Trophy Cam Critter Update

Our Meadow Vista night-vision robotic motion sensor camera has been pretty busy lately. These pictures were automatically taken in September and October 2010. There are definitely advantages (and disadvantages) to knowing what the local fauna are doing late at night and early in the morning when you're not looking.

Some of the forest creatures are pretending to be super cute!!





But some night creatures are not quite-so-cute (or they forget that they're on camera):








See our full gallery of trophy-cam photos at our popular Rural Mysteries Flickr Page.

Inovative Deer Wrangling Techniques

This really happened, and it happened by accident. Really.

Here's the series of events, as best as we can piece them together, that led to what you're seeing in these mysterious pictures:

1. A semi-anonymous Meadow Vista resident disconnected one end of a dog-run and coiled the cable next to a tree in a flower garden in his side yard.
2. A few years later, a hungry and distracted buck decided to eat some plants from the flower bed.
3. When the full and satisfied deer started to leave for another neighbors garden, he notices a tugging on his antlers.
4. Soon, the human heard the struggling and noticed that one end of his dog-run was still attached to the tree, but the other end of the cable was tangled in the rack of a humongous buck's antlers!
   
5. The human called his neighbor and said, "I think we're going to need a bigger boat... load of courage and ingenuity to untangle this buck."

Stay tuned for part six of this story...

Words of wisdom, words of WARNING!!!

The North Fork Polygon is dangerous and frightening enough without having to worry about maintenance workers putting little tiny rocks on the road when you're not looking. Just in time, here's some wise words of wisdom and WARNING from a commenter on a recent local story about a grumpy Auburn resident grumbling about gravel used to repair the County road that runs past his house:

"Notice to the People Residing in Placer County: Roads get repaired and maintained. Overhead and underground utilities get repaired and maintained. Fire, medical and police emergencies happen and emergency vehicles drive by. In the summer school buses full of screaming kids drive by with the windows down. Trains use train tracks, blow horns and make the crossing bell ding. All of these things make noise and may delay your activities. Cows, horses, sheep, dogs, chickens and birds make noises. Deer will eat your garden and ruin your car if you don't yield. Bears and raccoons will get in your trash and homes. Frequently the wind blows trees down damaging houses and blocking roads. Sometimes the power goes out for extended periods. Creeks and streams flood. It rains and you could get wet. When it snows it is cold.I am certain a few inconveniences have been missed in the above list but, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!" - Ghillieman

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/159120.html

Snakes on a Higher Plane of Existence

Our local Auburn Journal newspaper continues it's obsession with imaginary and exaggerated snake-like objects.

First, the Auburn Journal printed their original tale, stating incredulously that this "8-foot long reptile" ... "could eat a child"...

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/158541.html

Then, the big-city Sacramento Bee published a toned-down "fat and happy five-foot-long rattlesnake" version of the same story:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/13/3025794/rattlesnake-found-at-treatment.html

Then the El Dorado Irrigation District submitted a press release straight from the horses (or reptile's) mouth (or fangs) with the actual length and ultimate fate of the serpent:

http://www.eid.org/03_news/Rattlesnake_20100909.htm

For context, here's the Auburn Journal's July 2010 story about imaginary anacondas in Meadow Vista:

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/154406.html

And finally, here's our instructions on how to capture and relocate a rattlesnake, Rural-Mysteries-Style:

http://www.ruralmysteries.com/rattlesnake.shtml

The Legend of the Scarlet Sasquatch

Beginning in late 2008, we received several emails that almost spooked us out of the mystery biz. The emails suggested that there is a tribe of red-haired giants hiding in the hills between the foothill towns of Foresthill and Iowa Hill in an area of pyramid shaped hills. The semi-anonymous e-mailer eventually attached this artist rendering of the creature. Here's the full text of our actual email exchange in chronological order:

"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."

Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is HUGE news! With trembling Placer County digits, we typed this tentative, measured reply:

"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.

Sincerely, Rural Mysteries of the North Fork Polygon "

We eventually received four additional emails containing high-res aerial photos that not only showed the areas where the Scarlet Sasquatch might have been sighted, but also the approximate locations of several partially buried ancient pyramid structures. Needless to say, our "noodle was blown". Here's our response after several weeks of deep breathing:

"Thanks for the 9 random possible remote wilderness locations of the "Polygon Redsquatch". We plan to start our standard spiral/grid-line search pattern in the Foresthill-Lake Tahoe area soon after the first snowfall, when the giant footprints and strands of red fur will be most visible. It would also be helpful if you could send us a channeled artist rendition of these creatures. BTW - We've also heard of these creatures being sighted in Europe, especially Germany.

Thanks for the clues! Sincerely, Rural Mysteries of the North Fork Polygon"

A few weeks later, before we had a chance to begin our search, we received this response:

"Surely you jest. I was quite serious with the email I sent you. Take a good gander at the Google images I mailed you. Particularly the image named polygon4. It appears to be a pentagon shaped hill with an indentation at the center (possibly an alter or temple) . Flanking the pentagon to the east is a triangular pattern. Those are no natural topographical features. This my friend, appears to be a buried mound of some sort. I find this image to be of extreme interest. Judging by the vegetation and history of the local, I'm forced to conclude that this image is showing us a long lost (until BLM logged it) structure. The structures that I so kindly pointed out to you are massive in size. So large in fact that I do not think that the native peoples of California built them. The erosion on said sites indicate that the strata is a few thousand years old. These supposed structures are ancient and massive and I suspect they are remnants of a lost culture. If you are familiar with the tales of the Annunaki, then it takes no stretch of the imagination to see what I think I'm seeing.

Keep in mind that I will not disclose all I know about the area because this is an unsecured line. I'd love to brainstorm with you on all of what I know about the area yet I'm in Germany and "they" are listening. You sir, have assumed that I'm pulling your leg, when in fact I'm dead serious. Open the images in Photoshop, run a few filters on them, look at the features I highlighted for you! Open Google earth and see these lost structures! They are there and if you were to actually look instead of laugh at my coded correspondence, you too will see what I'm talking about. You have spent all that time building your cool site, investigating neat things but when a major clue is dropped into your box, you seem nonchalant and dismissive. Re-read my mails and ACTUALLY LOOK AT the images I have sent, then look it up yourself. You are probably sitting on top of one the greatest archeological finds since the lost city of Troy... probably a greater find that Troy!

If you ever got e-mails to your site that counted... these are it."

For obvious reasons we can't share the aerial photos, or the exact location of the structures, or the creature's habitat, or the e-mailers real name. But we have spent the last year and a half training in an effort to become more chalant and more un-dismissive. We're now ready to receive a steady stream of additional information, theories, and anecdotes regarding the Legend of the Scarlet Sasquatch.

Hold on to your Noodles!

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

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.