The Road to Bodie by auntietk
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Description
How many people have been to Bodie? I don't know ... thousands and thousands. They all show you pictures of the town, the car, the interesting houses and some of the things in them. I'll be doing that as well ... it was a fascinating place.
But how come nobody ever says, "Oh by the way, the last three miles of road are a killer!" How come nobody ever says that? A beautiful, paved macadam road takes you from Highway 395 to a point about three miles from Bodie. I mean to tell you, it's fabulous. Smooth, relatively new blacktop ... it's very nice. They warn you that the road is only paved for ten miles. A few miles in they tell you it's nine miles to Bodie. When you get to the end, there's a big sign that tells you the pavement is ending and the road is rough.
Rough?
Holy crap!
Rough is washboarding. A few potholes, perhaps. While this unpaved three-mile stretch of road did, indeed, have sections of washboarding and plenty of potholes, it also has big-a$$ed rocks sticking up out of the dirt! You have to drive the road at a crawl. This shot is just one part of the road. The pictures I took when it was REALLY bad didn't turn out, because the camera was bouncing around too much!
Halfway through that section, I said to Bill, "It's a good thing we don't always know what we're in for," and that's certainly the truth! We would probably have skipped Bodie, along with the Devil's Backbone in Escalante and the West Rim at Crater Lake.
I took this shot (along with a million others ... do you think some of them might have been the teensiest bit blurry???) on the way back down. The view is gorgeous, but nobody who's driving gets to see it!
If you're thinking of visiting Bodie, by all means do it. The place is fascinating. But man, that road is evil!!
Comments (26)
Faemike55
Looks fascinating and fun. I'd ride that section with my mountain bicycle!!!!!
beachzz
Oh wow, that road looks wicked bad---but what a great place to see!!
bodo_56
A wonderful view!
rickclark
Wonderful scenery, and you had an adventure! Good for you and thanks for sharing it. Rick
giulband
Great landscape great shot
SunriseGirl
Evil road aside you still managed to get a very nice shot with gorgeous atmospheric perspective. I wonder why they did not pave the last 3 miles?
durleybeachbum
Three MILES of that ? Three hundred yards would be more than enough! But what an experience and what a view!
wysiwig
Seems the scenery and the road put you in the right frame of mind to visit a ghost town. Love the hills in this shot.
Katraz
A great looking road and at least it looks wide I hear the Black Bear road Is the real killer, looking forward to more pics.
Deadly_Ernest
Hey, that looks just like the road between my front door and the front gate at the last place I lived in. Nice shot of the scenery.
ronmolina
Nice shot!
whaleman
The view is very nice, even through the windshield! The road makes you wonder if going off-road might be more comfortable, lol.
jayfar
The roads in the UK have their fair share of potholes but I don't envy you travelling three miles on this.
Wolfenshire
Looks like my old drive-way. Keeps the tourists out. Most of the time.
prutzworks
xlt captured atmospheric depth
bmac62
In this case I can add, off road would be impossible...hillside after hillside covered with large jumbled, jagged rocks. This shot came out great. Love the scenic backdrop. And no, I didn't see this scenery myself as I was starring at the next 25 feet of road as we went picking the least offensive route. But as bad as the last three miles was, I'd happily go back to see more of Bodie.
Adobe_One_Kenobi
Cool shot my dear. I like the palate of colours here
FredNunes
Beautiful!
MrsRatbag
Yes, it does seem to be a perilous road, but look at the light on the distant hillside! Look!!! It's so amazingly gorgeous! Glad this shot came out...
moochagoo
Last, I couldnt find the road, we missed it.
kgb224
Superb capture Tara. God bless.
helanker
WOW! I hope your kidneys are still in their right place after this trip LOL! I am glad you ended up in Bodie in one piece............. each. :) Wonderful view indeed.
nikolais
wonderful light over the expanse, Tara! great shot
RodS
Hehe - You know those rovers driving around on Mars? Now you know why the things only travel at 1/10th mph........LOL! Seriously this looks like quite an adventure - I'm up for it! :-D I'd be in hog heaven.... Cool (and sharp) capture, Tara!
sossy
impressive view but the hell of the last 3 miles ;o)
dochtersions
Such an amazing view, with the mountains each to see after another. Would you ever re-create the same ride, Tara (?), I have no suspicion about that. But when I read your experiences ...... seems not easy for me to do it again.