We had been out hiking in the morning and thought we could slip in an hour or two at the old ghost town of Bodie.

Bodie is the site of an old mining town and the ghost town has been preserved. There are close to 200 of the old structures still standing and many of the original articles of day to day life have been preserved and set out for tourists to see. It's like a huge outdoor museum. We bought a new guide (mine, from 1980, was a bit dated) and began touring the site. We quickly realized that we needed more than an hour or two to completely do the place justice. So we made a look thorough the main part of the old town, visited the museum, and called it a day around 6:00 p.m. local time. We decided to go back on Friday and do some more exploring and to take the guided tour of the mill and crusher.

The road into and out of Bodie to the west, from 395, is about 12 miles long. The first 9 miles closest to the highway is paved, while the last 3 miles is graded dirt. But the dirt road is not too bad. There is drinking water and there are restrooms available near the parking area.

On the way in we spotted a dead fox that someone had hit. We also saw a large flock of sheep being moved along a wash. On the way out I spotted two deer running toward a fence line.

On Friday we drove north on 395 to the turn off to Bodie. It was another bright sunny day. Warm, but with a little cooling breeze that kept it pleasant. As soon as we got to the Park we walked right to the Museum to make sure we got a place on the 11:00 a.m. tour of the stamp mill. We arrived at 10:30. The woman behind the desk said that at that point there was no one else signed up and that they would need to have at least a few more before they could do the tour. We told her that we had come back specifically for the tour. I guess our disappointment showed. There was a volunteer Ranger nearby who told us to come back at about 10:45 and see if more had signed up. If not, he would see what he could do for us. (Nod nod, wink wink.)

So we looked around at a few buildings nearby, took lots of digital photos, Anne made friends with the local mangy cat, and at 10:45 prompt we went back to the museum. The woman said that they had to cancel the 11:00 o'clock tour, but the Ranger told us that he would give us a private tour if we'd meet him at the gate at 11:00. That sounded good to us. We asked if we should pay then or later. He told us that it was free, but if we wanted to make a donation the woman behind the counter would be glad to take our money. After the tour we stopped by the museum and gave her $10.00.

We poked around and worked our way up toward the gate and met the Ranger, Rod, on his way up to meet us. He says that he is retired and that he and his wife live in Mono Village near the lake and that he is a volunteer at the Park. He is an interesting fellow with a long grayish beard and lots of stories and information on the mining and the history of Bodie. He took us into the stamp mill and showed us the main points and even took us into areas where they don't usually take tours because of the danger. It was all very fascinating. I had seen old stamp mills before, from the outside, but never from the inside. And at many old town sites that I've visited all that remains is the foundation.

After the tour we wandered around the town, working our way through all of the streets and visiting all of the buildings. We eventually hiked up to the cemetery and then up to a lone marker way up on the hill above the cemetery. Then we hiked down, back through the town to see Lottie Johl's house, and then we walked back to the parking lot and drove back to Lee Vining.