Ghosts of Bodie

When I was a kid, my parents took my sister and me to the strangest place: Bodie, California. Located in the high desert, just east of Yosemite, this once-thriving gold mining town of 5,000 residents is now uninhabited. It serves as a living document of one of the coldest and roughest towns of the old West.

I remember peeking throught windows of the leaning, wooden houses to see empty baby cribs, bed frames, living room chairs and dining room tables, all covered in a thick layer of dust. It was as if the townsfolk had all disappeared suddenly, leaving it in a state of suspension. As a child, this seemed to me like a perfectly comfortable place for the ghosts to reside.

Thirty years later, I went back with my wife and dog. This time around I imagined the rugged wild westerners who once occupied the streets and buildings, and was less fixated on the ghosts that remain. Luckily, I brought a cheap camera and a phone to capture a bit of the fascinating scenery.