Celebrate ‘Winter in August' at This Famous Ghost Town

FINDING A DEEP QUIETITUDE? You can, at Bodie State Historic Park, where winds that seem to have originated in 1870 whoosh down the chaparral-dotted hillsides of the old ghost town, giving you a strange sense that you're hearing some long-forgotten, slightly surreal soundtrack. Even if there are other visitors milling about the world-famous destination, which sits in a remote corner of Mono County, you can still hear the quiet, sense the solitude, and feel a connection to another time, an era before the horns and whirring and beeps and blurps of the modern era. But there are a few days of the year when Bodie bustles, and special happenings flower along its streets, the "arrested decay" streets seen in award-winning snapshots and Old West documentaries. One of those days is clip-clopping our way, on Aug. 13, when the Bodie Foundation's Friends of Bodie Day visits the ghost town for several hours of activities, a dinner created for members, and a midday parade, too.

THE PARADE... rolls at 1 p.m., but there are other happenings, including activities and craft stations created just for younger Bodie buffs, an area devoted to the geology of the area, peeks inside the Stamp Mill, and vendors, too. Will some people gussy-up, in the style of a 19th-century Californian, all to get into the spirit of the spirited spot? That is a bit of a tradition among a number of visitors, yes, so do break out the waistcoat and boots if you're feeling it. You might bring a scarf, too, for while it won't be cold by any stretch of the imagination — we are in the hottest stretch of the calendar, after all — the theme of the 2022 Friends of Bodie Day is "Winter in August!" How that notion will be explored does intrigue, especially since Bodie's winter storms can be so incredibly epic, with huge snow drifts further deepening the ghostly appearance of the village.

FOR ALL THE DETAILS, including what will be open to Bodie Foundation members, turn your wagon in the direction of this site.