Bodie/Masonic ghost-towning

Having spent a portion of my childhood exploring the desert by motorcycle with my father, we decided it would be fun to revisit those areas now that twenty years has elapsed since our last visit.  (That statement makes me feel old, by the way.)  Neither of us currently owns motorcycles, so this time-around we would be using the 4Runner.  We also invited Mike and his father to join us in Mike's 4Runner.

Mike and I picked up our dads on a Wednesday afternoon and headed over Sonora Pass enroute to the Bridgeport area.  Sonora Pass tops out at just under 10,000 ft and it was the perfect time of year for seeing fall color.  We had lunch in Bridgeport, topped off with fuel at $5.79 per gallon(!!) and headed into the ghost town of Bodie via the paved State Parks access road.  My dad and I have been here many times but Mike's father had never seen Bodie.

Jolly Kone in Bridgeport.  Burgers, fries, shakes and a side of massage.

 Bodie:

After stumbling around for an hour or so we headed out a dirt road, through some fun canyons and into Nevada.

We found a nice desert meadow to spend the night and set up camp.  I was able to shoot my old Ruger 10/22, something I hadn't done in probably 15 years, as well as my dad's .357 and Mike's .45 and 9 mm handguns.  As night fell the temperatures dropped dramatically, so we stayed close to the fire until it was time to go to sleep.  The nighttime temperature forecasted for Bodie was 18 degrees and we were told it would be even colder where we were camping.  We chose to sleep in the 4Runner for the insulation factor.  I would guess the temps were no lower than mid-20s, and we slept fine through the night.  We woke up, had breakfast and watched a storm advance, bringing mist at first, then rain in increasing amounts,  We packed up and headed out for a day of exploring. 

The rain had little impact on our day, although it did make travel interesting.  The State Park's website indicates that high clearance 2WD or 4WD vehicles are fine in the area, "except during rain events," when the high clay content in the soil makes travel dangerous.  We discovered the truth in that statement.  When you step from the truck onto the ground, your shoe would instantly pack with 2" of clay.  Same thing happens to the tires.  Even in four wheel drive, any sort of incline resulted in wheel slippage and wheelwells packed in clay/mud.  We spent the day exploring old ghost towns such as Aurora, Masonic and the apparently haunted Chemung Mine, however the increasing rain, slippery conditions and being late afternoon resulted in our decision to head back to pavement.

We made our way to the main graded dirt road and discovered a truck and small camp trailer that had nearly slid off the road and a cement truck that had slid off the road.  Both parties indicated help was on its way, which we later passed further down the road.  We made it safely back to pavement and headed to Bridgeport for an early dinner.

 We had heard on Mike's 2-meter radio (something I subsequently purchased and installed in the 4Runner) that the storm was expected to continue and had discovered that our route home via Sonora Pass closed overnight due to snow.  We decided to split ways, my father and I headed south toward Tioga Pass in Yosemite to get my dad back home to Oakdale, and Mike and his dad heading north and back to Sacramento via Monitor Pass.  Later that evening Tioga Pass was also closed due to snow, so obviously we made the right decision.

First snow for the year on Tioga Pass/Yosemite:

We had a great time, it was fun spending time with my dad in the desert revisiting areas from my childhood, and also enjoyed hanging out with Mike and his dad exploring, shooting guns, taking photos and hanging out around the campfire.  The number of trails leaving the desert floor and heading into the mountains seemed numerous and there were many abandoned mines and old ghost towns appearing on the map that definitely warrant future exploring.