LOCATION DETAILS: 40 east ext 163 Cool spring exit. left on hwy 64 go under 40 and first rd on left. go roughly 1 mile or mile and 1/4 . pass over yadkin river immediate right under bridges that 40 runs over. Very near Davie/Iredell line
NEAREST TOWN: Statesville or Mocksville about equel distance.
NEAREST ROAD: Interstate 40
OBSERVED: The only thing about my sighting I’m not 100% sure of is the month. and distances and Heights but I feel I’m pretty close. On or around July or August of 1992 I was working at a Chinese Restaurant in town. I was supposed to be heading for work, but had made my mind up earlier that I was going to layout. So that I wouldn’t be caught by my Grandparents and or Father for being a slacker I needed a place to hide/something to do. Well not having any money I chose a place that A. gave me cover and B. gave me a place to kick around and explore. Near where we use to live (and still near today) near the Yadkin River they use to hold Tractor pulls, singings (John Anderson sang there once before he made it big) etc. It had gone out of business quite a few years back but there were still some dilapidated buildings still standing and some bleachers. I parked my car underneath the bridges that the interstate ran across and hopped over the DO NOT ENTER signed cable barrier. I followed the dirt path that led to the remains of what was once called ‘The River Run. The path ran parallel to the river, but turned away from it roughly two hundred yards from where I hopped the cable. I reached the Remains and kicked around, I looked in the old Bathrooms (basically a Pee stall) checked under the bleachers for change or dollar bills that may still be there, of course there wasn’t any. And little did I know before I got there that a crane they had recently (couple months) been using to dig out sand from the river (for what I do not know) was still there. I of course looked it over, crawled in the cab, looked for keys etc. Well, not only was I getting BORED quickly, it was getting hot. It was a hot summer and having been indoors WORKING, like a good boy the whole summer until then, I hadn’t realized how hot it got at around 11:00 am. So I decide that there had to be a better place to chill. I headed back down dirt path. The areas that the Buildings were located were Roughly one hundred and fifty yards away from the river. As I was heading back I noticed something that appeared to be sitting on the riverbank; I first assumed it was a dog. I whistled, yelled here Boy and all that and it didn’t respond. As I got closer I realized it wasn’t a dog and felt stupid, cause there were weeds and such growing at the bank and I just figured I was Whistling for WEEDS to come to me. As I got closer and closer it appeared to be a very Unkempt, long haired hippy of a man. But the Funny thing was I could only see the Bust of him (chest to top of head) so then I just assumed it was a Bum standing on a ledge in the river looking over the bank watching me. So I kept walking, actually strutting to let this Bum know if he tried to mess with me, he was going to get his ars whipped, but good. As I kept walking and not paying any attention to the Bum a strange sensation came over me (to this day I can’t explain it) I looked up and that’s when I realized it wasn’t a bum, it was something else, what, I do not know but it wasn’t human. At this point I was roughly 50 yards away, my mind was racing and my heart was beating, here I was almost face to face with a Big foot? So I did the only rational thing I could think of at the time, I ran towards. I know that, that doesn’t seem to be the brightest thing to have done BUT in my mind and with the MILLION things running through it the one thing that didn’t go through my mind was fear, NOT one ounce. Until…I was, at this point, roughly forty yards away and the closer I got, the doubts, if any that this THING was not human was completely gone. At about some thirty yards away I took my eye of it for just and I mean JUST a split second and it was gone and that is when fear struck me. I halted quickly. I dare say now I was 25 yards away from where IT was. I was petrified, I stood there for what seemed like hours, while I was standing there it was the first time that I really had the chance to reflect on what I just saw, and all I can remember thinking was. A. Why did it look like Chewbacca from Star Wars minus the black nose? B. Why did it have very light fur almost dirty strawberry blonde? C. Why no smell, don’t they always stink? D.Why did I wuss out and get scared? I finally Talked myself out of being a big wimp and decided that if it was what I think it was I need proof. I BABY stepped looking left and right as quickly as my neck could turn the whole time I was walking to the river bank. I reached the River bank and scanned the River and River bank like my life depended on it. I roughly stood there for 15 minutes looking at the Highest point to where IT could have been standing looking over the River bank at me. I looked for tracks but all I found was sand slid into the river, I looked for hair and nothing. I even sniffed around and couldn’t smell anything but what smelt like fish. I then jumped to the highest point to try a gauge how tall IT was. I’m 6’2 and have a reach of 7’6 and I had to bounce a little (not a hard jump) but bounce nonetheless for the tips of my fingers to be even with the River bank from the highest point IT could have possibly be standing. I know I had to bounce at least 6 inches(any more and I’m sure I would have slid into the water, so that puts the river bank height roughly 8 feet and I was seeing IT”S Bust so IT was (and it’s a guess) roughly 9’3 –9’5 or more . I finally climbed out of the riverbank, walked to my car peering and alert to anything jumping out, but nothing eventful happened. Got in my car drove home, no one ever asked me if I laid out of work cause no one EVEN NOTICED!!! Needless to say I never laid out of work again., well not without a good reason.
Resource: BFRO
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Canoe Trip to the Unknown
When Steve W. set off on an adventure with just a canoe and a head full of summer dreams, he never expected that it would take him on the most fantastic journey of his life. Around the bend on that scenic river, the 50-year-old man discovered, was the dwelling place of creatures that he once regarded as belonging only to the world of storybooks and magic. But now, with his own eyes, he saw that they were real. This is Steve W.'s true story:On June 24, 2003, I went canoeing in Western Kentucky on the Rough River. I had just wanted to get away for a little rest and relaxation, away from my normally hectic life. I put my canoe in at a nice little portage near the Falls of Rough, just downstream of the falls, which is not too far from Rough River State Park. The current was very fast because of all the recent rainfall. It was really just a typical canoe ride down a very pleasant and scenic river.
I had a very funny, queasy, nervous feeling though. I was inexplicably anxious for some reason. Although I could not define why, I felt like I had something to fear - and I sensed death. Taking these sensations seriously, I was extremely cautious on the river because I didn't want the death to be mine.
After several miles, I paddled the canoe to the riverbank and tied off to a tree. I got out to stretch and to explore the area. I climbed the bank and looked for a smooth, dry spot to pitch my tent. After deciding to camp near the water so I could keep a good eye on the canoe, I went on a little hike. I climbed up th
e hill and around the bend to a little creek that flowed back into Rough River.
Looking down eight or 10 feet into the creek, I spotted what looked like the top of a clay jar. I instantly recalled a dream in which I found some ancient pots. This recollection sent my imagination running wild with the thought that I might have found some old archaeological artifact.
I started down the bank toward the creek. The bank was extremely slippery with mud and down I went, sliding all the way. My backside and hands were caked with gooey mud, but I stopped just short of the water and very close to the old earthenware pot. It was more like a clay crock and I quickly realized that it probably wasn't very old and that the bottom was probably broken as well.
I poked at it and noticed there were little handprints on it. I figured a raccoon had already searched it, but upon looking more closely saw that these prints were not like a raccoon's; they were more like little human handprints, about an inch wide.
As soon as that thought entered my mind I dismissed it as preposterous. I started pulling on the jar, but it was stuck really well in the mud with suction holding it down like super glue. I figured, well I'm all dirty anyway; I'll just get a stick and pry this thing loose. After working on it for a while, it finally budged.
But when it did, I heard something.
I had a very funny, queasy, nervous feeling though. I was inexplicably anxious for some reason. Although I could not define why, I felt like I had something to fear - and I sensed death. Taking these sensations seriously, I was extremely cautious on the river because I didn't want the death to be mine.
After several miles, I paddled the canoe to the riverbank and tied off to a tree. I got out to stretch and to explore the area. I climbed the bank and looked for a smooth, dry spot to pitch my tent. After deciding to camp near the water so I could keep a good eye on the canoe, I went on a little hike. I climbed up th
e hill and around the bend to a little creek that flowed back into Rough River.Looking down eight or 10 feet into the creek, I spotted what looked like the top of a clay jar. I instantly recalled a dream in which I found some ancient pots. This recollection sent my imagination running wild with the thought that I might have found some old archaeological artifact.
I started down the bank toward the creek. The bank was extremely slippery with mud and down I went, sliding all the way. My backside and hands were caked with gooey mud, but I stopped just short of the water and very close to the old earthenware pot. It was more like a clay crock and I quickly realized that it probably wasn't very old and that the bottom was probably broken as well.
I poked at it and noticed there were little handprints on it. I figured a raccoon had already searched it, but upon looking more closely saw that these prints were not like a raccoon's; they were more like little human handprints, about an inch wide.
As soon as that thought entered my mind I dismissed it as preposterous. I started pulling on the jar, but it was stuck really well in the mud with suction holding it down like super glue. I figured, well I'm all dirty anyway; I'll just get a stick and pry this thing loose. After working on it for a while, it finally budged.
But when it did, I heard something.
I heard what sounded like little kids laughing. It was coming from down the creek several yards away... in the bank somewhere. When I at last managed to pull the crock jar out of the mud, something screamed! It sounded like a little girl - really high-pitched and loud! Man, I was scared. Who or what could it be?
Not knowing exactly what to do, I grabbed the jar and began to scramble up that muddy bank. Glancing back, I saw something move down near the creek. Now I was freaking out! I made it back up the bank and set the stoneware jug down. It was just a cylinder about 14 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. It had a little rim about an inch down from the top. It was dark brown on the outside and light brown on the inside. It guessed it weighed about five pounds. And, yes, it did have little handprints on it - that wasn't my imagination.
I sat at the top of the bank for a moment looking at the jar, trying to reason away the handprints. It's no big deal, I finally decided, compared to that scream and those voices. Leaving the jar for the moment, I walked along the creek aways and stopped every once in a while to peek through the bushes and see if anybody was there. That's when I got the shock of my life!
When I looked over that bank I saw two little people standing about 10 inches tall. As incredible as that sounds, I'm not kidding! They had pale skin, little brown leather pants held up by suspenders, no shirts and little pointy hats made of what looked like leather. They had leather foot coverings that went up past the ankle. Their hair was a reddish color and their eyes blue. Their hands were only about an inch wide!
They knew I was watching, but they continued their task: they were pulling some kind of wooden stump down that muddy creek bank with long leather ropes or strings. These little men were surprisingly clean, I remember thinking, for the work they were doing. Then I heard a thump back where I first went in the creek. I looked back and there were three more of them - men just like the first two - and they had pushed that crock jar back down the bank. They were all laughing - high-pitched laughter, like a bunch of kids.
Then I heard a loud snap… and they were all gone. Their footprints were plainly visible in the mud, but they were gone along with the crock jar and the wooden stump. They had vanished in a split second.
Not knowing exactly what to do, I grabbed the jar and began to scramble up that muddy bank. Glancing back, I saw something move down near the creek. Now I was freaking out! I made it back up the bank and set the stoneware jug down. It was just a cylinder about 14 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. It had a little rim about an inch down from the top. It was dark brown on the outside and light brown on the inside. It guessed it weighed about five pounds. And, yes, it did have little handprints on it - that wasn't my imagination.
I sat at the top of the bank for a moment looking at the jar, trying to reason away the handprints. It's no big deal, I finally decided, compared to that scream and those voices. Leaving the jar for the moment, I walked along the creek aways and stopped every once in a while to peek through the bushes and see if anybody was there. That's when I got the shock of my life!
When I looked over that bank I saw two little people standing about 10 inches tall. As incredible as that sounds, I'm not kidding! They had pale skin, little brown leather pants held up by suspenders, no shirts and little pointy hats made of what looked like leather. They had leather foot coverings that went up past the ankle. Their hair was a reddish color and their eyes blue. Their hands were only about an inch wide!
They knew I was watching, but they continued their task: they were pulling some kind of wooden stump down that muddy creek bank with long leather ropes or strings. These little men were surprisingly clean, I remember thinking, for the work they were doing. Then I heard a thump back where I first went in the creek. I looked back and there were three more of them - men just like the first two - and they had pushed that crock jar back down the bank. They were all laughing - high-pitched laughter, like a bunch of kids.
Then I heard a loud snap… and they were all gone. Their footprints were plainly visible in the mud, but they were gone along with the crock jar and the wooden stump. They had vanished in a split second.
My heart was racing and I struggled to catch my breath. I was feeling pretty insane! How am I going to tell anyone about this? Yet that's exactly what I decided to do. I walked almost two miles back to the old mill by the falls where I started. (The stream was too fast to try to paddle the canoe back upstream.) I had my cell phone with me, but it was just one of those emergency ones that I was going to use to call my girlfriend when I was ready to come home and she could come get me and the canoe.
At the falls, I spotted a man in a pickup truck, whom I assumed worked for the golf course they were building there. I told him I needed a witness to what I had just seen. I didn't expect him to believe me just from my story, but I thought perhaps I could get him to at least come look. He told me to quit smokin' that stuff. I practically pleaded with him to get someone else and we'd go down there together and I would show them. He flatly refused, saying I was crazy and that he wasn't going anywhere with me.
Nearby was a cable TV repair truck; the repairman told me get away from him, too. I suspected that the guy in the pickup called the repairman on a CB radio or cell phone and told him he thought I was crazy. Between what I had seen and the reactions of these two guys, I was starting to feel a bit paranoid. I started to think: they'll call the police and have me arrested, and I sure don't need that.
I gave up on those two and decided to walk back downstream to the ditch where it all happened. I just had to look again. When I got there - I cannot explain it - it wasn't the same. There were no footprints, no sign of the little people at all. Where I slid down the bank was as clean as a whistle - no skid marks. The mud looked completely undisturbed. I was and still am absolutely positive that was the exact spot where it all took place. But there was no sign of anything.
I loaded up my gear in the canoe and got the hell out of there. About 20 miles downstream, I camped out in a hay field. That night as I lay in my tent, all of the strangeness and impossibility went through my mind of the strangest camping trip I ever had. I just could not get those little people out of my mind. They knew I was watching them, but for a little while they didn't care… and then they vanished. In my mind I can still hear them... like little kids on a playground, laughing, screaming, playing.
Was it real? Am I crazy? They were real. When I told my girlfriend the whole story, she just laughed and told me of the time she had seen a little green man under the lilac bush at her grandmother's house when she was little. She had no problem with it. Well, it's a big deal to me because I have to live with knowing what I experienced. It was just too strange! Little people - indeed!
At the falls, I spotted a man in a pickup truck, whom I assumed worked for the golf course they were building there. I told him I needed a witness to what I had just seen. I didn't expect him to believe me just from my story, but I thought perhaps I could get him to at least come look. He told me to quit smokin' that stuff. I practically pleaded with him to get someone else and we'd go down there together and I would show them. He flatly refused, saying I was crazy and that he wasn't going anywhere with me.
Nearby was a cable TV repair truck; the repairman told me get away from him, too. I suspected that the guy in the pickup called the repairman on a CB radio or cell phone and told him he thought I was crazy. Between what I had seen and the reactions of these two guys, I was starting to feel a bit paranoid. I started to think: they'll call the police and have me arrested, and I sure don't need that.
I gave up on those two and decided to walk back downstream to the ditch where it all happened. I just had to look again. When I got there - I cannot explain it - it wasn't the same. There were no footprints, no sign of the little people at all. Where I slid down the bank was as clean as a whistle - no skid marks. The mud looked completely undisturbed. I was and still am absolutely positive that was the exact spot where it all took place. But there was no sign of anything.
I loaded up my gear in the canoe and got the hell out of there. About 20 miles downstream, I camped out in a hay field. That night as I lay in my tent, all of the strangeness and impossibility went through my mind of the strangest camping trip I ever had. I just could not get those little people out of my mind. They knew I was watching them, but for a little while they didn't care… and then they vanished. In my mind I can still hear them... like little kids on a playground, laughing, screaming, playing.
Was it real? Am I crazy? They were real. When I told my girlfriend the whole story, she just laughed and told me of the time she had seen a little green man under the lilac bush at her grandmother's house when she was little. She had no problem with it. Well, it's a big deal to me because I have to live with knowing what I experienced. It was just too strange! Little people - indeed!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Missing Time and Out of Place
I was leaving my driveway to drive one mile to town. There were woods and few houses along the way. I had just pulled out and there was a thick fog rolling in. Very creepy at night. I had only gone a half a block at most very slowly when I saw a very bright light through the fog. This was very strange since there was nothing near my house.
As I drove closer, I saw a Phillips 66 gas station. It wasn't there the day before. I pulled into it in shock and a man came out. I asked him how a gas station could have been built so fast and he looked at me strangely. He said it had been there for eight years.
I asked him where I was and when he told me I began to shake uncontrollaby. I was 300 miles from home! I looked at the clock and I had left my driveway only two minutes before. It took all night to drive home and I shook most of the way.
Bt Cher
As I drove closer, I saw a Phillips 66 gas station. It wasn't there the day before. I pulled into it in shock and a man came out. I asked him how a gas station could have been built so fast and he looked at me strangely. He said it had been there for eight years.
I asked him where I was and when he told me I began to shake uncontrollaby. I was 300 miles from home! I looked at the clock and I had left my driveway only two minutes before. It took all night to drive home and I shook most of the way.
Bt Cher
Slip Back in Time
It all started back in 1999 when I was 19, I had an experience that I can't explain that freaks me out to this day.
My girlfriend and I went up to Poughkeepsie, New York on a trip to visit her sick uncle, a man nick-named Floyd due to his profession as a barber (Mayberry reference) although he also was an avid biker. He had lupus and about a thousand other ailments, it seemed.
He lived on a large tract of land that included nature trails that seemed to go back for miles on up into the woods. One morning after breakfast, Cindi (my ex now) and I decided after breakfast to head out to a location that she remembered going to when she was a kid visiting. She called it the big Indian rock, which she said looked like a profile of an Indian chief.
So at around 10:30 or 11:00 or so, we headed up there. It was a long way up into the woods, but Cindi, after getting some directions, seemed really confident, having not been there in years. But after a while, I was almost sure she was lost, but she saw something that she recognized and headed off into that direction. It was this large white rock with a fort into the side of it like a kids' fort or something. Her exact words were, "Oh my god, I remember this place..." and then began to tell me how she and her friends, a bunch of boys who lived nearby, had built this one afternoon and was totally surprised to see it after all this time.
This was at least 10 years later and this poorly constructed fort was still there, which I thought fascinating too at the time. The fort consisted of a low lean-to almost like a box made of rotted plywood scraps. It sat to the side of the huge white rock and had a bundle of dirty camping gear inside of it, sleeping bags and other dirty junk and leaves, cobwebs, etc. Cindi went up to the entrance of the low-to-the-ground fort and looked in at it as I jumped up on the top of the white rock to have a seat.
I looked over to where Cindi was and she had disappeared from view. At first I thought she maybe crawled inside, but on more careful observation, this wasn't the case at all. I turned to see whether perhaps she had gone around the other side of the huge rock and when I turned I saw two little freckle-faced boys, one taller than the other and staring at me. One wore a ball cap on backward and the other in a dirty flannel jacket. They just stared at me eerily and then suddenly It just seemed like time slipped and suddenly I was walking up a wooded path towards a clearing, and there was Cindi telling me to hurry up and come on.
I stepped into the clearing and there was a side of a big rock with, yes a profile of a face or something, really quite unimpressive, but I suppose it had sentimental value with her. I was still in a daze but I just snapped to and met up with her.
My first question to her was who were those two boys and no doubt she responded, "What are you talking about? What boys?" I said "At the rock..." she just punched me in the arm and began to point out the face in the rocks and then told me how she was a tom-boy and used to ride BMX bikes back there and other such memory lane kinds of stuff.
After a few minutes we headed back to Floyd's place and we were greeted by Cindi's mother who had just arrived. I met her mother and she seemed nice and hung out at Floyd's and had a few beers with him, even though he complained that it didn't mix well with his medication.
So after a while, Cindi came in and we all got to talking and the fort came up and she asked about some kids she knew in the area and if they were still around or whatever happened to, yada, yada kind of thing. Floyd got real dark when Cindi mentioned the "Moriarty" kids and went into a morose story and got rather quiet.
He said to Cindi, "The two boys and their mother were killed by their father before he took his own life." (Having something to do with a divorce.)
When I heard this, my hair on the nape of my neck stood up as my spine tingled as I was not going to spend another night out there at Floyd's place. He went on to comfort her, telling her that they were in a better place, etc. I couldn't dare recount what happened to me at the fort. I just wanted to split out of there; this was too freaky.
I made up a story after calling my roommate back in Bayonne, telling them that I had to get back there and asked Cindi if she wanted to stay but she decided to come with me. While driving back, Cindi kept the two boys as a topic and said that they both had a crush on her. And once even fought over her, and man, that just made me drive faster. We made record time back to Jersey.
By Mr. torrence
My girlfriend and I went up to Poughkeepsie, New York on a trip to visit her sick uncle, a man nick-named Floyd due to his profession as a barber (Mayberry reference) although he also was an avid biker. He had lupus and about a thousand other ailments, it seemed.
He lived on a large tract of land that included nature trails that seemed to go back for miles on up into the woods. One morning after breakfast, Cindi (my ex now) and I decided after breakfast to head out to a location that she remembered going to when she was a kid visiting. She called it the big Indian rock, which she said looked like a profile of an Indian chief.
So at around 10:30 or 11:00 or so, we headed up there. It was a long way up into the woods, but Cindi, after getting some directions, seemed really confident, having not been there in years. But after a while, I was almost sure she was lost, but she saw something that she recognized and headed off into that direction. It was this large white rock with a fort into the side of it like a kids' fort or something. Her exact words were, "Oh my god, I remember this place..." and then began to tell me how she and her friends, a bunch of boys who lived nearby, had built this one afternoon and was totally surprised to see it after all this time.
This was at least 10 years later and this poorly constructed fort was still there, which I thought fascinating too at the time. The fort consisted of a low lean-to almost like a box made of rotted plywood scraps. It sat to the side of the huge white rock and had a bundle of dirty camping gear inside of it, sleeping bags and other dirty junk and leaves, cobwebs, etc. Cindi went up to the entrance of the low-to-the-ground fort and looked in at it as I jumped up on the top of the white rock to have a seat.
I looked over to where Cindi was and she had disappeared from view. At first I thought she maybe crawled inside, but on more careful observation, this wasn't the case at all. I turned to see whether perhaps she had gone around the other side of the huge rock and when I turned I saw two little freckle-faced boys, one taller than the other and staring at me. One wore a ball cap on backward and the other in a dirty flannel jacket. They just stared at me eerily and then suddenly It just seemed like time slipped and suddenly I was walking up a wooded path towards a clearing, and there was Cindi telling me to hurry up and come on.
I stepped into the clearing and there was a side of a big rock with, yes a profile of a face or something, really quite unimpressive, but I suppose it had sentimental value with her. I was still in a daze but I just snapped to and met up with her.
My first question to her was who were those two boys and no doubt she responded, "What are you talking about? What boys?" I said "At the rock..." she just punched me in the arm and began to point out the face in the rocks and then told me how she was a tom-boy and used to ride BMX bikes back there and other such memory lane kinds of stuff.
After a few minutes we headed back to Floyd's place and we were greeted by Cindi's mother who had just arrived. I met her mother and she seemed nice and hung out at Floyd's and had a few beers with him, even though he complained that it didn't mix well with his medication.
So after a while, Cindi came in and we all got to talking and the fort came up and she asked about some kids she knew in the area and if they were still around or whatever happened to, yada, yada kind of thing. Floyd got real dark when Cindi mentioned the "Moriarty" kids and went into a morose story and got rather quiet.
He said to Cindi, "The two boys and their mother were killed by their father before he took his own life." (Having something to do with a divorce.)
When I heard this, my hair on the nape of my neck stood up as my spine tingled as I was not going to spend another night out there at Floyd's place. He went on to comfort her, telling her that they were in a better place, etc. I couldn't dare recount what happened to me at the fort. I just wanted to split out of there; this was too freaky.
I made up a story after calling my roommate back in Bayonne, telling them that I had to get back there and asked Cindi if she wanted to stay but she decided to come with me. While driving back, Cindi kept the two boys as a topic and said that they both had a crush on her. And once even fought over her, and man, that just made me drive faster. We made record time back to Jersey.
By Mr. torrence
Little People of Olympic Mountains
I realize that this story will not carry much weight as it is only third hand. I only come to know of it from a friend who is now deceased. Having read a few other similar accounts, however, I feel that this little story should be recorded for whatever it's worth.
My friend was raised in a small town called Clallam Bay, about as far northwest as you can get in the continental U.S., on the northwestern-most tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. His father was involved in work with the local Native American tribes there. Even today, this area is quite remote and only sparsely populated. There are still vast areas of the Olympic Mountains that rarely see humans. Mark, my friend, was an avid outdoorsman and loved camping and hiking. He grew up roaming the rain forests of the Olympics and was kind enough to take me on numerous camping trips.
I have always been intrigued by the legend of the Sasquatch and could not pass up asking Mark if he had ever had any encounters with one and what his thoughts were on the matter. He told me that he believed that they existed. He had never seen one, but he did recount one occasion when he was a short distance from his home, he heard long drawn-out sort of bellowing call that he could not attribute to any animal he knew of. He said that the sound was so loud that it seemed that the whole forest reverberated with it. It froze him in his tracks. He was familiar with the sounds of all of the known wildlife, including the elk, deer, cougars, etc. But this was something entirely different. He never did see what made the noise.
But, he said, Sasquatch may not be the only strange thing you might encounter in the Olympic forests. When I asked what he meant, he told me this story.
Mark said that his grandfather, a man with virtually no sense of humor, had told him of a strange experience he had had in the woods many years prior. Apparently, his grandfather was on an outing into the rain forest with his young wife and some other friends. The intent was to cut and gather wood for the fireplaces. A picnic lunch was planned as the work would take most of the day. While the women were setting out the food and before the actual wood cutting began, Mark's grandfather had wandered some little distance from the rest of the group when he encountered a group of little people darting around in the ferns. He guessed that there were at least five or six of them and that they were about 12 to 18 inches tall with rather dark skin. No sooner had he seen them though, than they were gone.
His grandfather was dumbfounded. He said that he didn't even tell the rest of the people, including his wife, what he had seen because he knew they would not believe him. He had wondered about it many times since, but there was never anything else to support what he was sure he had seen, so he just kept it to himself. He told Mark that that was the first time he had ever told anyone about it. Now, as I say, I am recounting this story third hand. It is only something that I have heard. But since neither Mark nor his grandfather are around any longer to tell the tale, I am passing it on for them. If nothing else, maybe it will reassure someone else that they are not crazy.
By Glenn
My friend was raised in a small town called Clallam Bay, about as far northwest as you can get in the continental U.S., on the northwestern-most tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. His father was involved in work with the local Native American tribes there. Even today, this area is quite remote and only sparsely populated. There are still vast areas of the Olympic Mountains that rarely see humans. Mark, my friend, was an avid outdoorsman and loved camping and hiking. He grew up roaming the rain forests of the Olympics and was kind enough to take me on numerous camping trips.
I have always been intrigued by the legend of the Sasquatch and could not pass up asking Mark if he had ever had any encounters with one and what his thoughts were on the matter. He told me that he believed that they existed. He had never seen one, but he did recount one occasion when he was a short distance from his home, he heard long drawn-out sort of bellowing call that he could not attribute to any animal he knew of. He said that the sound was so loud that it seemed that the whole forest reverberated with it. It froze him in his tracks. He was familiar with the sounds of all of the known wildlife, including the elk, deer, cougars, etc. But this was something entirely different. He never did see what made the noise.
But, he said, Sasquatch may not be the only strange thing you might encounter in the Olympic forests. When I asked what he meant, he told me this story.
Mark said that his grandfather, a man with virtually no sense of humor, had told him of a strange experience he had had in the woods many years prior. Apparently, his grandfather was on an outing into the rain forest with his young wife and some other friends. The intent was to cut and gather wood for the fireplaces. A picnic lunch was planned as the work would take most of the day. While the women were setting out the food and before the actual wood cutting began, Mark's grandfather had wandered some little distance from the rest of the group when he encountered a group of little people darting around in the ferns. He guessed that there were at least five or six of them and that they were about 12 to 18 inches tall with rather dark skin. No sooner had he seen them though, than they were gone.
His grandfather was dumbfounded. He said that he didn't even tell the rest of the people, including his wife, what he had seen because he knew they would not believe him. He had wondered about it many times since, but there was never anything else to support what he was sure he had seen, so he just kept it to himself. He told Mark that that was the first time he had ever told anyone about it. Now, as I say, I am recounting this story third hand. It is only something that I have heard. But since neither Mark nor his grandfather are around any longer to tell the tale, I am passing it on for them. If nothing else, maybe it will reassure someone else that they are not crazy.
By Glenn
Saturday, June 13, 2009
In Search of the Elusive Summerwind: Investigating Wisconsin's Most Haunted House
Who: My husband and I
When: Summer of 2004
Where: Land O Lakes, WI (on the WI / MI border)
Why: To hopefully locate and visit the ruins of Summerwind.
The (Brief) Background Information
I have been interested in visiting Summerwind for years. Ever since I read a story of the events that occurred there in I believe it was Haunted Heartland. So, when I found out I'd be in the area of Summerwind I jumped at the chance to try to locate and investigate
there.
Summerwind has quite the reputation for the haunted Wisconsin area, it's said to have made a family go insane, to have made a man fire a gun at a ghost (the bullet holes would remain in the door for years afterward, until it was eventually stolen from the home). It also was said to be built over a deed that the ghost of a man named Carver is said to still look for in the afterlife. How much of this is fact and how much is legend is about anyone's guess. There's been theories that Carver never even ventured to that area of Wisconsin. And others yet say there were searches carried out for this deed and nothing was turned up.
Summerwind sat abandoned for years. It's reputation most likely the reasoning for it. Back in the day, it was a sprawling mansion and home to the secretary to president Hoover. Years after standing abandoned someone bought it. They had plans to fix it up and make it into a business. Apparently the spirits had other intentions. In 1988 Summerwind was struck by lighting in a storm and it burned to the ground. All that is left is a couple staircases, a foundation and a couple chimneys for the most part... and the spirits.
Finding Summerwind
Summerwind was incredibly difficult to find. It hides down a dirt road in the country wooded area of Land O Lakes on what is now private property. You pretty much need to know exactly where it is to locate it and even then it doesn't look like anything at all from the road. We, however got really lucky and managed to have someone guide us to it. If it wasn't for her, we would have come back without having found it like so many before us have done.
We stopped to a few places in town (the town is pretty bare - not too many places around to even ask at). We really didn't get too terribly far. We did get a bit of info to get us in the area of it, and then we were referred to stop at a camp for more information there.
We did exactly as instructed watching as the woods grew thicker around us. We knew we were in for an ordeal to locate it from the get go, but I don't think either of us knew just how hard it really would be to find. Well, we stopped at the camp and got out of the car. It was a quaint camp
at the edge of the lake with a small bar and restaurant onsite. My husband, Clint immediately recognized the camp from before. He said he'd dreamed of it before, but he had never been there or even in that area before then. He proceeded to say he thought Summerwind was behind us and to the left; you know, he was right about that.
We went inside and asked where Summerwind was. We figured the folks in there must have heard of it being so close to it and all. Well the one bartender didn't know it by name but once we said it was the haunted place she knew exactly where it was. She told us how to get there, and said if we have any trouble some back there. Well, we set off where she told us to go - or at least how we thought she told us to go. We were lost before we started. We also were afraid of getting so lost we would not find our way back out again. The woods were fairly thick and getting thicker. So, we drove back to the bar and informed her we were totally lost as to how to find it. She offered to take us there if we'd be willing to wait for her shift to end. We agreed.
Getting to Summerwind
We got to Summerwind easily with her, but I'm telling you we kept track of every turn so we knew how to get back out. It was much harder than we even imagined it'd be to find, but we found it. Even she had to check to make sure it was the right place once she stopped.
Summerwind is fairly large. It's in ultimate ruins and there's really not much left, as you can see in the photos. Even still I had vibes while there. My husband, who had vibes where it was and had a case of déjà vu at the camp felt nothing at all at Summerwind itself. I, however felt nothing at the camp but perhaps some anxiety if we'd even locate the place or not, but I had vibes at Summerwind itself.
The hot spots - or at least according to my vibes were under the arches which led out to the back yard which was a ledge that overlooked a river, and the staircase to the second floor. Not so coincidentally, I got some odd photos in each of those places. (I concentrate and take photos
where any odd vibes are felt).We weren't at Summerwind long. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes or so. I came back with a camera full of 40 photos and so I thought nothing at all supernatural on any of them. Boy was I wrong.
Looking at the Photos
I have been interested in visiting Summerwind for years. Ever since I read a story of the events that occurred there in I believe it was Haunted Heartland. So, when I found out I'd be in the area of Summerwind I jumped at the chance to try to locate and investigate
there.
Summerwind has quite the reputation for the haunted Wisconsin area, it's said to have made a family go insane, to have made a man fire a gun at a ghost (the bullet holes would remain in the door for years afterward, until it was eventually stolen from the home). It also was said to be built over a deed that the ghost of a man named Carver is said to still look for in the afterlife. How much of this is fact and how much is legend is about anyone's guess. There's been theories that Carver never even ventured to that area of Wisconsin. And others yet say there were searches carried out for this deed and nothing was turned up.
Summerwind sat abandoned for years. It's reputation most likely the reasoning for it. Back in the day, it was a sprawling mansion and home to the secretary to president Hoover. Years after standing abandoned someone bought it. They had plans to fix it up and make it into a business. Apparently the spirits had other intentions. In 1988 Summerwind was struck by lighting in a storm and it burned to the ground. All that is left is a couple staircases, a foundation and a couple chimneys for the most part... and the spirits.
Finding Summerwind
Summerwind was incredibly difficult to find. It hides down a dirt road in the country wooded area of Land O Lakes on what is now private property. You pretty much need to know exactly where it is to locate it and even then it doesn't look like anything at all from the road. We, however got really lucky and managed to have someone guide us to it. If it wasn't for her, we would have come back without having found it like so many before us have done.
We stopped to a few places in town (the town is pretty bare - not too many places around to even ask at). We really didn't get too terribly far. We did get a bit of info to get us in the area of it, and then we were referred to stop at a camp for more information there.
We did exactly as instructed watching as the woods grew thicker around us. We knew we were in for an ordeal to locate it from the get go, but I don't think either of us knew just how hard it really would be to find. Well, we stopped at the camp and got out of the car. It was a quaint camp
at the edge of the lake with a small bar and restaurant onsite. My husband, Clint immediately recognized the camp from before. He said he'd dreamed of it before, but he had never been there or even in that area before then. He proceeded to say he thought Summerwind was behind us and to the left; you know, he was right about that.
We went inside and asked where Summerwind was. We figured the folks in there must have heard of it being so close to it and all. Well the one bartender didn't know it by name but once we said it was the haunted place she knew exactly where it was. She told us how to get there, and said if we have any trouble some back there. Well, we set off where she told us to go - or at least how we thought she told us to go. We were lost before we started. We also were afraid of getting so lost we would not find our way back out again. The woods were fairly thick and getting thicker. So, we drove back to the bar and informed her we were totally lost as to how to find it. She offered to take us there if we'd be willing to wait for her shift to end. We agreed.
Getting to Summerwind
We got to Summerwind easily with her, but I'm telling you we kept track of every turn so we knew how to get back out. It was much harder than we even imagined it'd be to find, but we found it. Even she had to check to make sure it was the right place once she stopped.
Summerwind is fairly large. It's in ultimate ruins and there's really not much left, as you can see in the photos. Even still I had vibes while there. My husband, who had vibes where it was and had a case of déjà vu at the camp felt nothing at all at Summerwind itself. I, however felt nothing at the camp but perhaps some anxiety if we'd even locate the place or not, but I had vibes at Summerwind itself.
The hot spots - or at least according to my vibes were under the arches which led out to the back yard which was a ledge that overlooked a river, and the staircase to the second floor. Not so coincidentally, I got some odd photos in each of those places. (I concentrate and take photos
where any odd vibes are felt).We weren't at Summerwind long. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes or so. I came back with a camera full of 40 photos and so I thought nothing at all supernatural on any of them. Boy was I wrong.
Looking at the Photos
We went back to the cabin we were staying at and looked over the photos. We both looked over each one on the tiny LCD screen my camera was equipped with and found nothing. It was a bit disappointing what with all the vibes we got, but it's a chance you take when you investigate a place. More times than not you get ordinary photos. It's just the way it is.
We late loaded them into our PC and then looked at them again larger. A friend noted the ball of light under the arch which we originally thought was a sun spot - until we realized that was much brighter than all of the other sunspots on the ruins. Not to mention a sunspot can't reach under a dark arch and usually isn't glowing like this light was. Then, my mom noticed a man staring back at her from one of the photos. He jumped right out at her. It took me a long time to see him but when I did a shiver ran the length of my spine. To see those eyes looking back at me.. it was a feeling I won't soon forget. The detail in the man is astounding. You can see the difference between the color of his skin and his shirt. You can nearly make out facial features and a vague hairstyle. Who he is, we may never know. I did try to locate photos of the previous residents of Summerwind. The best I was able to come up with was a photo of Robert Lamont in his older years. Even still the man did not match the face I saw in Lamont. After that we located the critter we originally thought to be a fox-like creature sitting by the fireplace of the left chimney. He's a bit difficult to see but if you look you can see 'em in there. (It's easier to see it from further away).
The Discovery Channel's A Haunting
A year or so after we visited Summerwind the Discovery Channel aired an episode of A Haunting that featured Summerwind. We learned a lot of information we didn't know about the house and it's history in this episode. Some very interesting information at that.
In this episode we learned that Summerwind has, or it at least had a tendency and ability to call out to people. To make them come to it and feel for it. It's possible my husband's vibes and his dreams could have been a form of this. Or perhaps it's something totally unrelated. We may never know for sure. We also learned that the father whilst in his insanity killed a pet raccoon the family had. We looked back over the photo of that critter. I sure could pass for a raccoon as well. Once again we may never know.
Speaking To Chad Lewis
Chad Lewis is one half of the team responsible for the Haunted Road Guide series of books. We've had a few chances to meet him and Terry and see him speak. He never disappoints with his appearances and each and everyone you take a little information back with you. It was at one of these lectures that we learned that others he has interviewed have had similar experiences of the house calling to them, and knowing where it is, but they'd never been there before.
For those, like myself who are wondering, no, he did not experience anything out of the ordinary at Summerwind. What we do know is that at least for us. Summerwind lived up to it's reputation as Wisconsin's most haunted house. I'd love to return there, but it's private property and, well we can't trespass on it now.
We late loaded them into our PC and then looked at them again larger. A friend noted the ball of light under the arch which we originally thought was a sun spot - until we realized that was much brighter than all of the other sunspots on the ruins. Not to mention a sunspot can't reach under a dark arch and usually isn't glowing like this light was. Then, my mom noticed a man staring back at her from one of the photos. He jumped right out at her. It took me a long time to see him but when I did a shiver ran the length of my spine. To see those eyes looking back at me.. it was a feeling I won't soon forget. The detail in the man is astounding. You can see the difference between the color of his skin and his shirt. You can nearly make out facial features and a vague hairstyle. Who he is, we may never know. I did try to locate photos of the previous residents of Summerwind. The best I was able to come up with was a photo of Robert Lamont in his older years. Even still the man did not match the face I saw in Lamont. After that we located the critter we originally thought to be a fox-like creature sitting by the fireplace of the left chimney. He's a bit difficult to see but if you look you can see 'em in there. (It's easier to see it from further away).
The Discovery Channel's A Haunting
A year or so after we visited Summerwind the Discovery Channel aired an episode of A Haunting that featured Summerwind. We learned a lot of information we didn't know about the house and it's history in this episode. Some very interesting information at that.
In this episode we learned that Summerwind has, or it at least had a tendency and ability to call out to people. To make them come to it and feel for it. It's possible my husband's vibes and his dreams could have been a form of this. Or perhaps it's something totally unrelated. We may never know for sure. We also learned that the father whilst in his insanity killed a pet raccoon the family had. We looked back over the photo of that critter. I sure could pass for a raccoon as well. Once again we may never know.
Speaking To Chad Lewis
Chad Lewis is one half of the team responsible for the Haunted Road Guide series of books. We've had a few chances to meet him and Terry and see him speak. He never disappoints with his appearances and each and everyone you take a little information back with you. It was at one of these lectures that we learned that others he has interviewed have had similar experiences of the house calling to them, and knowing where it is, but they'd never been there before.
For those, like myself who are wondering, no, he did not experience anything out of the ordinary at Summerwind. What we do know is that at least for us. Summerwind lived up to it's reputation as Wisconsin's most haunted house. I'd love to return there, but it's private property and, well we can't trespass on it now.
Report from: Jennifer N
Resource: Associated Content
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Mystery Animal Roaming Iredell County NC?
A love of outdoor activities has led Dennis and Joan Carter across the country. They’ve seen animals of every stripe and size.
On Monday afternoon, while returning from a weekend camping jaunt at Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes County, the couple was startled to the point of awe when a huge cat crossed in front their vehicle on N.C. Highway 115 in northern Iredell County.
“It was a cat, I’m sure of that,” Dennis said. “It didn’t look anything like a dog or coyote. It walked and moved like a cat, not like a dog.”
The couple said they spotted the animal on Wilkesboro Highway near Taylor Springs Road and Rupard Road. Dennis described it as being light gray in color and about 6 feet long, including “a long curled tail.”
The animal was traveling west direction with a “loping” gait until it reached the street.
“And then it took off,” Dennis said, “and jumped down into the creek.”
The question is: What did the Carters see?
Dennis swears it was a cougar or a big cat very similar to it.
But Tanya Cline, manager of the wildlife habitats at Grandfather Mountain, said such a thing “is extremely unlikely.”
As far as she knows, the only two cougars in western North Carolina — Nikata, a female, and Aspen, a male — are under her care at the habitat.
“They have been extirpated from this area,” she said, using a term synonymous with “local extinction” and meaning “no longer indigenous.”
In other words, cougars used to live in North Carolina but have moved on.
Also, Cline said, cougars (which, she said, are also known as mountain lions, panthers, pumas and upward of 100 other names) are brown or tan in color, not gray.
The Carters, who live just outside Statesville’s city limits, are firm about the color of the animal they saw.
So Cline is stumped. She said she has heard rumors of gray-colored cougars but knows of none that has ever been captured.
“One possibility,” she said, “is that this was an exotic pet someone had that the owners let go or that got away.”
Cline is not denying that the Carters saw a big cat and says there have been other sightings of cougars around the state.
“A lot of people claim to have seen them,” she said. “But the State of North Carolina says they’re not here.”
Greg Jenkins of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine agrees that if the Carters did see a cougar it is almost certainly one that had been in captivity.
“There are people in the state who have them,” he said. “And they do get away.”
Jenkins re-emphasized that the state’s official word on the matter is that there are no naturally wild cougars in the state.
“But they’re sexy,” Jenkins added. “And people want to see them. But they can also kill people.”Whatever the Carters saw, they are concerned the animal may do damage to livestock.
Dennis said he contacted the Iredell County Animal Services & Control Department, which directed him to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
“It has to eat,” Carter said. “And it’s big enough to be really dangerous.”
Source: Jim McNally, Statesville R&L, May 6, 2009
On Monday afternoon, while returning from a weekend camping jaunt at Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes County, the couple was startled to the point of awe when a huge cat crossed in front their vehicle on N.C. Highway 115 in northern Iredell County.
“It was a cat, I’m sure of that,” Dennis said. “It didn’t look anything like a dog or coyote. It walked and moved like a cat, not like a dog.”
The couple said they spotted the animal on Wilkesboro Highway near Taylor Springs Road and Rupard Road. Dennis described it as being light gray in color and about 6 feet long, including “a long curled tail.”
The animal was traveling west direction with a “loping” gait until it reached the street.
“And then it took off,” Dennis said, “and jumped down into the creek.”
The question is: What did the Carters see?
Dennis swears it was a cougar or a big cat very similar to it.
But Tanya Cline, manager of the wildlife habitats at Grandfather Mountain, said such a thing “is extremely unlikely.”
As far as she knows, the only two cougars in western North Carolina — Nikata, a female, and Aspen, a male — are under her care at the habitat.
“They have been extirpated from this area,” she said, using a term synonymous with “local extinction” and meaning “no longer indigenous.”
In other words, cougars used to live in North Carolina but have moved on.
Also, Cline said, cougars (which, she said, are also known as mountain lions, panthers, pumas and upward of 100 other names) are brown or tan in color, not gray.
The Carters, who live just outside Statesville’s city limits, are firm about the color of the animal they saw.
So Cline is stumped. She said she has heard rumors of gray-colored cougars but knows of none that has ever been captured.
“One possibility,” she said, “is that this was an exotic pet someone had that the owners let go or that got away.”
Cline is not denying that the Carters saw a big cat and says there have been other sightings of cougars around the state.
“A lot of people claim to have seen them,” she said. “But the State of North Carolina says they’re not here.”
Greg Jenkins of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine agrees that if the Carters did see a cougar it is almost certainly one that had been in captivity.
“There are people in the state who have them,” he said. “And they do get away.”
Jenkins re-emphasized that the state’s official word on the matter is that there are no naturally wild cougars in the state.
“But they’re sexy,” Jenkins added. “And people want to see them. But they can also kill people.”Whatever the Carters saw, they are concerned the animal may do damage to livestock.
Dennis said he contacted the Iredell County Animal Services & Control Department, which directed him to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
“It has to eat,” Carter said. “And it’s big enough to be really dangerous.”
Source: Jim McNally, Statesville R&L, May 6, 2009
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