©VictorI’d like to thank Tanya for giving me the opportunity to make a feature on the blog and to be able to share the experience that I had to travel to the past. Yes, on July 10th I had the opportunity to travel to the past, and my destiny was the original wild wild west ghost town in the middle of the Sierra Nevada.

It started with Yosemite (another California beauty) where we found ourselves shooting a destination engagement session with the amazing couple Ervin & Michelle. While we were conversing with them about our stay at Mammoth Lake, they mentioned that on our travels back home, we should stop by a ghost town in the middle of the mountains. It’s a ghost miner town in the middle of nowhere.

My interest peaked. I love History, and I love to read about it. As soon we got back to our hotel the same night, I started to research. One of the hotel’s books mentioned that the ghost town was 30 minutes up north in the middle of the hills. That night I found myself sleeping with the heavy book over my chest.

Sunday morning came, and I woke up with the heaviness over my chest and picked up where I left off. With the limited Wi-Fi, I went online to learn more about the place. Believe it or not, with an elevation of 8379 feet in the East of Sierra Nevada there is a small town called Bodie. On our return home, we decided to segue through a road with fewer curves. Thanks to my excellent co-pilot Tanya, we realized that we were just a few minutes away from Bodie. After a democratic vote we veered on a road off the main highway to the past, oh I meant to say, Bodie.

After many miles of pavement, the ghost town welcomed us with a dirt road for about 3 miles. (Thanks to my beloved mother-in-law, with our 4×4 truck it wasn’t an issue). I savored the moment of arrival–the moment of the first encounter. What I wished the most was to witness the past and to be able to recount it afterward, especially with my dad. He’s the one to blame, especially for my passion for history; he used to read to me about the Roman Empire as a bedtime story.

Finally, after leaving the parking area, I rushed to see it in person–to start the Bodie experience. I was already searching for buildings, like the Methodist church, the school, a small hotel with a pool table, the mortuary, and the abandoned homes. Some of them even still contained dishes, toys, tools, furniture, and belongings of late 1800’s family. Bodie’s beginning dates back to 1859 when gold was discovered. By 1879 population grew to 7000’s and 2000 buildings. Within those buildings, there were schools, fire stations, hotels, saloons, dancing halls, and whiskey breweries. Bodie came to be one of the greatest cities in those Gold Rush years in California. For that reason, there’s so much speculation, legends, and stories about Bodie. I was only able to read about a few. I found out about gunfire stories, nightlife, and about Rose May, a prostitute with a heart of gold who helped many people during a time where sickness overcame the town.

Of the 2000 buildings only 170 remain, since many of the inhabitants migrated to other cities searching for new conquests. Time passed, and a fire consumed many of the buildings. But nevertheless, I walked comfortably within the remains of Bodies, on Union Street and then Main. I became nostalgic for those who left their homes intact, their belongings in the search for a better future. Bodie’s history has been repeated in many parts of the world. Now, many of us can research and read about them.

This time, it was different. Now I became a witness and narrator of what I saw. I was armed with my Canon and 35mm. I was able to borrow one of the past’s greatest treasures called Bodie.

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