Infiltration

plexiglas location: SF Bay Area, California Gender: Female \|	Ghost towns in the Central Valley? < on 5/22/2007 3:25 AM >

	Hello, hello! This is my first post here. I am basically a total n00b with UE but am very interested in the concept. I saw the documentary Urban Explorers at Cinequest this year and it got my imagination churning, though I do not have any friends who are into the hobby. I haven't done any UE of modern buildings but I did visit Bodie and I did visit Drawbridge and decided that I like me some ghost towns. Once I save up for a new camera I want to check out some of the smaller ones in the Central Valley. So I was wondering if I could possibly get some pearls of wisdom about ghost towns in that general area. I just looked in the California section of the book "Ghost Towns of the West" by Lambert Florin and Googled about 25 potential targets. I just don't really know which ones are best and worst preserved. I'll probably do more book/internet research outside of here, just decided it might be a good starting place. So far the names I have are: Altaville, Amador City, Angel's Camp, Auburn, Bear Valley, Big Oak Flat, Camp Seco, Carson Hill, Chinese Camp, Columbia, Copperopolis, Coulterville, El Dorado, Fiddletown, Grass Valley, Hornitos, Jackson, Jamestown, Mariposa, Mokelmne Hill, Mormon Bar, Shingle Springs, Sonora, Vallecito, and Volcano. (in convenient alphabetical order)

JBuss location: China Lake Gender: Male Rolling out the .50 cal just for Elf-boy \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 1 on 5/22/2007 5:21 AM >

	pearl of wisdom #1 Grab a camera, drive to a GT and go take some photos Pearl of wisdom #2 Old mines are often near old ghost towns. Ya I'm pretty much tapped out now.

badjon location: Charleston SC Gender: Male \| \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 2 on 5/22/2007 5:26 AM >

	exploring with a camera is great...

plexiglas location: SF Bay Area, California Gender: Female \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 3 on 5/22/2007 9:12 AM >

	Hrm, well thanks?

rapcw location: Antioch, CA Gender: Male \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 4 on 5/22/2007 10:34 PM >

	I've been to both Copperopolis and Telegraph City (in the DB ). Copperopolis is now a pretty booming little town, lots of new developments springing up, not much in the way of abandoned buildings, though I did see a couple smaller ones. A true ghost a few miles west is Telegraph City, its got several abandoned structures and remains, and nearby are some mines. I'm pretty sure that the rest of those towns you've mentioned are pretty active, probably not too much in the way of abandoned sites, but there are plenty of active historical buildings in all of those. If your thinking of visiting ghost towns like Bodie and Drawbridge in the Central Valley, you'll probably be disappointed. Telegraph City is worth a visit depending on the distances involved. Avena (also in the DB ), is another ghost town, but its kinda lame. It is definitely located in the Central Valley though. If you want true ghosts, the southern California desert is where its at. -Russell

rachelradness location: San Jose, CA Gender: Female \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 5 on 5/24/2007 12:04 AM >

	I just got back from Drawbridge 10 minutes ago...I'm sooooo tired. And dirty. I'm interested in going to New Idria (a deserted mining town) in Paicines, CA which is the town south of San Juan Bautista/Hollister. I remember I went to Tres Pinos when I was a kid and Paicines is just slightly beyond it. There's also (or at least used to be) a reeeeeallly good old-time-westerny resturaunt there.

cambrianguy \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 6 on 5/24/2007 3:30 AM >

	Got pics from Drawbridge? Interested in seeing what it looks like these days.

rachelradness

location:
San Jose, CA
Gender: Female

Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley?
<Reply # 7 on 5/24/2007 7:20 PM >

Posted by cambrianguy
Got pics from Drawbridge? Interested in seeing what it looks like these days.

I have a few shots left on the roll but will post them as soon as I develop them.

Most of the buildings are nearing their last days...missing roofs and totally caved in. Also, from what if looked like on the satellite map I saw there usually is a lot more water than this year! It's a very barren marsh these days.

rachelradness location: San Jose, CA Gender: Female \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 8 on 5/25/2007 1:16 AM >

	so i am uberimpatient and took more pictures today just to see my drawbridge ones: The "ark of Alviso," by the ghost marina. Anyone else notice how many people eat their lunch in their cars in the parking lot? Weird. A mammal carcass I noticed after crouching as a train whizzed by. I mostly took pictures of the larger and more intact buildings, as my digi batteries are lost and I only had one roll of film. I kind of wish I brought my polaroid, because it captures the lines very strongly and I would have liked some color-but-almost-sepia marshy shots. This one below is the interior of the favored graf building (it's closest to the tracks and someone has (kindly?) laid down wood pieces to walk on. I think my favorite part of Drawbridge is the telephone lines with no wires that lean in interesting directions that make for good pictures. This is probably my favorite picture from the roll. Hard to tell where the broom ends and the brush begins; one of the last "relics" of the place. It was such a long day! I biked from my apartment in downtown San Jose down the Guadalupe River to Alviso, then walked the tracks to Drawbridge and made the trip home...alone. I enjoyed going by myself for this trip because it enhanced the presence of the place and I feel that tangent discussions would have ruined the atmosphere and the meditational thought running through my mind those several (or more than?) miles down the tracks and back. I didn't see anyone out there, but three trains in total passed me by.

bobaloo location: Santa Clara Gender: Male \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 9 on 5/25/2007 2:36 AM >

	Nice pictures!

RailGuy88 This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information. location: Where you're not... Gender: Male \|	Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley? <Reply # 10 on 5/25/2007 3:33 AM >

	Is it just me, or are the pics a little over compensated and over exposed? It may just be the stupid PC here at work I'm using... Good angles and overall quality though. -Ryan Going where others can't...

rachelradness

location:
San Jose, CA
Gender: Female

Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley?
<Reply # 11 on 5/25/2007 6:25 AM >

Posted by RailGuy88
Is it just me, or are the pics a little over compensated and over exposed?

It may just be the stupid PC here at work I'm using...

Good angles and overall quality though.

-Ryan

i used my oooold russian SLR from the 70s, and when i developed them i realized that i let too much light in through the aperture and most of the pictures were too bright/high contrast.

so i did my best to edit them in iphoto, but that program is a piece of shite.

RailGuy88

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
Where you're not...
Gender: Male

Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley?
<Reply # 12 on 5/26/2007 8:15 AM >

Posted by rachelradness
...so i did my best to edit them in iphoto, but that program is a piece of shite.

It took me awhile too to learn how to use that program and what everything meant. But I think once you understand how to utilize the tools correctly and allow them to work for you, your picture will turn out great.

If you want a basic program without all those bells and whistles, but still gives you the same results, try Nikon's PictureProject. I use it for all of my pics that don't need that special touch on UER and flickr. They still look awesome.

-Ryan

Going where others can't...

plexiglas

location:
SF Bay Area, California
Gender: Female

Re: Ghost towns in the Central Valley?
<Reply # 13 on 6/9/2007 7:57 PM >

Posted by rachelradness
It was such a long day! I biked from my apartment in downtown San Jose down the Guadalupe River to Alviso, then walked the tracks to Drawbridge and made the trip home...alone. I enjoyed going by myself for this trip because it enhanced the presence of the place and I feel that tangent discussions would have ruined the atmosphere and the meditational thought running through my mind those several (or more than?) miles down the tracks and back. I didn't see anyone out there, but three trains in total passed me by.

You are a brave woman. That location creeps me out, mostly because of the bulletholes (not sure how recent) and isolation. Though maybe that makes it more fun...

Infiltration Forums > Archived US: Pacific Southwest > Ghost towns in the Central Valley? (Viewed 612 times)