Rural Mysteries of the
North Fork Polygon

Smell The Truth

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.

Our league of semi-anonymous adventure scientists share at least three goals, or guidelines:

1. Investigate and document unsolved and unsolvable mysteries and local legends that occur in and around the North Fork Polygon (NFP).
2. Scramble into remote rattlesnake-infested canyons, explore unstable historic mining areas (optional), and even surf the Web using slow-speed internet connections in search of truth and/or info-tainment.
3. Collect anecdotal evidence, propose controversial theories, and publish preliminary conclusions from all seven hidden corners of the NFP.

The strange phenomena presented here may or may not be supported by "evidence", but that is beside the point. Someone at one time believed these legends, and that alone makes them worth preserving for present and future research.

Featured Mysteries

Warning: Do not attempt to investigate these mysteries alone or without proper training.

The Most Mysterious Mysteries of 2006

Our editors have picked the most perplexing puzzles of the year 2006, including:

• Unwarranted Otter Attacks
• The North Fork Buddha Head Mystery
• Boxing Gloves in a Cage
• Humanoids in a Tunnel
• The Secret Rediscovery of Hawver Cave

The Legend of the Colfax Virgin Mary Miracles

In November and December of 1990, thousands of people traveled from around the world to witness the apparition of the Virgin Mary in the St. Dominic's Catholic Church. Pilgrims were lined up around the block, the little church overflowed week after week, and traffic jams circled the sleepy town of Colfax, California. More...

The Secret of the Myth of the Legend of Cape Horn

Cape Horn in Colfax has been raised to "cult status" which is one level below "vortex status". Could there be a conspiracy to prevent the exposure of the cover-up of the suppression of the truth? More...

The Hunt for the Lake Theodore Lake Creature

As far as we know, no human has ever officially reported a sighting of the Lake Theodore Lake Creature.

The Legend of the Colfax Buddha Heads

In August 2005, a local gold miner found hundreds of tiny buddha heads in the North Fork of the American River near Colfax. When word got out in January 2006, a legend was born. It's a mystery of history, hope, intrigue, art, greed, and karma. More...

A Year in the Green Valley Vortex

The Rural Mysteries Book Club is currently reading/reviewing Thirteen Moons: A Year In The Wilderness , by Robert P. Johnson. The author spent the year of 1984 in the North Fork American River wilderness area known as the Green Valley Vortex, located about 13 miles upstream from Colfax, CA. His June 13th journal entry describes his search for an ancient pyramid.

Polygon Praised for Preservation of Open Space... and Irony

On June 24, 2005, Placer County was named one of the nature-friendliest places in America! This prestigious environmental recognition was awarded for the county's pro-active, bi-partisan, collaborative approach to preserving open space.

Later that same day, a local Congressman reneged on a previous flood control deal and reintroduced a long-dead plan to submerge thousands of acres of open space in the American River Canyon.

Then a few days later, a Placer County Supervisor forced a vote to eliminate funding for open space during the June 28 Board meeting.

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Open Case Files

Mysteries from the Future

Here's a list of mysteries that are under the intense scrutiny of our investigation team. However, because of "missing time syndrome", the details won't become available until later:

• The history, the heartache, and the potential energy of the historic Hermit Hut Reverse Traverse trail system.
• The life and death of the Auburn Dam
• Colfax Declared a Ghost-free Zone
• Holding On to the Heart and History of Meadow Vista's Simpson Ranch
• Bloomer Cut: The Eighth Wonder of the World!
• The World's Tallest Deadest Wisteria Bush
• Mtn. Bike Field Unit finds three tufts of strange smelling fur-hair while patrolling the Cape Horn Vortex near Colfax.
• The Legend of the Stevens Trail Circus Elephants.
• The link between the Curse of Coyote Mountain and last year's senseless pickup truck crushing.
• The Legend of Lyman Gilmore and Iowa Hill's Pre-Wright Brother Aviation Pre-history.
• Iowa Hill's Progressive Pre-hollywood Movie - Greed.
• The Legend of Dog Bite Ditch
• Clark Ashton Smith - The Sorcerer of Auburn.
• More...

101 Years of Polygon UULiOs

The first Polygon UFOs sightings began in Auburn in 1896. More....

Report from Planet Pulsar

Mysterious phone messages are being left on area residents' answering machines. Listen to the .wav file (675 KB) or the .mp3 file (245 KB).

Giant Artichokes of Eden Valley

Towering Sentient Thistles (TST) were recently spawned by a local Polygonian gardener. Also, an "Unidentified UFO-like-Object" (UULiO) was recently sited near the giant artichoke garden.

The Clipper Gap Rock Monster

Like a nightmare from the past, the fossil outline of this legendary beast is still visible in a Clipper Gap railroad track road-cut. See the photograph and report from one of our field investigators and read the original 1902 newspaper article. More...

Bent and Twisted Trees

Beginning in the year 2000, more and more people are reporting trees that are suddenly found bent or twisted into horrific shapes. Includes a new photo of the recently discovered Weimar robo-treetenna. More...

Legend of the Weimar Robots

In 1978, two high school students went for a hike and were stalked by a legged silver machine. Includes a new artist rendition of the incident. More...

The Endurance Polygon of the World

In 1884, the world's endurance athletes stayed at the original Barn and Breakfast Inn at Clipper Gap. More...

The Warping Foresthill Bridge

This central Polygon landmark has at least one secret kink.

Caged Fury

Our Mountain Bike Field Unit patrolled the Cerro Vista Trail system on March 24, 2006 and found a very odd artifact: A large rusted cage containing a pair of black and white boxing gloves!?! More...

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