Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Rare Chinese Golden Pheasant Sighted in Meadow Vista

Another amazing creature recently migrated to the North Fork Polygon. On November 17, 2008 a rare Chinese Golden Pheasant was sighted in Meadow Vista, California. The gallinaceous bird has since been sighted in two other locations, both far away from it's native mountain forests of western China.

Photos by Richard, Natbarn.com

Here's a summary of Chinese Golden Pheasant (CGP) sightings gathered through the Rural Mysteries Emergency Broadcast System:

November 17th: Rippy Hill Area, Meadow Vista

"2008.11.17 - The majestic bird almost seemed intelligent as it searched for a roosting tree at sunset. Looks like a cruel mutated cross between a chicken and a parrot."
November 18th and 19th: Coyote Mountain Area, Weimar

"Mysterious Golden Pheasant also sighted on 11/18/08 on Arnold ranch, Placer Hills Rd. Evidence attached. Creature was still around the following day but has not been seen since."
November 30th: Placer Hills Road near Crother Road

"This bird was seen today (November 30)! I thought for sure it would have become 'Fox Food' by now! Seen near Placer Hills Road near your home. I guess it's not straying too far..."

Photos by Richard, Natbarn.com

Saturday, June 7, 2008

The Pyramid of Green Valley

Here's another email we received this year:

"Speaking of Mysteries of the North Fork, one odd mystery has to do with a sect called the Christian Brotherhood, and its leader Dr. Wallace Halsey, who believed, and his followers of course also believed, that Aliens From Outer Space, wishing to help humans here on Earth, built two, exactly two, pyramids, in California, one of which is in the Owens Valley, and the other, lo! in Green Valley."

Well, we did some Googling and found the following fascinating fable of one man's search for the the Green Valley Pyramid. Are you sitting down??

The Pyramid At Gold Run - January 24, 1998 - Back when I had first gotten into this business, sometimes called Being on the Path, I had heard some information about a man by the name of Dr. Wallace Halsey and his wife Tarna. He had stated that he had been to a couple of pyramid sites in Calif. One of them is near Lone Pine, Calif. and I have visited it before. The second was on the North Fork of the American River near a small community called Gold Run. This place in just off hyway 80 a few miles East of Auburn, Calif. It was also stated that it was at a place called Snakehead Point.

When listening to a magnetic reel to reel tape recording of Dr. Wallace Halsey (who was a nephew of Admiral "Bull" Halsey of the U.S. Navy in World War II) it was stated that this area where the pyramid is, is also haunted with the dead men's spirits of some Chinese miners. It seems that some Chinese laborers were hired by some English Mining people to dig out some gold ore from the sides of the hill that was right along the sides of the pyramid. They didn't use very good safety methods at that time and they had the Chinese people dig into the hill to a point where the hill fell in on top of them, covering and killing about 22 of the workers.

It was also believed by the local Indians at some time in the past that the area was haunted and that if you ever attempted to climb to the top of the pyramid you would never make it. Something would cause you to turn back. It was also stated that at one time someone had found a hole in the side of the pyramid and had attempted to go into the hole or tunnel. When they got to a certain point the person encountered an invisible force that stopped the person. This scared the person so much that he ran out of the area and never came back. It was also stated that the only thing that was still left in the pyramid was some guardian spirits or something to that effect.

With all of this information I attempted to go into the area. I took along a friend and attempted to find the pyramid. We started off from the community of Gold Run and went down to the North Fork of the American River. There was just one problem. The area was about 1,500 feet down the sides of canyon. A person came along and asked me what I was doing and I told him. He then said that he had a National Geological Survey map of the area. We looked at the map and sure enough Snakehead Point was listed on the map unbeknownst to him. It was about one half mile down the river from where I was standing. I went down the river and looked down at the area towards Snakehead Point. This was near a point on the hill called Lover's Leap and another point called Rattlesnake Gulch or something like that. I was running out of time, so I left.

The second time I came into the area I brought a young man with me who was in good physical shape but didn't know anything about the occult. I had brought a Ouija board along with me and proceeded to give him a quick course in it's operation. That was a strange sight. Me hiking down a hill with a Ouija board in my hand that was still in the box.

After hiking down the hill for about one half mile, breaking a new trial all the way we finally got to the side of the river. I planned to go through the river to the other side where the pyramid was but decided against that and set up the board with my friend helping me to operate it. My first question was, "Is there anybody here"? It immediately said very forcefully, "No". I then asked it, " Will you give me information"? It said no and I immediately started getting a headache as if I was under psychic attack. This made me a little mad because I wasn't one to get headaches. I demanded that the spirit that was on there get off and put my guardian angel on by the name of Lorna. We then started talking with Lorna and found out that the pyramid was about 50,000 years old and that it was being protected by some entities like the ones that killed people that broke into King Tut's tomb.

I did some more checking and found out from an astronomer that many years ago the scientist throughout the world conducted an experiment. They put bronze stakes into the ground at different places throughout the world to measure how much cosmic dust is coming into our planet's atmosphere. It was found that about 1 foot every thousand years is being laid down. With this calculation we then could figure why this pyramid was covered by about 50 feet of dirt. The height to the pyramid was about 123 feet and it's on the south side of the river. It's probably a good thing we didn't cross the river because I found out that 3 people were killed in that river during that particular time due to the high water.

After coming out of the American River area I obtained my own Geological Survey Map of the area and found that the pyramid could be reached by coming in on the south side of the river. The map shows about a 5 mile mule trail coming into the area. I would say the trail is somewhere between bad and terrible.

When I got to the bottom of the canyon I notice a man washing out his clothes near an old cabin. I asked him if he knew where the pyramid was he pointed to an area that was the outline of a mountain just about 100 yards from where we were.I asked him if he had seen any spirits around there. He said he hadn't except there may be a few of the dead Chinese still around. He said that he had been digging in the area on the sides of the pyramid where it meets the edge of the canyon. He had found the trailings of the mining that had been done before the hill had come down and killed the 22 chinese people. He felt that the slush box that was used to catch the gold that came from the area could be found where the hill had fallen of the chinese miners. It was thought that it was just about full and needed to be emptied about the time the hill came down on the miners. He figured that it should still have about $50,000 worth of gold in it. He felt that he was very close to finding it.

I also asked him if he had ever been on the top of the pyramid. He said that he had been on top. I asked him if his watch had stopped when he was up there. He noted that his very cheap pocket watch had kept on ticking. He hadn't noted if a compass was affected in it's operation while on top of the pyramid. He said about the only thing that was out of the ordinary was that the chinese had left some of their opium bottles and other things on top of the pyramid. I had been told that there was no valuable things in the pyramid.

On a later date I attempted myself, to climb the pyramid. It was fairly steep and I had, at times, to be climbed by placing your feet cross-ways to pyramid but it could be climbed. When I got to a certain height I suddenly got the feeling that if I didn't get out of there I might never make it out, so I left the area. I never made it to the top and I have in the past made it all the way to the top of Mt. Shasta. I also later talked with the owners of the area and asked them about the man who was in the cabin and they said that he had left the area and never come back.

I also found that there had been more than one expedition that had come into that pyramid area and had investigated it in the past. On one of my trips I was going through the Auburn area when I told my friend called Bill Roskelly to please turn into the town of Auburn because I felt that there would be someone there who would know a lot about ESP and UFOs.

I went in the main old hotel that is just down the street from the ancient Court House, that is in Auburn. I then told the lady who was running the desk that I would like her to tell me where a person was, who knew a lot about ESP and etc. She didn't believe me but then I insisted that she tell me and
she told me that in the store that sold shoes across and down the street a person could tell me what I was seeking. I went across the street to the store and asked a person over there. She was reluctant to tell me because the town could be very cruel if they knew that you believed in such things. She said that she was in a group that had a psychic lady who taught them certain things but she would have to check me out and see if I was OK. I asked the lady to give me the phone number of the psychic. She said the she would, but I would never be accepted.

I phoned up the psychic and she treated me like a long lost friend. I went over to see her and she told me some very far out things. After knowing her for about a year and meeting her more than once the conversation got around to the pyramid. She told me, "You don'tmean to tell me that you know where the pyramid is, do you? We have been hoping and praying that someone of something would send us that information." I told her what she needing to knowand she and her group were planning to go out there. Later on I came back again and she had moved but I had no further need to contact her so I didn't try to find her.

So If you are looking for the pyramid I think you'll find it.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Fan Mail Round-up

As you can probably imagine, we sometimes get 10's of emails per year. Here's a sampling of a few we received so far in 2008.

Email 1 - March 13, 2008
Hello:

I like the way your giant artichokes look. As big as soft balls or bigger and round. I saw them at Ralph's Supermarket in Long Beach last May. I didn't get me one. I wish I had! Can you help me with info?? It will have to be shipped. Price?? Address?? This will involve quantity. Same size. REPLY!!

Reply 1

Dear Fellow Mystery-monger,

Thanks you for your inquiry regarding the Giant Artichoke Crop of '05.

Unfortunately, our artichokes had never grown to that humongous size before, nor have they grown to that ginormous size since. In fact, the plants died the next year, apparently having "burned out".

We are attempting to recreate the conditions that might have caused the otherwise normal artichoke plants to grow such honkin' big fruit. The year these plants were spawned, there was record rainfall in April of over 17 inches! ... in Wiemar... at over 2000 feet in elevation! We believe the constant rain and unseasonable temps produced the gigantic proportions of this choke! We also fertilized it with an organic liquid fertilizer called TIGER BLOOM! Check back at ruralmysteries.com later this year to see if we're successful.

Email 2 - March 11, 2008

Dear Rural Mysteries,

First I need to know if you are a resident of Placer County?

I have data that will blow your noodle but I can't trust just anyone with it. I need a trustworthy contact and must have involvement in subsequent investigation. I think I know where the dwelling of some red haired giants are but will not disclose to just anyone.

If you are serious or know someone who is, contact me.

Reply 2

Dear Fellow Truth-sniffer,

First, "Placer County" is an artificial political construct to which we owe no allegiance. However, we can tell you that water from the North Fork of the American River (and a little from the Bear River) flows in our veins.

Second, we've heard dark rumors of a creature known as "The Scarlet Sasquatch" that is sometimes speculated to exist in the Sierra Nevada, especially in the Reno area. This may or may not be related to the tribe of Red-haired Giants that you are investigating.

It sounds like you may have third-hand knowledge of these crypto-humanoids. Has your source heard of anyone who might be aware of any useful form of anecdotal evidence? If so, we are seriously curious with just a hint of token skepticism.

Email 3 - February 9, 2008

Hi there!

I used to live in Clipper Gap from 1985-1992. I enjoyed exploring the area immensely, which consisted of traipsing over private property most of the time.
My brother and I would walk down the railroad tracks to the Park and Ride every morning to wait for the bus going to Colfax High. On the way home, we would sometimes jump onto a slow moving train passing by the “dinosaur" and ride it down to Clipper Place and jump off. I never found the area to be mysterious like the Bermuda Triangle. It was simply a place I lived. We went to school, hiked, watched wild fires burn and be extinguished by borate bombers, and saw a few heavy snow falls.

My brother and I would walk past the dinosaur every time we’d go to Lake Theodore . It was amazing the first time we saw it. After that it was of little interest. We explored the abandoned train tunnel with no event to speak of other than reaching the other side.

I never saw the “mossy canyon” at Lake Theodore and I walked all over that area. The lake would dry up a lot and the water level would drop far enough to see all the garbage people through in there. One time my brother cut his foot on a broken bottle buried in the silt of the lake. After that we never ventured barefoot into the water.

My friends and I hiked on several occasions to Limerock (or robber’s roost) and climbed all over the thing. One cave cut at a transverse direction from one side to the other. It was always a little dangerous as the rocks were slippery from bird and bat dung. Never did go down the deep cave. Never got shot at by any of the folks growing marijuana near it. It was just another place to visit in the summer.

I also walked down Clipper Creek to the American River . This hike features blackberries to eat, several stunning waterfalls, big rocks to jump from, and finally a steep climb down the American River canyon to the river. The journey back up was not so fun. Here are two odd incidents that stand out:

  1. One dark morning on our way to the bus stop, a pack of wild dogs, which I assumed were coyotes, ran past us, chattering all the way. Never saw that again.

  2. While lying on my balcony one night (summer 1989) I saw in the air a triangle shaped object with three lights on the underside cruise up the American River Valley toward Meadow Vista at an altitude of about 1000 feet. It made no sound at all. Then it vanished over the railroad tracks and hills.

By the way, who are you guys??

Reply 3

Thanks for sharing your experiences growing up in the North Fork Polygon. We might follow-up on some of your adventures and sightings to be featured in a future article. You can remain anonymous, of course.

FYI - We're a semi-secret consortium of adventure scientists that are willing to scramble into remote, rattlesnake-infested canyons, explore unstable historic mining areas, and even surf the Web using slow-speed internet connections... all in the name of science and infotainment.

By the way, most of us "graduated" from Colfax High School between 1980 and 1990 and still live, hike, and play in this general area.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Smell the Truth

This Blog will collect anecdotal evidence, propose controversial theories, and publish preliminary conclusions as our team of adventure scientists investigates the local legends and unsolved mysteries still lurking in the hidden corners of the "North Fork Polygon".
The "North Fork Polygon" is an irregular, non-triangle-shaped area encompassed by the northern California foothill communities of Colfax, Applegate, Foresthill, Iowa Hill, Weimar, Auburn, and Meadow Vista (aka the C.A.F.I.W.A.M. area). For some reason, all these mysteries are located within a few miles of the North Fork of the American River.