Bodie State Park

The ghost town of Bodie north of Mono Lake in California had a population of 10,000 in 1879.  Today what remains of the once thriving mining town is now a California state historical park.  The park strives to maintain the existing structures in a state of "arrested decay".

A panorama showing Bodie, the mill and mine workings.

Remains of old mining equipment.

"Arrested Decay"

The church.

Everyday items left behind, now covered in dust.

Bottles in the windows of an old house.

Remains of curtains still hanging on.

More old buildings.

Old gasoline pumps and vehicle.

The old ore processing mill with the mine workings on the hills behind.

An interesting pair of buildings.

Near Lee Vining

Soon after visiting the Alabama Hills, we spent a few days at one of our favorite campgrounds along Lee Vining Creek.

Plants near Mono Lake that have gone to seed.

Portrait of a Gull at Mono Lake taken in late afternoon light.

An American Dipper or Water Ouzel.  These birds walk under the surface of rushing mountain streams feeding on insects found in the stream bottom.  It is hard to catch them still and in the sunlight.

A Clark's Nutcracker.

A chipmunk found the birdseed put out by neighboring campers.

Portrait of a Steller's Jay.

"What should I do with this?"

This Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel was filling his cheeks.

Barbara's favorite campsite's cascade.

Alabama Hills

We started our recent RV trip by traveling up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.  One of our first stops on that trip was an overnight visit to the Alabama Hills which are near Lone Pine, California.

A couple of shots taken in late afternoon light.

First light hitting the Sierra Nevada crest.

Sierra Nevada Mountains bathed by early morning sunlight.

The next two images are an attempt at HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing.  HDR is a technique where the same scene is photographed with a series of different exposures to capture details in the shadows, midtones, and bright areas of the scene.  These different exposures are then blended to produce one image that has more detail than can be obtained with a single exposure.