Forbidden Universe
Paranormal => The Paranormal & Ghost Society => Topic started by: AngelOfThyCosmos on November 05, 2018, 05:20:53 PM
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Our Halloween Investigations In Portola & Beckwourth California - 10/27/18
Every year near Halloween I try to put out a few really special locations for our fans and viewers. For example I did an asylum a couple years ago it will be on our site in the near future. No matter what we do we always bring our people great places they can learn about and have fun viewing. This is a great time of year also to do cemeteries, ghost towns and haunted places.
For years I been going out week after week just adding to my paranormal resume which is so sickening that all these people who are getting TV shows lack one thing and that is experience. Yeah they are good actors but I lead a real paranormal life and I do most of the work alone without crowds or people telling me how to do my job.
This was an important trip for us as we would take on the ghost town of Beckwourth along with its cemetery, Western Pacific Railroad, Shady Rest and Sharkey Cemeteries. I also had two other graveyards just did not make it to them it gets dark so early my days are really cutting short which interferes with my ability to do my work. While I have no issue with night hikes and such I prefer to do daytime work so most of you can enjoy the gorgeous scenery to locations like these.
We are about to put Beckwourth on our website believe it or not next week ill have it up. It started off as just a cemetery till I discovered some of the original town site which is abandoned. You see I had found out we lost the film footage to Beckwourth and Western Pacific Railroad. So what I did is decided to return to these locations this past weekend to re film everything that was lost and put out second investigations or what I call follow up research which can be invaluable.
So on a crisp October morning we left real early sun was not even up yet still dark outside. I love to drive just sit back smoke a joint, sip coffee, listen to some classic rock and just enjoy the view as that wild western sun comes on up. The Portola and Beckwourth area is very historic in every way mining, milling, railroading and ranching.Its one of those quaint little places up in the sierras that most folks pass through and they never real delve into the history here but let me be the first to tell you there is much to see. Its small town life with views and a family atmosphere. Folks are generally pretty nice here to they wave or are social. Journeying is not just about the places I go but also the folks I talk to or meet along the way.
This is a fun time of year for us too I bring all sorts of mask and we do some funny gigs to. All our investigations are holiday themed and they have been for nearly two decades. Nobody pays us to do what we do this is all volunteer research and work. But in the end these locations look wonderful on our site and allow folks to enjoy them for years to come so we would visit Beckwourth first at sunup. This would be the start of a great day full of good readings and fun exploring.
Whispering Pines Cemetery and Ghost Town Of Beckwourth
Investigation Two
When I arrived I had gotten out onto the highway to check out some farm which is partially abandoned the old country home and bars seem to be empty. But later on Tammy pointed out to me a newer home was being concealed by the older one on this ranch. I was bummed because I did think about exploring it after all its been awhile since I have done an abandoned ranch. But no less this old creepy farm sits right across from the cemetery so when you are wandering the graves you can see it vividly.
Its amazing how a second walk through revealed to me things I did not notice or see before. This is an amazing place perhaps because of its pioneer history. It sits only a couple miles within the Beckwourth Pass which was an old stage and wagon route during the gold rush. Its also the lowest pass in the sierras and was improved when a freed slave set up his trading post nearby. The town was named after this man and he would have seen the cemetery growing while he lived up here and utilized his trail.
The oldest section is on a hill but below it under a couple trees are a few family plots I found. Not sure why there is a huge open space within this cemetery then you go to this very corner and find over a dozen graves buried so close to one another it has to make you wonder how all the coffins could fit six feet below. Their probably is quite a few unmarked graves some of the folks buried here traversed the Beckwourth Pass as an alternative route though the sierras over the very snowy Donner Pass. But life was not easy while traveling you had epidemics, harsh weather, Indian attacks, robberies, accidental deaths and everything in between. So when you look at many of the pioneer graves you kind of wonder how that individual passed away.
May I add the views of Beckwourth Peak are amazing especially with the different mixes of gold colored leaves surrounding it. No matter where you go here you can see that peak through the forest and better yet from old town. I am kind of happy that this cemetery has so very little vandalism. I found a couple broken stones I did not see last time but as a whole there is only a few in the cemetery.
Last time I was here I was also getting EMF readings that were in the danger zone. This time I was getting readings all over the place but mainly in the same area again. The new meter I have does capture EMF and Magnetic readouts. Both were present in cautionary levels or rather were considered dangerous. I have no idea if it was a spirit or not. I did this investigation alone Tammy was not feeling good so she took a nap and I told her no worries because I do my best work alone besides the fact that the less people there is the higher chance I have of getting an EVP. So quiet can be a good thing!
I spent much of my time photographing angels in the cemetery! Sometimes I enjoy working on new projects then what I do is bring them projects to all of you. If you do not follow or look at our work you tend to miss out on some really great stuff paranormal evidence included. People live on there phones now so in a sense if you grab your coffee take time at home on your PC's you can enjoy our site and those angels in the future just sayin'. I had fixed a couple angels and flowers that were tipped over since who else is going to do it?
I also try to take EVP near where I get heavy readings and it can sometimes produce results if an entity is present. So I spent my time filming and trying to focus mainly on EVP. I was also very excited because I filmed a documentary here about James P. Beckwourth whom the town and cemetery were named after. Its very rich cultural history so we hope people will view the video when I release it. I had to re film everything here which was a bit strange to say the least but I got what I needed to get.
This cemetery sits in a grove of tall pine trees kind of strange because across the road use to be an old saw and lumber mill in the 1800's. Its long gone but back in the day they were cutting the trees down surrounding the cemetery to be used to build towns like Portola and Virginia City Nevada. Not sure the pines were ever touched in the cemetery since they really seem to tower over everything here except for below the hill where an empty area is.
There is an entire section of gravesites that are unmarked just a tiny metal post with a blank silver colored tag unknown. I do not think records were well kept with the cemetery and some of those unknowns were probably those buried in the early 1860's when people traversed the Beckwourth Trail. The trail which today is now a highway is just below the cemetery so miners and families in bandwagons would have seen those graves on a hill probably thinking they could end up here too.
I discovered a flag pole with a plaque in the corner of the graveyard. It appears though the newer flag pole and its graves around it is the newest veterans section. I spent nearly two hours investigating here cant say anything strange happened and it was a crisp morning my hands were cold filming. When I say cold it probably was in the low 30s before that sun warmed things up a bit. Last time I was here there were flowers everywhere not so much anymore winter will come soon for this location.
I would move on to the Western Pacific Railroad we also had our second investigation in the rail yard and working with some things we did not get access to our first time. When I finished the railroad I went to lunch then to Shady Rest Cemetery and ended up coming back to Beckwourth do you know why? Ill give you a hint it was not for the cemetery but something really awesome!
It was the original town site where Beckwourth begin along Grizzly Creek which consist of James Beckwourths trading post, outhouse, three wood cabins and some kind of shack or shanty. There is an old ranch which is historic nearby and on some private property a few more remnants of the town maybe some homesteads or even small businesses. Everything but the trading post was in bad shape dilapidated meaning no windows, doors, holes in the floorboards and roofs.
Nearby on private property is a couple more old barns falling apart and a few more abandoned homesteads. I wont cross on over to the farm though out of respect being that there are cattle running around and farmhands it probably is not a good idea. But in general the entire area has a bunch of structures which date back to the 1800's when Beckwourth was more of a town then a farming community. Things have really changed over the years nearby Portola has gotten so big that it probably caused other towns to be vacated just a few miles up the road.
Near the cabins was Beckwourth's trading post which is a two story wood cabin and its in fairly decent shape but its also been restored. Inside there was a wood stove, barrels, wood chairs, tables, desk, small bed with a quilt, oil burning lamps and a bunch of other relics of the past. Beckwourth would have ran his trading post out of here while residing here also. He could have easily gone out for a stroll and seen the town cemetery too nearby. I did not get to see all the trading post it had an upstairs to probably used mainly for storage and goods.Then again maybe it was a second bedroom since it had a window in it.
One of the cabins looked like a workshop it had a long table in the back of it. Another cabin had a sink in it and shelves. Much of the floor boards are ripped up and you could see in each of them where a pipe ran through the roof for heating. More then likely each cabin had a wood stove it does get VERY cold up here and snow too. After all we were in the middle of the sierras but a beautiful part of the sierras if anything with ranches everywhere, pretty views, big ole trees full of gold leaves, creek trickling out back and serene as the cattle were grazing nearby.
I did not expect to do the ghost town aspect of Beckwourth what started out as just a small historic cemetery turned into a much bigger project. This was the perfect Fall adventure for us exploring old cabins with leaves all over the ground. There was a brand new large home nearby all of this and in between the home and those old cabins is a rock with a plaque which talks a bit about Beckwourth. Today this man is still brought up in literature in a sense he is a symbol and inspiration to the African American Community.
Their was not many black men who came out west who built there own homestead, ran a business and built wagon trails. Sadly Beckwourth was murdered perhaps poisoned merely a few years after he built the trading post and lived downtown so his presence in the area did not last long. I was hoping that with our paranormal investigation we might get lucky get some evidence of Beckwourth being present at this location in the afterlife as I peered across the road at the cemetery nearby.The possibility of ghost being present here is quite high considering how old this area is. Beckwourth sat along the old wagon trail up to Marysville it was an alternative route into Sacramento back in the day so thousands would have utilized it and stopped at Beckwourths trading post in hopes of regaining some supplies along the way.
After our investigation of old Beckwourth and the cemetery we would move onto the cemetery as we would head south into the biggest valley in North American to see Sharkey Cemetery. But after the cemetery we would first go see the Western Pacific Railroad to investigate it for our second time.
Western Pacific Railroad
Exploration Two
This is one of the most amazing railroads on the west coast as a matter in fact when it was operable you could take this railroad all the way from the bay area all the way up into the Midwest in cities like Chicago. Its ashamed the line is no longer active so the trains found here are today abandoned and awaiting even restoration at least some of them area. I get like a big kid at this train yard which also was a freight repair shop back in the day with a huge turn table and even a passenger station. There also use to be a hospital on the hill above but a few years ago an ass hat burned it down and that was one of the last railroad hospitals in the country.
I was visiting here for the pumpkin express which the train takes you out to this pumpkin patch and you get to ride the rails. I could not wait to visit here the folks that run this place are good people very friendly and all volunteers. This was my second exploration and well I do believe some of the train cars are haunted which is why we needed to go back again besides the fact all our film footage was lost for the first expedition I had a chance at refilming everything and exploring some things I may have missed.
It was pretty cool because they had the haunted train car out which was full of weird stuff like body parts, dolls and other creepy stuff like fake blood. They also had the freight shop all decked out with Halloween decor so I had some fun enjoying the Halloween festivities here. This is not a super busy place usually but there were quite a few people dressed in costumes taking the train out to the patch. This left me the entire yard to myself to explore and do my investigation for anything ghostly. People have no idea how often trains are haunted such as old cabooses and engines.
Tammy and I got to explore a snowplow engine inside man it was not built for comfort. This engine also had a back room you could go in with a bathroom included. But the tiny portals were hard to see out of it and the windows had this defroster built into them because the snow would fly on up over the engine as they plowed the powder off the rails. I also got to explore an old luxury Zephyr Car which was lined up with Halloween decor, lights and tables. Those cars were some of the most luxurious of its time to ever be built today not so much because all the seats were gone and instead they put folding chairs with tables inside covered in Halloween table clothes.
I also explored the old luxury Union Pacific Car which was for the CEO and that has not changed its very much like when I seen it the first time. Still though it has a living room, kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms one with a private bathroom and even a cozy area you can sit look out the window. I so bad want to ride in a luxury car like this across the country and sip wine who wouldn't? But when you step into the car its like stepping back into time 40 years ago.
Tammy and I went into the gift shop they have a scale model of the Feather River Railroad which shows scenery and eventually shows the old yard we were standing in with how it use to look decades ago. There was this tiny cute little kitten that came up to us we have no idea if it was a stray Tammy wanted to take it home go figure we already have four kitties what is another one? lol
I got to see this one engine nearly 100' in length biggest engine I ever seen just a marvel. We also got to see the old steam engine they were restoring two years ago and it looks nice now that its been painted jet black. Things were moved around here many of the trains, cars and engines we visited before were not in the back of the yard or moved elsewhere within the freight shop. So I sort of had to go on out there try to find what I found last night. Its a big yard they nearly have 200 pieces of rolling stock here.
Tammy and I got to explore more cabooses then we did last time some of them are quite old with wood stoves inside of them for heating. I miss the days when cabooses ran on the tracks. But times have changed you will never see those days when cabooses run on the back of the train but as a kid I use to see these cabooses all the time when my father took me to see trains.
We went deeper into the yard where I explored an old dome car there is a few but they were bolted shut. Tammy found one I could explore but I had to climb up into it and that in itself is a feat for a guy my age lol. That car was gutted inside but you could take a stairwell to the top where the dome is and there was some nice views of the yard. These dome cars were part of there silver line they once operated and if you go to the front of the cat there is this one room with luxury blue seats and on the back wall what appears to be wild western artwork depicting an old wagon, cowboy with two bulls and a stone cabin in the foreground.
I spent half of my time climbing around on engines and cars. There are quite a few iron bars on the sides of engines and cars you can climb. It was hard on my bad knee but you sort of cant resist. The steps are also very high to get up onto the engines. I knew this would leave me feeling sore the next day but stuff like this only comes around once in awhile. I have spent years visiting trains but not to this extent which is why I love the WPR.
I got to go into an engine that was newer that was not locked ill tell you some of the older train engines were pretty easy to operate. One of the engines had a couple buttons and two levers one for acceleration one for breaking how simple is that? If anyone ever wants to split the cost for the train fuel we can operate one of these engines on the tracks this is the only location in the country that allows people to drive a real train engine just something to think about. If I split the cost with five others we all could have a turn just sayin!
Tammy and I also got to explore a military bunker car which had nothing but bunk beds in it stacked three high. Not sure I ever seen bunks that go three high but to get to the top bunk you had to climb like a monkey stepping on other peoples beds just to get to the top. I also explored an old box car it had a rats nest in it and some other type of car that had this bed on it. By then the Union Pacific was roaring by because the series of tracks behind the yard are still heavily in use and operable.
We also had gotten to see an Amtrak car and inside the museum some artifacts I did not see before. Artifacts like safes, desk, machinery, tools etc. There is plenty to see outside took if you look around like old railroad switches and crossings. They do not have it open all the time but there was an old WPR cargo car its more like a giant empty car with carpeting which they probably used to store things in like luggage. Beyond that was another car which should be in the Smithsonian which is a blood drive car and a very old one dating back from WWII.
This car houses nurses sometimes even soldiers but it would go town to town to draw blood which then could be used for injured soldiers. That car alone saved thousands of soldiers lives and it was very luxurious had a kitchen, fancy light fixtures, dining room, parlor, patient rooms etc. One of the first soldiers in Nevada to die in that war had a mother who was the first to give blood on this train car so lots of history associated with it and tales. The old pioneer train car is being restored but it will cost over a million to do it not cheap huh? The blood car made history not just because of the lives it saved but because there was not car like it in the world and a historian gave me all sorts of tidbits of information about it when I talked to him about it. He told me that he had met a nurse who road on this car at one time and she was able to share with him some really intriguing tales.
If you veer left below the hill side the tracks to go far back nearly into the woods. Back there we found a rail cart, electric diesel engines and an old WPR Train Engine as well as train car. I went to the back of the yard to toke a bowl sit on the trains and relax for awhile. I had missed the train to the patch so instead we walked it on foot. I was hanging off one of the engines wearing my clown mask as you guys know when its October ill wear different scary mask on our investigations when I think it was the engineer who asked if I wanted to board the train. My eyes lit up like saucers as I climbed into an old caboose and sat back looking out the window as finally I had gotten to take a ride on this historic railroad. I was in tears but tears of joy because I got to experience this railroad not just see it!
I will say though its a bit of a rough railroad to ride the caboose was bouncing around like crazy and when we braked It caused me to slide forward. It was not the smoothest railroad in the world but it was one of the most scenic luxurious back in its heyday. I was happy to ride on board in one of the old cabooses. I was talking to staff who road with me on the caboose and he told me that he was up by the old hospital all that is left though are pieces of concrete that its all gone. Your not suppose to move around but I was bouncing around between both seat to look out the window like a big kid in a candy store. I thought about hiking up the hill to go to the hospital site even if the structure is gone I bet the grounds in those woods above the railroad are haunted just a thought.
All in all our exploration was very amazing I did get some readings but I have to discount them there is power everywhere around this place out in the yard, transformers etc. But I did take EVP and mainly video on this journey lots of it. I did get to see more cars and engines on the inside. I also had gotten to ride the rails and get to explore some of the more off limits type of stuff. When I left the yard I drove right along the active tracks and found a few more train cars also. There are so many types of train cars here for example a crane car, tankers, flat beds, box and fruit cars, passenger cars and so much more. The views of some of the mountains here are also very nice and if you are willing to climb some iron horses you can see it even better.
After our exploration I did stop at Subway because some burger joint was closed that said they were open go figure. Food is hard to find up in Portola at least good food. I ended up going to Subway which was a big mistake. The woman was dozing off making my sub the place was very messy then the other employee was doing nothing but playing games on his cell phone. While I was eating my Italian Sub two women came in started a fight with the female employ swearing at her and making threats. Pretty soon a huge fight broke out almost had to get in the middle which is the story of my life lately. I have had to bust criminals and stop fights all month long. I nearly had to remove the women there while eating my lunch then the cops showed up so we were out and moved on to somewhere quieter a place known as Shady Rest Cemetery.
Shady Rest aka Portola Cemetery
Shady Rest sits in a patch of woods on the edge of Portola in this little historic neighborhood. I will say its very quaint here you can still here the trains though roaring by. I have been wanting to visit this cemetery for awhile just to take some photos and readings. We just had gotten done eating lunch at Subway it was a gorgeous warm fall day out and it was time to get out in nature a bit. This cemetery is just that very shady lots of pine trees everywhere.
The one thing that stands out about this cemetery is there is no historic section despite its age. I found one just one historic gravestone in the corner of the graveyard smashed to pieces and separated from its pedestal it should have been sitting on. Not to far away from that are dozens of unmarked graves simply just a small little metal pole with a blank tag. I will assume this WAS the historic section and all the graves were vandalized or removed so they replaced them with an unknown tag.
I expected to see a bunch of old historic graves of prominent historical figures and railroading workers relevant to the area but this was not the case. Most of the gravestones were only a few decades old and had flowers on them. Its a well maintained graveyard not something I am use to seeing. It probably was not always that way and anything that was historic is long gone. Where I found the smashed old stone from the 1800's had a huge open area nearby which means that there is many unknowns not even marked by a stone here.
There was quite a few children buried here one of the gravestones had a glass encasement built into it which housed a statue. There was also quite a few small angel statues around different graves. Another grave had an owl and a bulldog statue. There was also a grave surrounded by stone walls and the cemetery had its own veteran section which boasted about 40 similar stones with a flag pole in the middle of them.Some of the things on one veterans stone were all tipped over I fixed them as a paranormal investigator its important to give as much as we take when we visit these places because nobody else will.
There was also a section just for babies kind of sad but spooky to. There must had been the graves of about 50 infants here each with a small little stone then two foot area surrounded by a circular pattern of small rocks. Their was quite a few infants buried here as a matter in fact it appears the cemetery has very little left to bury babies let alone adults here because its nearly grave to grave.
There is no electric lines in the cemetery yet my E-Field read at nearly 400 and my H-Field nearly read at 2.0 both of which were very high here very weird to say the least. The readings here were higher then the Beckwourth Cemetery and at least Beckwourth had some power lines along the road nearby. So the readings tell me something else is going on here. I mean this place sits by itself above the town if anything its very quiet here.
I did not notice till now but the buildings next to the cemetery through the trees is the Portola Hospital aka Eastern Plumas Healthcare. Anotherwards when babies die in still birth or elderly get sick most of the time they are brought from the hospital to the cemetery. With that being said this is why today its being so well maintained because the hospital utilizes this cemetery. Although the hospital is newer so prior to that the cemetery probably sat abandoned which may explain what happened before its construction and why there was so many unknowns here. You can find unknown gravesites everywhere in this cemetery there might be a few hundred at the very least.
I spent most of my time here filming information about the towns early history while filming the graves. I have very little information on this place. I guess I expected more considering how old Portola is and historic I thought id walk in seen beautifully engraved stones, giant statues, old historic graves and its nothing like that at all. Tammy and I had more work to do so we could only stay here about an hour to walk around. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop here and towards the back of the cemetery is a garage which they probably store maintenance equipment to maintain the cemetery.
Its kind of a lonely sad place most people buried here probably died at the hospital not all but most. To many unknowns also and all historic graves are gone except the one which is in shambles. Despite how things turned out you never know ghosts may haunt this graveyard. If we as paranormal investigators do not take the time to do the field work necessary then we may never known. So it was important to at least stop here to check it out.
We left to head on up to Sharkey Cemetery not before we would stop and explore the ghost town of Beckwourth which was the second half of our exploration from that morning spent at the cemetery. Sharkey Cemetery is in the sierras above the sierra valley and its very rural much more rural then Shady Rest as well as harder to get to.
Sharkey aka Westside Cemetery
We had just left the Beckwourth area turning off into the sierra valley and crossing the Feather River as I seen a man fishing almost joined him lol it was pristine. I was pressed for time it gets dark early this time of year not only that but it was a long day and we were far from done. The Sierra Valley is the highest and largest alpine valley in North America. If some of you remember we once did the semi ghost town of Sierraville which is located in this valley. I got some other places will work with in the future here but Sierraville and its Cemetery are top notch places to visit.
We were on the north side of the valley heading south along the bottom of the woodsy sierra mountains to our right. Its really a scenic ride as we passed by old historic ranches from the 1800's. This was a hard cemetery to find you see it sits up on this dirt road or the side of a mountain overlooking the valley below. But the road its on is not labeled as a matter in fact when your going down the road it kind veers off to a ranch while the other road where it splits goes steep up to the top of this hill to the cemetery.
When I turned on the road to go up to the cemetery there was plants growing 3' high you could tell it may have been awhile since anybody had been back here. I almost could not fathom the cemetery being here and when I went past this farm dogs were barking like crazy so I was not feeling the homecoming welcome! You would never know that this road led anywhere or that it even served a purpose to be honest with you.
The road begins to turn a little and then you can see the cemetery way up on the side of the mountain. Its a gorgeous area lots of woods everywhere and peaks around us even down the road are some hot springs. The ground is still very hot under this valley which use to be a massive sea or lake at one time that filled with soft sediment 2000' which is why today the valley makes for such a good area to ranch.
I could not below the wildlife up here just in a short time I seen an eagle, hawk and a herd of deer grazing. Their is nature all over the place here unfortunately I could not stop the truck to get out and take pictures of the nature because I wanted to get to the cemetery to get my scenic photography so I could show our viewers how awesome this place was. So time was not on my side because the sun was now on the other side of the mountains behind the cemetery.
There is a rusty wrought iron entrance which says at the top Sharkey with a cross and a couple gates you open to get into the cemetery. The cemetery sits on a hill so the further back you go into it you continue to go uphill. The woods behind the cemetery are dense real dense I kept hearing a few noises in those woods. I have to say this place has a creepy vibe to it. Off to the left is a hill and cross from it a steep mountain which had a blended of gold color trees that were changing colors.
When you entered the cemetery to the left are the Sharkey family gravesites then to the right a few historic stones near a small tree. In between these series of graves leaves the entire rest of the graveyard open in the middle and then towards the back are more graves. To the left corner is also a giant monument that says Farley and to the right is one of the cemeteries oldest stones but it was crumbling in pieces meaning someone had vandalized it. As a matter in fact it looked like a tall gravestone that had been broken in half as it was merely sitting on the ground in pieces.
It would not take very long for the sun to go down but when it started to the entire sky was pink and purple. The view of the Sierra Valley below was breathtaking with mountains off in the distance it was a perk we had gotten to enjoy while we were conducting our investigation. We would still hear the dogs on the farm barking the entire time from afar it was a bit of an annoyance. But the view was worthwhile despite the fact that the leg broke on my tripod we managed to pull off a nice scenic shot of us before sundown.
I was getting readings like crazy here they were higher then anywhere I been all day there are no powerlines up here this is on a mountain full of forest. But with an E-field of 800 and H-field of 1.17 that was a decent readout enough to tell me we were not alone up here. I did not see all the readings because what I now do is put it in my pocket if it keeps going off ill pull it out move in a circle then take the highest of the readings while recording EVP in that given area. My EMF has a light on it so it was getting dark out so it was a nice feature to have.
There was a few gravestones off alone here and there I believe a couple Sharkey family members had passed in the 1800's. Many pioneers or some of the areas first ranchers were found buried here. This time of year all the grass growing in the cemetery was brown. One of the Sharkey graves had Jesus engraved on a cross on it. Another grave I found was in good shape but it had an older gravestone next to it laying face down.
Their was some minor vandalism done to some of the stones like top pieces missing that sort of thing but for the most part this pioneer cemetery of about 30 to 40 graves was in fairly decent shape. By the time we had gotten done filming and photographing the cemetery nightfall was here. I took a few night shots of the cemetery before we left just to show our viewers what darkness looks like in this place. I was not in a rush I sat down leaning against the truck ate a snack, smoked some bud and drank something before I had to go home making the long drive.
At night all you can make out are the tips of the evergreen trees growing here and there. It was a nice evening out for Fall the stars were out and you could see dimly lit ranches in the valley below us. Driving this road at night is a bit odd like I said high brush grows on the road you can barely even see it as we made our way back to the road below just a few miles actually from Beckwourth so we really stayed in the general area all day long. So that kind of tells our viewers how much great stuff there is to explore and check out this way which is not even all of it.
I had two more cemeteries we did not make it to I would have gone at night but generally when it comes to these more scenic locations I like to hit them during the day. People can see more during the day like the mountains, town around it, scenery, nature etc etc When I was back east it did not matter much because most cemeteries I did were surrounded by trees and brush no mountains. But out here every single locations I do is beautiful and it deserves for our viewers to enjoy more then just the gravestones. So I passed by them both and put them on my list for next time I am up this way. But boy what a long day it was exploring Old Beckwourth & Historic Cemetery, Western Pacific Railroad, Shady Rest and Sharkey Cemetery. Our days this time of year are cut short sometimes all I want to do is exploring from sunup till sundown and even that is not always enough time.
All in all we had great readings in all the locations we investigated so I would say it was a really good day. I wore my mask in Sharkey Cemetery too including my ogre and Frankenstein Mask lol. Tammy and I try to figure out creative things we can do when I wear a mask like climb a tree or hiding in some bushes that sort of thing. It keeps our website fun that is why for years the same folks come back over and over again because we are not your typical paranormal group and we never will be which is fine by me. I doubt very few folks even know about Sharkey Cemetery its kind of not on any maps not even much historical info on the place and sometimes those are the best places to seek out the dearly departed. But for a Halloween end of October trip it does not get any better then this. I always look forward to putting locations like these on our website for the world to enjoy because our viewers will get a bit of everything with it.
Peace,
Lord Rick
PS This is a rough draft finalization will take place and edits once it gets indicted on to our website in the future.