California: Alive with Mysteries

Our Paranormal Quest continues! As we’ve been traveling across the country on our year-long road trip, we’ve made it a point to explore some unusual and historic locations. First, we shared mysterious locations spreading from the east to west coasts and now our paranormal quest continues through California…

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA

Let’s see, a six acre house, complete with hidden rooms, haunted stories, staircases to nowhere, séance chamber, more windows than the empire state building and continuous construction 24/7 by an army of construction workers directed by an incredibly paranoid, pint-sized widow for nearly 40 years. What else can I say? This place has it all.

One can’t help but feel that this place is a beacon for the unusual. We didn’t feel uncomfortable here, although our guide said he refuses to go in the basement anymore, with or without people. Much of the house is closed to the public so it’s hard to say if there are or aren’t spirits in the dark, off-limits, mysterious parts of the house. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed. (I am curious what we may have captured in a photo that we possibly didn’t see in person). Regardless there was much to take in, even without the cameras.

We walked through the old barn full of priceless Tiffany glass that had never been installed and climbed the easy glider staircases with 2-3 inch high steps that would occupy an entire room like a maze in order to traverse to the next floor (making it easy for a small, old woman to ascend). The staircases to nowhere, windows in the floor, ceiling and walls and constant construction were all an attempt by Mrs. Winchester to keep the millions of souls killed by Winchester guns at bay.

With the shear complexity and randomness of the house, there could have been ghosts all over, though we didn’t physically spot any on this visit. Overall, this is the most bizarre mansion you’ll ever experience. Definitely check out the large expanse of meticulously maintained landscaping all around the grounds. Haunted by the gardener? Perhaps not, but worth admiring nonetheless. We recommend going early on a weekday to avoid heavy crowds.

Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite National Park, CA

Deep within the iconic Yosemite Valley, surrounded by towering pines and magnanimous granite cliff walls stands a snow covered legend. The Ahwahnee Hotel. Looking like a log cabin accented version of Stephen King’s immaculately built hotel from the movie The Shining, this place does not disappoint the senses.

In the air is the scent of dueling hardwood toasty fireplaces mixed with gourmet cooking wafting from the kitchens. Patrons with spiced wine and hot chocolate are sitting in plush chairs fireside while listening to gentle sounds of a melody being played on the baby grand piano. Could you ask for a better warm place to hunker down out of the cold falling snow? No wonder this place still has spirits that linger around.

We gave ourselves a personal guided tour of the hotel and weren’t shy about searching through its many floors for the rumored spirit activity. After our scenic two person ghost hunt, the only feeling we both agreed we experienced while we were there was that of a warm welcome.

If the Ahwahnee Hotel does have a few extended stay guests still around they seem to be as welcoming as the environment there. After experiencing this place I can’t say I blame them for not wanting to leave. My only regret in coming here is that we didn’t stay for the weekend. We would love to go back. If you’re going to go here, stay for a day or two so you have ample time to roam the Hotel and grounds in an attempt to meet its permanent residents.

Joshua Tree National Park

Though we covered this location in detail in another blog, I had to mention this story-worthy backdrop simply because of the energy emanating from the very ground here. What seems like a lifeless void of scrub, cacti and Joshua trees, is actually a thriving ecosystem, perfectly adapted to such a harsh environment.

On two different occasions we drove through the immense and pitch-black park in the bitterly cold pre-dawn hours to catch a glimpse of some of the best starry skies in the country (followed by unreal sunrises). BUT, what I didn’t tell Kristin is that I also wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the many UFO’s claimed to dart around and even land out here.

As stories have it, not only have these camera-shy, flying, escape artists been seen about the park, but there’s also stories of Native American spirits that roam the area. Regardless of these supposed encounters with the paranormal that I had hoped to see, we didn’t actually happen upon any of them while there. Whether real or a product of people’s overactive imaginations, I can’t say for certain, but we can say that this park is certainly full of beauty and energy that is just beckoning you to come search for its legends.

That’s it for paranormal California…if you want to see more of our non-paranormal (but still amazing) adventures in California, check out the overview and pictures here. And stay tuned for our next batch of paranormal locations in Arizona!

Cheers!

Matt