Rural Mysteries of the North Fork Polygon

Poly-Blog of Mystery

This page presents, for your consideration, second-hand descriptions of mysterious sightings and happenings in the North Fork Polygon.

News - Reports - Updates - Discoveries

December 15, 2006

Giant Moth Movies and Such

On November 9th, we were forced by destiny to watch a movie called "The Mothman Prophecies". Now, fulfill your destiny by reading our movie review...

December 14, 2006

Mystery Animal Saunters into Neighbor's Yard!

"He just stood there, he looked and he watched ... I never felt threatened at all...." Aub. J.

December 5, 2006

Rural Mysteries Playlist

We posted a playlist of 24 songs that you'll want to download for your new iPod that you receive for Christmas. More...

November 29, 2006

Mystery Cave Update

More information on the secret rediscovery the Hawver Cave located between Auburn and Cool:

Auburn Journal - November 29, 2006 - Hawver Cave Discoveries Dazzle - Local landmark Boasts Archaeological Treasures: “Dripping with icicle-shaped stalactites and looking like a vision from another world, a newly-revealed room in Hawver Cave drew “oohs” and “ahhs” Monday…”

Channel 13 News - November 27, 2006 - Officials Taking Steps To Protect Vandalized Cave: “Vandals have gone mad time and time again, defacing the cave… For a full report, click the video…”

November 26, 2006

Tag You're It - Hidden Falls Update

We returned to Hidden Falls Regional Park on November 19th. The parking lot was packed with at least 50 car-loads of recreationalists, most searching in vain for the seldom-seem, well-hidden waterfall. Our previous attempt to hunt this secretive cascade was unsuccessful. This time we brought a guide named Pam who led us directly to the 35-foot waterfall. Bonus: We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the access trail and viewing area are much more dangerous than expected!

November 21, 2006

Secret Caves and Dancing Snakes

Two articles in the Auburn Journal caught our attention this morning. The first story is about the re-discovery of the secret Hawver Cave system located near the confluence of the North and Middle Forks of the American River between Auburn and Cool. The second article is about a local xeroscaper who captures dancing rattlesnakes in tupperware containers.

Fangs Don't Feign: Nearby Cave Tells the 'Real Story' of Foothills History - "Discovered a century ago this coming December, Hawver Cave's mysteries are being unlocked again ... the Parks Department has moved to install gates on the entranceways to limestone-mining tunnels leading to the storied cave ... those gates could eventually swing open to the public for tours, with an electric train taking passengers into its darkened reaches ... The list of animals includes extinct sabertoothed tigers, ancient cousins of the armadillo and ground sloths ... Four human skeletons were also taken from the caves and determined to be 10,000 years old ... Hawver's cave stood in the way of a rich seam of limestone and so in 1912, mining gutted the center of it .. For the past 46 years, Lorance said the cave and surrounding tunnels, including two underground lakes and four waterfalls, have been ostensibly blocked off to the public ..." - AJ

Local Yard a Hotbed for Dancing Rattlers - "In early November, Eastman was doing some weeding when she found a very small rattler catching some rays. Coiled up, the tiny snake measured only a couple of inches across, she said. Unflustered, she took several photographs, then captured it in a box and let it loose near a creek on her property ... But it was in August, as Eastman was getting ready to go out, that she came upon something she had never seen before ... She removed the two "dancing" snakes by covering them with a plastic sweater box and then sliding a cookie sheet under it, she said. Once she had them boxed in, she carried the container a safe distance away and then freed them ..." - AJ

More Information:

• More Info on Mysterious Mountain Quarries Area...
• CBS 13 News Video: Local Historic Cave Plagued By Vandals...
• Formerly called "Quarry Cave" and "Lake Cave", the Cavern was Extensive and Complicated...
• More Ill-advised Snake Capture Methods...
• YouTube Video of Dancing Rattlers...

November 15, 2006

Gas Price Anomalies

On November 10, 2006, we photographically documented the "bottoming-out" of gas prices in Applegate and Meadow Vista three days after the polls closed on this election/gas price cycle.

Prior to Election Day, we had watched the price per gallon plummet by almost $1.00 since the last time we recorded the gas prices in September 2005 and July 2006. Then, on November 11, 2006 we observed a 10 cent per gallon increase!

The difference between the price of gas in Applegate and Meadow Vista is almost always 10 cents per gallon. The distance from Applegate to Meadow Vista is almost always 2.5 miles. Now, you do the math.

November 10, 2006

The Legend of Team FALLOUT

In the early '80s, a troop of young whipper-snappers challenged the politics of small town softball and then mysteriously vanished, leaving behind only memories and baseball cards. More...

November 5, 2006

Crouching River Hidden Falls

On November 4, 2006 we explored the recently "created" Hidden Falls Regional Park located between Auburn and Lincoln. When we arrived at the trailhead, there were about 40 cars in the 50-space parking lot, plus 6 trucks with horse trailers. The trails were crawling with hikers, bikers, and equestrians, many of whom were lost but unwilling to ask for directions or consult a map.

We searched for hours without finding Hidden Falls, which is purported to be between 20 and 35 feet tall. As we were about to give up disappointed, we realized:

"Duh! The reason we didn't see the waterfall was because it was hiding!"

After hiking several more miles, we finally found a hiding waterfall, but we weren't sure if we had found THE Hidden Falls. Either way it would be rude to stare. More...

From the Placer County Press Release: "In addition to the more vigorous activities on the seven miles of trails, park visitors are able to enjoy fishing, picnicking, wildlife viewing, photography and other passive recreational pursuits..." I wonder if NOT finding the hidden falls counts as a "passive recreational pursuit?

October 30, 2006

Spooky Halloween Stories

Hungry Ghosts! On October 25th, a paranormal investigator was called into an Auburn eatery to substantiate stories that ghosts inhabit the house, according to a recent Auburn Journal article. Restaurant staff have reported seeing either "a woman dressed in a shawl", or "something drifting across the front wall", or a "glimmer of light flash by that you don't expect". The real-life ghost-buster, who uses electro-magnetic readers and forward-looking infrared devices to capture evidence of an other-worldly presence, stated that "the Gold Country is rife with spirits, five times more than you'd find anywhere else". Wow! More...

Critter Ghosts! On February 25th, 2006, the Colfax Record posted a story about gold country ghosts. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it turns out that Colfax is pretty much a ghost-free zone ... oh, except for all the animal ghosts. One person interviewed for the article states that "deceased animals are now walking all over". More...

Friendly Ghosts! The Colfax Record reported on November 18, 2005 that a glowing vision of the Virgin Mary continues to appear on the wall of a local church 15 years after the first sightings in 1990.

More scary mysteries from Halloween 2005...

October 20, 2006

R.O.A.V. Update

On October 4, 2006, we received an email from the parent of an actual river otter attack victim (ROAV). More...

October 15, 2006

One Thousand Noses

Here's the summary of our Web site traffic statistics from September 2006: 1,010 total visitors with an average of 34 visitors per day and a peak of 54 visitors in one day. What does it mean to reach over 1,000 truth-sniffers in one month?

1. The truth is starting to stink.
2. Adventure scientists are attracted to the musky aroma of truth.
3. There was nothing to watch on TV that month.
4. None of the above.
5. All of the above.

October 10, 2006

True strange stuff

As you may have guessed, we're easily ammused and even more easily distracted. Lately we've been spending too much time reading a cool Web site called Xenophilia.com. It's maintained by a local musician, blogger, truth-seeker, and adventure scientist. The site includes an eclectic collection of strange and alternative infotainment. Here's a random sampling of recent posts from Xenophilia.com/blog:

• Fangs Don’t Feign in secret Hawver Cave
• Unusual Doe With Antlers Shot
• Scientists teleport two different objects
• Lost Moon landing tapes discovered
• Global Warming Could Trigger Insect Boom
• Discovery of vast, ancient cave astounds geologists
• Glowing Green Pigs Bred In Taiwan
• New Glowing Mushrooms Found in Brazil
• Son completes unfinished Tolkien book
• How The Lord Of The Rings should have ended
• UFO Video: Aug 17, 2006. From China?
• Top 10: Weirdest cosmology theories
• Steven Wright on SNL in the 80’s

Bonus: you can buy, sample, or download some of the band's mysterious music. Our favorites are Uranium Train, The Mothman, Crop Circles, and I Rust.

September 15, 2006

The tallest deadest Wisteria in the World

The Giant Wisteria of Colfax climbs and twists 75-feet to the top of two Ponderosa pine trees on the east side of Ben Taylor Road across from Colfax High School. At one time it rivaled the famous Giant Wisteria of Auburn in height and beauty.

The second tallest Wisteria in the world is dead! Unfortunately, the Giant Wisteria of Colfax was recently separated from its' roots due to activities associated with nearby construction which resulted in a slow death to the leaves and flowers.

Now that the world's second tallest wisteria is dead, we plan to focus more attention on the world's third tallest wisteria which is located on Meadow Vista Road in Meadow Vista.

September 10, 2006

Popular Mystery Photo Causes Traffic Jam

Here's the summary of our Web site traffic statistics from August 2006: 850 total visitors with an average of 27 visitors per day and a peak of 63 visitors in one day.

Oddly, a significant number of those truth-seekers were people in England, Canada, and Australia searching for this photo of dead, dying, and decapitated trees next to the Clipper Gap Robo-tree:

Why is This the Most Popular Photo on this Web Site

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September 7, 2006

Sun Spiders and Wind Scorpions in Your Backyard
We recently caught and released three more strange looking arachnids that have been invading our home-office and garage-laboratory. We used a modified catch and release technique derived from our rattlesnake relocation plan to determine that they appear to be a hybrid between a scorpion and a spider.

We finally identified the bug as a member of the order Solifugae, usually referred to as solifugids, wind scorpions, or sun spiders.

Are we the last to learn that these things thrive in the North Fork Polygon??

These critters are really fast, difficult to catch, and almost impossible to photograph. Here are some interesting mysterious facts about solifugids:

• It's not a spider! ...but it's not a scorpion either.
• They can "run like the wind" and are considered the world's fastest arachnid capable of speeds when running near 10 mph!
• They look like they have 10 legs but they actually have 8 legs and they only use 6 of them for running.
• It does not have venom glands or web-spinning organs so you can probably keep one as a pet.
• They have the strongest jaws - relative to size - of any animal on earth and have a voracious appetite, feeding on mites, ticks, and other pest bugs.
• The desert variety, known as the Camel Scorpion, grows to 6 inches in length and was featured in the July 2004 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
• They're also known as solifuges, solpugids, camel spiders, false spiders, haarskeerders, jagspinnekoppe, jerrymanders, roman spiders, and walzenspinnen.
• If you kill one, two more will take its' place! ... So please don't kill them!

September 1, 2006

Frankentree Sightings: We recently spotted more robo-trees in Newcastle and Colfax. Here's the updated list of all known robo-trees in the North Fork Polygon area:

• Clipper Gap, east of I-80 next to Lake Theodore
• Applegate, east of I-80 next to a "loose slots" casino billboard
• Weimar, east of I-80 next to the Country Store on Paoli Lane
• Cool, east of Hwy 49 at Hwy 193
• Auburn, east of Hwy 49 at Luther Road
• Newcastle, east of I-80 at Newcastle Road
• Colfax, west of I-80 and 1.5 miles north of Cape Horn

A famous Japanese scientist suggests that, if they're robots, they might have originated in a place known as the Uncanny Valley, which would help explain their unsettling appearance.

In any case, if these "things" are robots, then why were they designed to move so slowly?

If they're just mutant hybrids, then why do our investigators feel it's necessary to wear aluminum foil caps to protect their brains from electromagnetic radiation (which is emitted from the trees in the 800 megahertz to 1.8 gigahertz portion of the radio frequency)?

And if they're government mind control towers disguised as trees, then why are we allowed... to... here... (--&--);

August 28, 2006

A Word is Worth 1/1000th of a Picture: We posted more mystifying photographs to the Rural Mysteries Photo Album. Some are old favorites, some have never been seen before, and some are a little of both.

August 21, 2006

Bogus Thunder Mountains, by Gene Markley: This 1976 compilation of stories, legends, and essays of the Northern Sierra includes chapters titled "Big Foots Haunt the Divide", "The North Fork", and "Green Valley, A Place to Remember".

As near as we can tell, late August 2006 marks the 30th anniversry of Bogus Thunder, which some speculate is the inspiration for this Web site. This book is out of print so you'd better look for it in the Placer County Library System. Hauntingly, one of the only three library copies is due 5/28/1999. More...

August 18, 2006

2006 Legolympics: The finalists at this year's Legolympics were chosen by a celebrity judge on August 13, 2006. More...

August 10, 2006

Tomato Horn Worm Raised in Captivity for 1st Time: On July 23rd we found some baby tomato hornworms in our experimental garden. We kept one of them as a pet instead of chopping its head off with a snake shovel as suggested by some friends and neighbors. On July 30th it dug into the dirt in the bottom of its cage and metamorphed into a brown thumb-sized pupa. In a few weeks, it will squirm out of its cocoon and emerge from the soil as a giant Tobacco Sphinx Moth. These giant moths can feed while hovering and grow larger than a small bird!

Visions of Mothman:Before our tomato hornworm began preparing for its transformation into a giant moth, semi-anonymous contributor Thayrn shared with us his resent visions of a Mothman-like and Thunderbird-ish creatures. Mothman is thought to be at least 8-feet tall with a wingspan between 12 and 42 feet. Mothman and Thunderbird have both been in the news lately, although there have been no reported sightings in this area. We might be creating a self-fulfilling mothman prophecy when we tell you ... watch the sky.

Update I: On August 19th, our little tomato hornworm pupa metamophed into a giant moth. We set it free, thus completing the circle of mystery.

Update II: On November 9th, we were forced by destiny to watch the movie "The Mothman Prophecies". Now, read our movie review...

August 4, 2006

When River Leeches Attack: Local river-goers were attacked by blood-sucking leeches while swimming in the North Fork American River last week:

"My friend stuck her arm down in the water in the crevices between the rocks and pulled it up and there were 10 or 15 leeches all over her arm...." - A.J.

There has been a "flurry" of animal "attacks" in the last month:

• July 1 and 3 - River Otter Attacks Human
• July 22 - Lion Allegedly Attacks Goat
• July 23 - Human Allegedly Attacks Lion
• July 24 - Woodpecker Allegedly Attacks Squirrel
• July 29 - Bear Allegedly Attacks Dog
• Aug 1 - Leech Allegedly Attacks Human

July 28, 2006

Auburn Stalked by New Treetenna: Here's a picture we took last week of a weird looking robo-tree we spotted near Highway 49 and Luther Road. As you can see, it seems to be impervious to record breaking temperatures.

July 27, 2006

Heatwave Hits 1,200 Degrees F***! Auburn and other Polygon communities suffered through 12 days in a row of 100+ degree temperatures between July 16 and July 27 according to AccuWeather.com.

The average high temperature so far this month is 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The historical average high temperature is "only" 91 degrees F.

The Auburn Journal posted an informative and fascinating story on how and where the "official" temperature is reported in the North Fork Polygon:

"AccuWeather gets its information from the National Weather Service's hourly reporting station at the Auburn Municipal Airport. However, the true high is reported from daily reporting stations. Auburn's is the Auburn Main Post Office. Due to different conditions, numbers provided from the Auburn Airport and the Auburn Main Post Office will likely differ. A comparison shows they were off anywhere from one to four degrees over the last 11 days..." - A.J.

July 24, 2006

Woodpecker vs. Squirrel: Rural Mysteries researchers Taylor and Holden were observing a squirrel from their office window when a woodpecker suddenly swooped from above. As the squirrel tried to run away, a second woodpecker dove from the other direction blocking the squirrel's path of escape. As the squirrel was finally able to make a run for it, the two woodpeckers conducted a coordinated aerial attack. Only by ducking and dodging was the squirrel able to find safety in a too-far-away tree. This war is expected to flare up again as the two species compete for food during the fall acorn season.

July 15, 2006

Cascade Crusaders: Local waterfall hunters have discovered at least four new waterfalls along the North Fork American River this spring, including what may be the second tallest waterfall in California.

In June 2006, Waterfalls of the West backpacked into the Royal Gorge to observe and photograph water falling on rocks in this wild and scenic area. They saw for the first time a 2,200 foot series of cascades they named East Snow Mountain Falls.

Also in June 2006, Gambolin' Man and Russell Towle observed for the first time a triple-decker cascade they named Upper, Middle and Lower Cherry Falls. The falls are located on Upper Big Granite Creek with a total drop of between 200 and 350 feet of falling, churning, crushing water.

July 8, 2006

When River Otters Attack: A local river otter allegedly attacked two swimmers over the Fourth of July weekend at Sugar Pine Reservoir near Iowa Hill. The first attack occurred on July 1st. The second attack happened on July 3rd.

The Auburn Journal picked up the story on July 10th and Channel CBS 13/UPN 31 reported on the attacks on July 12th.

Here's a few random quotes from the media coverage of this story:

• "It is one of the prettiest retreats in the Sierra Foothills, but tonight campers at a Sugar Pine resort are on the alert...keeping their eyes peeled for otters on the attack".
• "I was terrified. I was in shock. I couldn't feel it biting me, but all I was thinking was, 'Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening to me,' and I was so scared".
• "When I got out of the water, it followed me out of the water to attack me again, but my friend grabbed a rock and scared it away."
• "Rumors are now swirling at the campground that the victims may have tried to touch the otter -- a big mistake."
• "They're cute to watch on TV, but not in real life."
• "It's a good reminder for anyone to remember the forest is home to a lot of wildlife species."

One of the otter-bite victims was from Monterey, where earlier this year an otter that was nibbled-on by a great white shark received a first-of-its-kind surgery to repair an injured limb.

The accused Placer County river otter, which is a protected species, was killed on Monday night by Fish and Game officials who thought the mother otter might have been trying to protect its babies.

Sugar Pine Dam, located between Iowa Hill and Foresthill, was completed in 1982, flooding river otter habitat along North Shirttail Creek.

Update: There was another alleged river otter attack in Northern California:

"Thirteen year old Emmy Clyatt of Mount Shasta was enjoying a day of inner tubing on the Klamath River near Iron Gate dam with her family in late June when an attack by a river otter turned the day into a desperate fight for survival...." Mt. Shasta News

Updated July 25, 2006

July 2, 2006

Wisteria Hysteria: Auburn's world-famous 100-year-old, 100-foot-tall Wisteria vine, featured on the April 2006 cover of Sierra Heritage Magazine, was planted at about the same time a Victorian era writer published a ghost story titled "The Giant Wisteria". More...

June 30, 2006

Ghost Deer Sighting: An extremely rare albino fawn-baby was recently seen in the Eden Valley area by frightened yard-sailors. Stay tuned for more information and hopefully a picture or a sketch or something.

June 23, 2006

Endurance Legolympics Capital of the World: The first new moon in June is the traditional time of year when legolympians begin seriously training for the annual Blind-folded Legolympics held each August 13th in the North Fork Polygon. More..

June 12, 2006

Codfish Falls: A local blogger posted some nice pictures of the mysterious Codfish Falls located on a tributary of the North Fork American River between Lake Clementine and Ponderosa Road. More polygonian waterfalls...

June 10, 2006

How to Relocate a Rattlesnake to an Undisclosed Wilderness Location: On June 10 we found a 3-foot long rattler on a bright green patch of lawn near Rural Mysteries Headquarters and implemented our emergency response plan. More...

June 6, 2006

06/06/06: Here's six "coincidences" that will help you cope with whatever happens on this day:

• In Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Angels play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on 6/6/06
• June 6, 2006 is exactly 444 days after the second anniversary of the US Invasion of Iraq.
• Ann Coulter's new book, Godless, and a remake of the movie "Omen" are being released on June 6, 2006.
• Carbon atoms, key to life as we know it, have six protons, six neutrons, and six electrons.
• The sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers equals six-hundred and sixty-six.
• When former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy retired to their last home in California, they forced officials to change their address from 666 to 668 St. Cloud Road. Also, his full name is Ronald Wilson Reagan, which has six letters in each of his first, middle and last names.

Remember: It's bad luck to be superstitious.

Update: Angels Smite Devil Rays 12-2 on 6/6/06!

June 4, 2006

Summer Reading List: We added six books to the Rural Mysteries Book Club hard-copy reading list. One of these books addresses the riddle of the "rocks riddled with holes".

May 30, 2006

Cape Horn Fur Creature: Our Mountain Bike Field Unit's Public Relations Officer patrolled the Cape Horn area on May 20th. Thayrn discovered three tufts of strange smelling fur-hair in the middle of a seldom used dead-end side trail. We're not saying the sample was from Bigfoot's pelt, but we're not saying it wasn't either. The pictures will be analyzed utilizing the sophisticated image enhancing technology of the Seattle Satellite Research Branch.

May 27, 2006

Hermit Hut Reverse Traverse: Our Mountain Bike Field Unit patrolled our favorite mysterious trail system today and posted 13 new photographs. This 17 mile loop combines the following trail sections:

• Country Lane Canal
• Dog Bite Ditch
• Heather Glen Train Tracks
• Secret Dumont Divide Shortcut Trail
• Historic Old Vore Mine Trail
• Grub Mine/Hermit Hut Bypass Trail
• Assassin's Trail
• Nose Dive Connector
• Boole Road Traverse

Jon, Thayrn, Jeff, and Dave-o brought cameras AND clippers and made some progress at keeping the monstrous poison oak vines at bay.

May 21, 2006

Report from Seattle Satellite Research Branch: Team Gutter Barbees from Seattle visited the North Fork Polygon from May 5 to May 15, 2006. In addition to riding undercover at the Coolest 24-hour Race Against Cancer, they patrolled with our Mountain Bike Field Unit in Iowa Hill, Auburn, the Bermunda Triangle, and filed this excellent and apocryphal report:

"During one of Team Gutter Barbee's recent scouting patrols at Iowa Hill we came upon this freaky hole-in-the-ground (pic attached). Obviously constructed by humanoids but given its size I doubt its builder stood full human height, as we know it. One can only guess what was being sought down there. Also, appears to be old and poorly maintained -- further evidence of migrating behavior. A member of Team Babaganoush guided and acquainted us with the general area and we are confident that data analysis will reveal even more freaky findings. We've now returned to the Seattle Research Branch (SRB), outside the Polygon, where we'll continue to analyze the data utilizing sophisticated image enhancing technology -- we'll let you know of any other significant findings.

"Oh, for your files I've also included a pic of the Barbie-tenna prototype that as you know did an impressive job of scrambling signal, allowing our patrols to go un-noticed. Recall, Team Gutter Barbees flew under the radar for some time before a scout finally discovered our watch location in the camp chairs.

"All and all, I think it was a successful mission. Looking forward to future research projects in the Polygon." - Team Gutter Barbees of the Seattle Satellite Research Branch

May 19, 2006

Here's a picture of a rare Vampire Lily or Voodoo Lily (aka Devil's Tongue or Corpse Flower) spotted during the Mother's Day Master Gardeners Tour on May 14th in Meadow Vista:

Does this plant seem appropriate for inclusion in a Mother's Day Garden Tour?

May 16, 2006

The Dark Side of Tunnel Zero: Our Mountain Bike Field Unit returned to Trackless Train Tunnel No. Zero on April 29th and took the first ever picture of the interior. Richard-o and Aiden-o's stunning pictures show positive evidence of humanoid underground dwellers, including wooden beds, a roasting pit, speaker cabinets, and encyclopedias. More...

May 9, 2006

Bigfoot is Cool: On May 6-7, 2006, the Rural Mystery Mountain Bike Field Unit went under cover at the Coolest 24-hour Race Against Cancer, an all-day-all-night solo or team-relay mountain bike race in Cool, California, near the North Fork of the American River.

According to team member Mark, the escapade was "Intense, like an episode of 24!" But it was totally worth it because we were able to obtain copies of Sasquatch sighting photos taken by Brian Joder during one of the night laps of the 24-hour race. One witness was quoted as saying afterwards, "I saw something moving around in the dark... the next thing I knew this large furry human like creature walked right across the trail!"

The race takes place in a rural wilderness adjacent to a new Robo-Treetenna that appeared in downtown Cool earlier this year. This frankentree sprouted just prior to a freak snow storm which blanketed another Cool bike race on March 12, 2006. Which raises five obvious questions: Are treetenennas attracting Bigfeet AND changing the climate AND causing mountain bikers to ride in the dark, mud, and snow??

Race Results: It is now safe to divulge the pseudonyms we used to gain entry into the event: "Team Babaganoush" and "Team Gutter Barbees". Our teams used a quasi-redundant overlapping search pattern to scan the 9.8 mile race course for unusual phenomenon. One team rode 23 laps in 24 hours in order to cover as much ground as possible. The other team rode 4 laps in 8 hours, enabling them to conduct interviews, take pictures, and "act casual".

According the Auburn Journal's coverage of the race, nearly 200 people competed in the event, some completing nearly 30,000 feet of climbing, not unlike a Boeing 727 at cruising altitude.

May 5, 2006

Jaws vs. Sasquatch: We think that the 1978 cover of "Famous Monsters" magazine #146 shows what would happen if the legend of the Ghost Dam of Auburn ever came true.

May 2, 2006

Mystery of Falling Objects on Meadow Vista Road

May 1, 2006

Stats Entertainment: Most people who visit this Web site go first to our Home Page with one purpose: Smell the Truth. So far, more than 1,500 human truth-smellers have visited the Rural Mysteries home page. Unfortunately, many desperate researchers must resort to a form of luck known commonly as a "search engine".

We utilized the free services of "StatCounter.com" and discovered that, of the 385 total visits in April, many were pointed there by a Google-type search, and many of those never landed on our home page (thus missing our "hit counter"). Best of all, StatCounter can identify the search term that was used to "accidentally" find a page on this Web site.

Here's a list of typical Google searches from April, 2006 that brought investigators from around the globe closer to the truth:

• Glowing Bark Associated with UFO (Jacksonville, Florida)
• Cisco Grove Robot (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• Hummingbirds Attack Animals (Seattle, Washington)
• North Fork Robbers Roost (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Robbers Roost Lime Rock (Los Angeles, California)
• Stinky Mulligan (Orlando, Florida)
• Pictures of a Polygon (Coudersport, Pennsylvania)
• Sickle Slayer Grass Valley (Los Angeles, California)
• Haunted Insane Asylum in Auburn California (Plano, Texas)
• Ladybug Swarm Photo (Seattle, Washington)
• Auburn Foresthill Bridge (Whittier, California)

• Ladybird Swarm 1970's (London, England)
• Unidentified Objects (Islamabad, Pakistan)
• Bermunda Triangle (at least one hit/day)
• Unidentified UFO (Antony, Texas)
• Aerial Mysteries (Indianapolis, Indiana)
• Auburn State Recreation Area Codfish Falls (Elk Grove, California)
• Hummingbird Attack (North Kingstown, Rhode Island)
• Pictures of Bent Trees (Trenton, New Jersey)
• Colfax Buddhas (At least 20 searches in March and April)
How to Grow Giant Artichokes (Los Angeles, California)
• Mysterious Rails Flying Camera (Kingston, Canada)

Wanted DOD or Alive: On April 13th, someone at the Department of Defense (DOD) searched for Web sites containing the term "Aerial Mysteries" and apparently stumbled upon our UULiO research. The military staffer eventually clicked on every one of our pages and links! I'm guessing it was the new guy, in which case he's since been fired or promoted. Anyway, that's why we haven't posted anything since April 13th.

April 13, 2006

Green Valley Vortex: Our book club is 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 known as Green Valley, located about 13 miles upstream from Colfax, CA. His June 13th journal entry describes his search for an ancient pyramid.

This serves as a reminder that this "hot-spot-o-mystery" continues to emit "vortex energy", which then flows down canyon into the North Fork Polygon, increasing the MQ (mystery quotient), twisting trees, and attracting robots and UULiOs. More...

April 1, 2006

Caged Fury: Our Mountain Bike Field Unit patrolled the Cerro Vista Trail system on March 24, 2006. We didn't expect the trails to be so overgrown, or that we would get lost, or that we would have two flat tires.

But we were expecting the unexpected, and we were NOT disappointed. On the edge of the middle of nowhere, we found a very odd artifact: A large rusted cage containing a pair of black and white boxing gloves!?!

We are attempting to date and identify the origin and use of the caged boxing gloves. We're also trying to determine if the cage of boxing gloves is a relic, an antique, or a forgery. We will soon return to the area to search more caged boxing gloves that may be distributed in the area. If you have any historical caged boxing glove information, please let us know. We only want to discover the truth!

March 12, 2006

More Global Cooling: Another freak low elevation snow storm confused dogs and mountain bikers alike:

March 10, 2006

The Sound of One Town Clapping: In case you haven't been following the saga of the mystery of the 500 Buddha heads found in the river near Colfax, we compiled the flurry of news stories published over the last few weeks. It's a story of history, hope, intrigue, art, greed, and karma. As usual, the solution to this mystery raises more questions than answers. More...

March 9, 2006

Salmonosaurus: This pen-sketch was recently submitted by semi-anonymous contributor Thayrn. Is it the Lake Theodore Lake Creature? An adult Fur Carp or Ghost Trout? A Jungian archetype of mankind's lost love of nature? A living landscape of lines? The only answer we can offer is: "Getting waaaarmer".

March 3, 2006

Global Cooling: Back-to-back snow storms on March 2nd and 3rd brought the area school children their first snow day in almost 5 years! The snow also attracted at least one small troop of "snow goons":

February 26, 2006

Future Mysteries and On-going Investigations: This month has been very busy, with plenty of time to be mystified, but not enough time to follow-up on the many clues forwarded to our headquarters. Also, it's distracting to have a living tick-head in your leg. Here's a taste of what we're digging into:

• The Colfax Record (2/25/2006) recently posted a story about gold country ghosts. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it turns out that Colfax is pretty much a ghost-free zone ... oh, except for all the animal ghosts. One person interviewed for the article states that "deceased animals are now walking all over".
  
  
• The Sacramento Bee (2/19/2006) recently published their definitive final report on the Ghost Dam of Auburn.
  
  
• We rode our bikes on the recently trimmed and groomed Hermit Hut Reverse Traverse Trail System (2/25/2006). By luck and perseverance, we found a mysterious alternate single-track entrance to the Old Vore Mine Trail. This new-to-us trail is so secret, fun, and spooky, that we might have to blindfold ourselves next time we ride it. Hint: the route to this trail goes past a train tunnel with a strange tin shed perched above the east portal.
  
  
• A Placer County videographer is producing a movie titled "Placerqatsi". It's inspired by Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance. Placerquatsi will include beautiful time-lapse photography of local natural settings juxtaposed with stark time-lapse images of construction sites and developments.
  
  
• There is a section of Placer Hills Road between Meadow Vista and Weimar where motorists seem to have difficulty navigating between the lines of their own traffic lane (possibly a gravi-magnetic sheer effect). Ironically, it's very difficult to photograph this phenomenon without weaving all over the roadway and/or causing other drivers to swerve.
  
  
• We finally found some information on the legend of the Dog Bar Sickle Slayer.
  
  
• Two more treetennas have been sighted. One on Luther Road in Auburn. The other is at Hwy. 49 and Hwy. 193 in Cool.
  
  

February 18, 2006

Here's a picture of the cursed Coyote Mountain taken from Rippey Hill during a rare low elevation snow storm on February 18, 2006.

February 16, 2006

Epidermis Epilogue: One of the trail workers suffered a vicious tick bite during the February 11th HHRT maintenance outing. The body of the female Western Black Legged tick was carefully dispatched within 13 hours of finishing our bike ride. Unfortunately, the head separated during removal and was too deep under the skin to be extracted with tweezers. The picture on the right was taken 54 hours after the botched operation.

Cautionary Note: The dime in the photograph was used for scale only. Never use any type of coin to remove a tick or tick head.

Epilogue Update (2/26/2006): The tick head was eventually assimilated into my body, becoming part of who I am. The bite completely healed with no signs of Lyme disease. Thanks to everyone for your concern.

February 11, 2006

1st Annual HHRT Trail Maintenance Day: A small group of adventure bicyclists peddled into the Hermit Hut Reverse Traverse trail system to explore, to learn, and to confront reality.

The reality was that our favorite mysterious trail needed some improved tunnel vision. Thanks to the many tools strapped to our bikes, bodies and utility belts, we were able to complete our four major objectives:

1. Trim face-whacking branches.
2. Clip leg-swiping poison oak.
3. Snip ankle-scratching black-berry vines.
4. Remove giant fallen oak trees.

After clearing the historic Old Vore Mine Trail and the Hermit Hut Reverse Traverse (Grubb Mine Trail), we exited this rural wilderness via the popular Assassins Trail, Nose-dive Cut-off, and the Boole Road Traverse Trail.

Note: This trail system was named one of the Top-6 Most Mysterious Mysteries of 2005.

Check back soon for more pictures ... and perhaps an epilogue.

January 30, 2006

BerMunda Triangle: We accidentally discovered another mysterious area northwest of the "North Fork Polygon". The three corners of this zone-of-inexplicable-happenings are formed by the towns of Colfax, Grass Valley, and Nevada City. Here's a sampling of recent news from the "BerMunda Triangle":

January 22, 2006

Extra Vehicular EVA Activity: Our Mountain Bike Field Investigative Unit returned to the Lake Theodore Vortex on January 22, 2006 to finally traverse Trackless Tunnel Number Zero.

The day we chose for our adventure was overcast and a mild 50 degrees Fahrenheit without any wind. In other words: Earthquake Weather.

But an abandoned train tunnel is no place to be when the ground moves. With only slight hesitation, we rode into the tunnel. We had left our bike lights at home that day, so we were more than a little worried about hidden nails, ghost trains, broken glass ... and humanoids.

The center of the tunnel is always darkest before the dawn, and that's where we had our first close call. Our front tires stopped suddenly when they contacted a large rock-sized solid object, forcing us to step into a wet liquid, possibly water, possibly not. We remounted our aluminum steeds and exited the tunnel without further incident.

It took only 5 minutes to ride through "Tunnel Number Zero", but it felt like about 10 minutes. We plan to return and further investigate this "missing/added time phenomenon". More...

January 10, 2006

Senseless Frame Crushing: The results of our bike frame stress test are back from the lab. The experiment was conducted in October 2005 by strapping the bike to the roof of an SUV and driving under a low overhang at 3 MPH. The frame is being sent back to the manufacturer for further analysis and replacement.

January 5, 2006

Follow-up: We returned on January 5, 2006 to the site of the senseless tree-felling to search for more clues to this cold case file.

December 31, 2005

New Years Eve Flood: We posted pictures of Coyote Creek going over the Crother Road Bridge taken at 8:00 a.m. on December 31, 2005. More...

December 30, 2005

Top-6 Most Mysterious Mysteries of 2005: A look back on the year that was a riddle wrapped in an enigma dipped in a Sudoku...

December 20, 2005

Year End Book Round-up: Just in time for a Happy Winter Christmas, we made a list of four locally authored books released in 2005...but we only checked our list once.

December 12, 2005

Tree Ranch Review: On December 5, 2005 we made a first time visit to a little known tree farm located between Weimar and Eden Valley. Read our top-7 reasons why the Carol Holben Christmas Tree Farm is our new favorite Christmas tree farm.

See All 2004-2005 Poly-Blog Archives

 

 

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