September 17, 2017. A gold mine ghost town

NOTE --- We have not had wifi for several days, so these next few posts have been delayed...

 

CAMPGROUND:  Another night at Lower Lee Vining National Forest Service Campground.  

 

LOCATION:  Outside the entrance of Yosemite National Park in eastern California

 

WEATHER:  Very pleasant.  High 65.  Near freezing at night.

 

We scurried around the campground looking for a good site for Tony and Jenny to camp in tonight.  A few campers left, fortunately, and we grabbed a site for them.

 

We drove to Bodie State Park, a ghost town that has been preserved by the park system.  In the 1800s it was a very prosperous gold mining town.  In 1879 it had a population of about 10,000.

 

We learned that part of the town was very respectable and conservative, with ladies' lunches, dress shops, schools, churches, and halls for gala events.  

 

The other part of town was full of bars and rowdy miners.   It had more than 60 saloons and dance halls, along with 3 breweries.  It had a reputation of being one of the most lawless towns in the West.  One preacher described it as "a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion".  

 

 

It also had a Chinese section for the poor, discriminated workers.  

 

The mining started to decline in 1881 and the town was soon abandoned.  

 

On our way back into town, we ran into Tony and Jenny where they had stopped along the highway for a picnic lunch.  What a great surprise!  We got them settled in their campsite, then took off to start exploring Yosemite.  

 

We went to the visitors' center in the northern part of the park.  A ranger just happened to be giving an information talk, so we joined up with that.  We stopped by the campground where we hope to get a "first come-first served" site tomorrow night in the northern section of Yosemite. 

 

We went into town and bought provisions for the next few days in the park.  

 

Back at our campground, George built anther roaring fire.  Our neighbors had cut down 3 trees today, and gave us a bunch of firewood.  So kind.

 

DINNER:  I cheated and bought dinner at a BBQ restaurant in town:  ribs, salad, rolls, and soup.  During our 4 nights together, we will do 2 dinners, and Tony/Jenny will do 2.