mountain ghost town

we spent a day in bodie to meet up with martin and film some stuff for the musical movie darin and joey and emily are making. stan woke us up at five in the morning and we were on the road by six. rare in a beatty situation. i had gone to bed at four. so it was kinda delirious but super fun, driving through the gorgeous sierra nevadas as the sun came up. we stopped at a little lodge to buy snacks and drinks from a sexy lady with a long gypsy skirt who flirted with our boys. the mountains looked inviting enough to run away from life for awhile and just trek out into the wilderness...through the wildflowers and ponderosa pines and indian paintbrush and quaking aspens...speaking of which, emily counted how many times i said "quaking aspen" because it is my new favorite tree which i mention annoyingly often.

so as we pull into the tiny twon of bridgeport at 8:30 in the morning, who is the first person we see ambling down the sidewalk? MARTIN. fresh off the trail, full of fun stories about his adventures, getting rid of his tent to shed weight in his pack, only to hitchhike back to tahoe to buy a new one because it started raining! and the new one is heavier! hanging out with the french gals who work in bridgeport, meeting locals and foreigners at the bar rhino's and watching a swede mock the french girls' accents (?) and staying a night at the haunted old victorian inn. making friends with people from all around the world. joey oohed and ahhed over martin, his stubble, his sunburnt nose, his smell. it was like young love. it took about another half hour or so to drive to bodie. the road is long and bumpy but it was so well worth it. what an amazing little ghosty scene they shot up there in the ruins of that once-bustling town. it is so strange to see the things left behind, to feel the stories in the wind and stand among broken buildings that held life and anger and love long ago. the scene they were shooting was a fight scene, so there were a lot of long sad lingering gazes. but meanwhile it was just fun to be out there, amidst all that sky and old stuff.

darin being director. he thrives on this. saying good-bye to stan and martin as they embark on the next part of the pacific crest trail, sonora pass through yosemite. it started raining and we had to drop them off on the side of the road and let them hitchhike because we were running out of time to get back. we were all super jealous, it looked so fun to just be setting out, heading into the woods and mountains, with only your little microhome on your back. come one, come all, come to bodie. these mountains are full of mischief, spirits, and wonder.