Bodie Ghost Town, California

After an early departure to capture images at Lake Tahoe, Bodie Ghost Town was next on the list. Bodie was a thriving gold producing town during the 1850's. At one stage the population of the small town exceeded 8000 people as miners, pastors, gunslingers, barbers, bar tenders, and prostitutes plied their trade in the hope of striking it rich. A large commercial gold mine was sunk at Bodie and produced gold for many years before leads ran dry.

Bodie Town eventually became derelict and deserted with only a few residents attempting to eek out a living searching for gold. Because of its relative isolation, the town was forgotten by the mainstream community until the mid 1960's when it was passed to the Parks Service to administer.

 

Today the town is more or less as it was left. The temperate and dry conditions of the high Sierras have protected the wood from decay and minimized decay of many implements left around and within the "city" limits. The condition of the buildings must be seen to be believed and in some buildings their contents were still present. The store contained various bottles of whatever, saws, picks, miners lamps and wooden containers. The saloon still had a piano, snooker table, chairs, table and eating utensils - waiting for the next guest. The local church still had its bell. Littering the streets of Bodie were old vehicles, the remains of horse driven equipment and two early 1920's petrol bowsers complete with "Shell Petroleum" signs.

Visitors maybe tempted to collects omething here or there and take home, but the collecting of artifacts is impossible as parks personnel monitor visitors and for those attempting to try a hefty fine and possible jail term await.

Access is via a dirt road which in this instance was covered with winter snow. The scenery along the rack leading to the ghost town is well worth the visit by itself; towering mountains, large volcanic rocks and stunted high desert alpine vegetation.

Following Bodie we traveled south to Lone Pine (Alabama Hills) stopping at Bishop along Highway 395 to photograph the moon rising through sunset tinted clouds above snow capped, precipitous peaks of the Sierra Mountains. Reaching Lone Pine relatively late in the evening, a quick survey was made of the town to determine what food was available before cleaning cameras, lenses and downloading and key wording images for another early morning starts at 0500 the coming day

Sierras, California and Nevada

The drive from Sonoma Coast State Beach to Lake Tahoe was relatively uneventful with the exception of a petrol station attendant who seems mesmerized by an Australian accent! The region is mostly wine making and farming/ranching country. As the Sierra Ranges came into view, the elevation above sea level increased to roughly 8000 feet asl and the temperature dropped to around 28F (-5C) with light snow falling.

The pass over the High Sierras is amazing to say the least. Lodgepole Pines and Birch trees covered in fresh snow greet you as you slowly climb the winding road across the pass. At the top of the pass visibility drops as snow clouds hover close to the road's surface. Unfortunately the crossing was made close to evening so photography was not possible.

Tomorrow morning, it's hoped to capture the sunrise at an area know as the Bonsai Rock; a early departure from Lake Tahoe at 0500 is expected to ensure enough time is available to reach the site, compose an image and set up equipment. If weather conditions continue as they are at the moment it's envisaged that temperatures will be in the low 20's F (-10C) until the sun rises.

Sonoma Coast State Beach, California

Before heading east to the Sierras and the arid region a quick stop was made at Sonoma Coast State Beach.

This region of northern California has to be witnessed to be believed. Massive ocean going swells generated from the Pacific Ocean roll into shallow water and dissipate their power onto the rocky headlands, offshore rocks and beach. The power of these waves is awesome with some wave sets reaching 5 meters in height.

Unless your here in the very early or late afternoon to capture images at the prime time, you will definitely require a polarizing and/or neutral density filter if you intend to try and slow the shutter speed to such as extent that the water will flow across your image giving a ghostly appearance.

Arid Region, California. NANPA, New Mexico

I am about to head out to the desert regions where internet access will be zero, so nothing will be posted for the next week and half or so. I'll be camping from a four wheel drive vehicle. Hopefully, if conditions are good I will photographing desert landscapes, star trails and joshua trees. No doubt there will be several very early morning get ups to capture sunrise shots and some late nights to capture star trails.

Directly before visiting the arid region I will stopping at the Sonoma Coast State Beach. After visiting Death Valley and Joshua Tree, I'll be traveling to the NANPA conference located this year in New Mexico. The conference is an ideal place to network, learn addition photographic techniques and improve your marketing skills.

At the conference conclusion I'll be re-entering the arid regions to complete additional landscape desert work, before spending 10 days in Yellowstone National Park photographing winter wildlife in chilly snowy conditions. Last call temperatures at Yellowstone were around the -20 Celsius mark, so shooting in these conditions will be both taxing on me and the equipment.

Northern Elephant Seals, California

 

During the afternoon after photographing Sea Otters at Moss Landing we made the 2 hour drive south to Piedras Blancas to photograph the Elephant Seals. It was hoped to capture the seals in the later afternoon "golden light", however the seal colony is not ideally positioned to take full advantage of the afternoon light. Despite this, it was a productive afternoon as the male bulls were particularly active in securing their territories from rival males. 

As evening approached the marine layer (sea fog) preceeding a westerly frontal change slowly made its way toward shore. The mist was chilled the atmosphere several degrees cooler as it came closer to shore and quickly enveloped several rocky outcrops offshore. It soon became apparent why the California coast has many lighthouses and fog horn that sound continually. Any mariner would have a difficult time in securing passage in such foggy conditions. By night fall the fog had moved slightly inland a visibility driving back to Moss Landing was only a few meters at the most.

I am amazed at the diversity of habitats and wildlife that occur in northern California. Usually marine mammals breed on offshore islands

away from urban coastal development, however, California authorities have been determined to protect vital breeding areas for certain mammals allowing them full reign of prime coastal areas.