Saturday in Bodie

September 24, 2016

Arriving at Bodie after many miles of rough, washboard road. Neither Mono County nor the state keeps the dirt road up.

In the Visitor Center there were two horse drawn hearses. Life was rough in Bodie. The miners union provided some benefits for the dependents of those who fell down the shaft.

 

The old miner sits on the sill of the Dechambeau Hotel reading the walking tour guide.

The old miner and his old truck

The Swasey Hotel is barely still standing.

A selfie with the mine in the background

The hops that used to grow on the porch of the Conway house were said to be the only green plants that could survive in Bodie.

This big house was where the mine superintendent lived. Theodore Hoover, brother of President Herbert Hoover, was also a mining engineer.

The old miner's last stop in town was Maiden Lane and Virgin Alley.

We took a rest break and snack stop back in the RV. We still wanted to tour the cemetery on the hill overlooking the town.

Evelyn, known as the Angel of Bodie, was almost 3 when she died in 1897. She died after being struck in the head with a pick axe while a ditch was being dug around her house. Life was often short and violent for children and adults in Bodie.

Still alive in the Bodie cemetery.

This monument was intended for the man who originally discovered gold in Bodie. But since he died in a blizzard soon after and his remains were not found for 20 years, the monument was dedicated to President Garfield after his assassination.

Many people were buried outside the cemetery, such as prostitutes, indigents and the illegitimate. Rosa May was a prostitute. This headstone memorial to her is in back of the large morgue building outside the fenced cemetery.

We were greeted by the proprietor of the Virginia Creek Settlement restaurant. Despite his appearance, the food was excellent. I brought home enough for two more meals.
 

Short trip down the East Side of the Sierras

September 22, 2016
Usually when we are near Bridgeport, we are just heading home. But this trip is going to be concentrated in the upper part of the East Side as far south as the road to Tioga Pass and June Lakes. Our first night is at the Paradise Shores RV Park next to the Bridgeport Reservoir. We will stay here a few nights and explore the surrounding area. The reservoir looks low and there is no vegetation around the edge. Very bleak. The wind is expected, but it is so cold it feels like my nose is going to fall off.  William says this is the coldest night of the trip.

     The next morning I take my coffee over to a neighboring picnic table, because of birds. I think they are starlings. They land in a large silver-leaved tree near our site, then swoop off with a clatter over our rig and then down toward the water. The evidence on our rig and our picnic table indicates that they are being successful at gathering food.

missed the starlings in my picture

     Our first side trip is to Twin Lakes. We parked at Arnett's Mono Village. Lots of activity around here mainly oriented around fishing. There is a huge RV park with decent wifi and many summer homes. We hiked for a few hours, part way to Barney's Lake and later found the start of the lakeside trail.

 

Trails are not marked the way Italian trails are. You are lucky if you find a sign that marks the trail and the descriptions of how to find the trails are not entirely clear.

After lunch we found the parking in the middle of the twin lakes and walked a while along the lakeside trail from the middle.

William walked part way up the Cattle Creek trail.

On our way back on the access road we saw quite a few kokanee salmon. We'd seen a few earlier in the creeks leading into upper twin lake. Fishing season is over in the creeks.