

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Monday was designed for Bodie Ghost Town and paddle boarding. Well, the SUP vendor didn't come into town, so my friend Em had a great idea to go to Rainbow Falls in Mammoth.
I headed 18 miles South on highway 395 to 167 East and followed the windy road to Bodie State Historical Park for 13 miles. If you don't know the story behind Bodie, I'll enlighten you with the cliff notes from their walking guide brochure.
Bodie was an old mining town from 1877-1881. Short lived, right!? Well, following the 1849 Gold Rush, mining declined along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. So, people in the town left abruptly to cross the Sierra Nevada to find the next big strike in the Eastern slopes.
Bodie, was actually named after a miner, W.S. Bodey, who discovered the gold and died months later in a blizzard. What's crazy is his bones were discovered in 1879 and then "misplaced" after burial. Umm.. what. They believe his resting place is somewhere on the hill. 🤔

Never seeing the town that honors him, the town was believed to have a reputation for attracting a rougher crowd. During its heyday, there was more than 60 saloons, bad men and wild times. Also, prostitute cribs and opium dens. Guess they had to do something if they weren't having any luck mining, right?
The James Stuart Cain House (picture above): James S. Cain arrived in Bodie at age 25 in 1879. He had just married Martha Delilah Wells of Genoa, Nevada. Cain entered the lumber business and put barges and a steamship on Mono Lake to transport wood. In 1888, he became a banker and kept the Bodie Bank open until 1932. (Below is all that remains of the Bodie Bank after the 1932 fire) in 1915, he acquired Standard Company mining properties through court action and soon became the principal owner in town. Despite the town's reputation,  the bank was never robbed.
There were birds nests and a heard of deer were literally not even 50 feet away from me. The ranger had told me during hunting season they like to come to Bodie for safety. Makes sense to me.
It was a beautiful day. I decided from Bridgeport (Bodie) I'd head down to Mammoth to see Rainbow Falls. I drove through Mammoth and got to the slopes. Can you believe with 80° weather, there was still quite a lot of people on the slopes. The last 25 minutes to the trail head, the road was closed. What a bummer. So I drove back to June lake and took out a chair and sunbathed by the crystal clear water. Guess today was meant for slowing down and getting my feet wet. I think I can manage that. Happy Memorial to all of you and remembering those whom gave their life for our today. Cheers 💚🌱

Comments

  1. Melissa Jean OrtizMay 31, 2021 at 6:21 PM

    Too bad about rainbow falls but I like that your rollin with slowin down. It IS crazy people are still on the slopes!!? June Lake looks good on you!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. D. GutierrezJune 1, 2021 at 9:54 PM

    Ok but why hasn’t Morbid covered this town along with Bodey & his lost bones! 😱😬😂🙌🏽

    ReplyDelete

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