Explore the ghost towns of the Old West

Before leaving home, they try to solve the mystery of why the town disappeared and, more importantly, how to get there by hitting the history books and topographical maps.

Ghost towners give only vague directions to newbies. They figure those who are willing to unravel their hints and work to find these places are more likely to respect them.

Then, a visit is attempted. Thomsen recalled arriving at what he thought would be the abandoned mining town of Gold Acres, Nev., at 3 a.m., only to find from a surprised mining office worker that the old buildings had been bulldozed a few months before.

Other ghost towners described making a half-dozen trips before finding the town, but agreed the search is half the fun.

Though their motto is to "take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints," there are gifts to be found — literally and figuratively — at ghost towns.

David Pike, who grew up in southern New Mexico and now lives in Washington, D.C., has rated nearly 20 New Mexico ghost towns on his Web site.

He says ghost towning has helped him understand how his environment affects him and taught him to live in the moment.

"It's hard to ignore a metaphor when you're standing right in the middle of it," he said. "When you're standing in a building that was once something and now is slowly fading into not being anything anymore, that's a stark reminder about appreciating what you've got when you've got it."

Pike said he visited a ghost town in southern New Mexico with his late father. He remembered his father had called out to him, but the howling wind blocked out the voice, which got Pike ruminating on the town's name, High Lonesome.

"He's been gone for a couple of years now and I still miss his voice," Pike said.

Laura Aden, who explores old mining sites with her husband mainly in Arizona's Tonto National Forest, says ghost towners are "the people who walk around with their heads down scratching the dirt, the crazy bunch of people who pick up nails and cans."

If she finds abandoned objects in the deserted towns, she offers them to local historical societies, which don't always want them. She's taken home some old tools to decorate her cactus garden, she said.

Ghost towners also compare notes on the danger of their hobby. They have to contend with rattlesnakes and other critters, running out of water or fuel, vehicle breakdowns and the hazards of abandoned mine shafts.

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Underwood said he once entered a ghost town and sitting on top of a dilapidated house was a man with a gun pointed right at him.

"I turned around and left in a hurry," Underwood said.

Underwood encourages ghost towners to photograph the places they visit and post them on ghosttown.com as a way to document their historical significance and decline.

Often ghost towns are vandalized, they erode or are bulldozed over to make way for economic development.

"There is a time when this hobby will go away. You will not be able to go and appreciate these places anymore," Pike said. They are "slowly fading into nonexistence."

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