Part of our schedule while staying at Mammoth Lakes was to visit Bodie. If you are not familiar with it, Bodie is a ghost town not far from the Nevada line. It was once a mining town and quite a booming (and hairy) place but the demise of the mining left the town devoid of a reason to be.   Much of the town was lost to fire but a significant number of buildings remain in pretty much the condition they were when their occupants left. This includes a fair number of interior fixtures and fittings in place.

The Park Service is careful to protect what there is so most of the buildings are closed up. You can look through the windows and there is a tour of the stamping mill. Bar a few places, everything is constructed from wood. The environment has had some effect on them but they are still mostly in good shape. You can see which ones were better constructed at the time. They certainly hold their shape well while some are either collapsing or at least pretty askew.

A few brick structures are around. The bigger ones still seem to be hanging in there while some of the smaller ones have collapsed. Not sure whether this was a result of age or maybe the odd tremor has taken a toll. While the big brick buildings make some sense based on their usage, I was interested in the smaller ones.   Was this a status symbol in old Bodie to have a brick structure? I imagine shipping in the materials was a bit harder than for a lumber house and whether the skilled labor was around, I have no idea.

Getting to Bodie requires a trek of about 16 miles from the highway.   The last three are on a rough track which can be pretty rough in parts. If you have something suited to rough roads this will be no problem but a regular car takes a bit of a pounding. Fine if it is a rental but a bit more troublesome if it is your own! However, take it easy and it is worth the effort.