WILD WEST GHOST TOWN

After a bunch of momerable cold hiking days in Yosemite National Park we have packed all our stuff in the carand we droved across the Tioga pass. The Tioga pass is the highest pass in the lower 48 states, and it is one of the passes that divides the West from the East Sierra, and normally it is closed due to heavy snow after the first snow in October. So we have been very lucky to find it open. Once on the East side of the Sierra we went to visit one of my favourite places here in California. It is Bodie and it is a real wild west ghost town. Founded in 1876 as a mining town its population when from zero to 8,000 people in 6 years. That was the gold rush. From there California took its name. The Golden State. And Bodie was the Sin City of that era. Everybody still associate the name of Bodie, with the phrase "Goodbye God, we are going to Bodie". Its bad name was probably due to its numerous bars where the local men were spending the small fortunes made with the gold mines and of course for its daily shooting. Basically the Wild West that we saw in hundreds of Hollywood movies was a reality here some 140 years ago! What remains of that town are only the ghosts and some building. The visit is really interesting, even if it was the 3rd time for me there. The town now looks like a strange collection of old and weird stuff. You could almost guess that it was the set of a movie or something. But people was really living here ...

... when you walk thru these streets it is easy to imagine that maybe also our cities will be like Bodie in few years ... :o