The small Sawmill was used for cutting firewood. With snow as much as twenty feet deep, winds to a hundred miles an hour and temperatures down to 30 or even 40 below zero, plenty of firewood was needed to keep Bodie's poorly constructed houses warm during the winter. The winter of 1878/1879 was especially severe, and Bodie residents, many of them new arrivals, were not adequately prepared. Many died of exposure, disease, or violence. Preparing for a Bodie winter was, and still is, a monumental task.
We had to leave Bodie before we were ready due to thunderstorms. Here we are the next day taking a short day hike near Cold Water Creek. This small unnamed lake looked awesome.
That is Crystal Crag in the distance.