I have to say that this is one of the most magical times of year to investigate. While most groups hide indoors around the holidays we are out there adventuring through them. Sure its cold out but over the years I have found out that the less people that are out the more active the haunting's seem to be.

This would be a very unique investigation as we have brought on two new members of our team Chris and Brook. I am glad that were finally starting to be a core group of investigators who take a pure interest in what it is we do. So many great adventures are coming in the future and so many good times are going to be had. This is why I do what I do its all about having a little adventure and meeting some new friends.

Our night would consist of two historic cemeteries one called Genoa and the other Mottsville. This is a very old area of Nevada. Genoa afterall is the oldest settlement in the state of NV and its cemeteries is rumored to be the oldest in the state. So you can only imagine the excitement I felt being able to walk amongst the old crafted masonry gravestones.

The night was very crisp out when I checked temps near my house they were at about 12 degrees. We would be heading towards the foothills of the sierras. The moon was full just earlier Saturday their was a full lunar eclipse. I hope some of you were able to catch it as there will not be another one for at least 3 more years.

I met the team up at the bottom of the Kingsbury Grade which is your gateway into the Lake Tahoe area. Since we were already heading that way it was allot easier just to pick everyone up at the winter sports pick up area. Everyone loaded up there things in my truck and off we went.

We headed on out our first stop would be up in Genoa where I would show everyone around a little bit. Some of Genoa burned down years ago but allot of its old historic structures still remain restored and standing today. Most of them have tales of ghost all surrounding the town cemetery which is a landmark that shows the age of this first settlement.

Not sure how the team reacted when I told them tonight there will be two reindeers, elf, Mr and Mrs Claus. So I can only imagine what they probably thought I had on my mind for the night. As some of you know we try to cover various holidays such as in December we dress for the holidays just as around October were dressed for Halloween. It just adds in a bit more fun for everyone including the kids that browse our website.

We would start the investigation off by pulling on into Genoa Cemetery and our investigation would be start off the night of strangeness.

Genoa Historic Cemetery

We parked in the cemetery right next to where the first burial took place. Everyone was pretty excited about going here I know I was. Its nice to finally have a group of people who actually want to do this. Everyone is a good fit for our team and I know they will work out well.

We all gathered the gear and I dressed up at Lord Claus. Can you imagine investigating with someone dressed like Santa for your first investigation. What would you be thinking? I was thinking about busting some ghost and we did.

Everyone sort of dispersed in different directions that way everyone could kind of collaborate their own thoughts on the cemetery. The stars were out the moon was full and it was cold. So cold that some of us lost feeling in our toes even those who doubled their socks.

In the distance I could see the smaller towns below the foothills and all sorts of Xmas lights decorating the houses. It was a fairly peaceful night from the get go although it would not take long for the activity to increase. Some of the graves had holiday wreaths and trinkets while others were had dimly lit lights that looked like candles off in the distance.

Near the back of the cemetery was a gravesite of someone called Snowshoe Thomson. Later on I found out this man worked for free traversing parts of the sierras and Genoa as an unpaid postman risking his life. There was an interesting historic plaque about this burial as well.

Many of the older graves appeared to be towards the back of the cemetery. Some of those graves were surrounded by wrought iron while a few were broken in many pieces. One of the tombstones I first came across was broken in 3 separate pieces just leaning against a small foundation. The age of the stones within this burial ground are very obvious however so is the fact that some vandalism has taken place.

Tammy and I also found some stones encased in concrete to protect them from being broken or vandalized any further. There was another plot with over a dozen small tombstones next to one another. They were so closely together they probably were infants buried in this area. There was actually allot of graves of children who just did not make it. Life was harsh over 150 years ago here between the elements and sickness.

There were signs that the deer spent allot of there time at this cemetery as droppings were everywhere nearly scattered various gravestones on the ground. The deer are very abundant in Genoa especially near the fort where earlier when we drove by they seemed to be communing at.

I did not notice anything out of the ordinary during the first part of the investigation. We didn't have the EMF detector as its broke so we had to rely on our own senses. I could sense energy here but also feeling as if we were working with some very elusive entities. Tammy and Kyle were working on photos and EVP's.

We found in the center of the cemetery some very large monuments including a massive granite memorial. There was another gravesite surrounded by a wood fence up on rocks. There appeared to be older burials mixed in with newer ones in the center of the cemetery. There is also allot of large trees which surround many of the gravesites giving us the full eerie effect under the moon.

After awhile we all met up walking back to the truck. There we would have sodas, snacks and treats. I walked on off myself to take a few photos for our paracomedy page. Tammy snatched a photo of Kyle and I kneeling at the oldest and first man to be buried in Genoa.

Chris had mentioned hearing rocks moving around and being thrown. I seen his concern about this as he heard this going on during our break. He walked down the hill past the cemetery office and stood still looking on off into the distance. He explained to me that the rocks appeared to be moving a few inches off the ground then being thrown or shuffled around This would continue as the evening went on as we spent a fairly good amount of time investigating this location.

Our second half of the investigation would be Brook and Chris while Tammy, Kyle and myself headed on off to the Veteran section. We were walking down the road when Kyle seen a shadow running on all fours then vanishing. I am doubtful its an animal based on how he described it. Earlier in the investigation Brook mentioned seeing something move not to far from the oldest area of the graveyard then vanishing. This is pretty typical on cemetery ghost hunts based on my experience that ghost move around allot in cemeteries generally watching with curiosity.

When we arrived in the veterans area it was extremely cold nearly a 15 degree difference and it just cut right through my body. It was my first of two cold spots the other one would be at this child's grave who was 3 years old and had her photo embedded in her tombstone. Chris and Brook checked out the veterans section to they felt that chilling coldness. It didn't take an EMF detector to figure out that something of the unseen was in this cemetery with us.

Other then that the cemetery was very quiet. I had taken a team photo near these three tree like stones as it will serve as our Xmas card on our website this year. I love doing team shots that way you guys do not always have to see photos of just me lol.

We were about to wrap up the investigation and everyone went off back to the truck. I had to run on back to get my recorder I left it on a stone by accident while taking photos of everyone and filming LIVE interviews. Its something new I been doing every investigation which is getting everyone's opinion on what they experienced or their own theories on a location. I think that our viewers are going to like this feature it allows them to envision the investigation a little more.

This investigation was allot of fun even climbed up into a tree and stopped at the fort to check it out briefly. When I arrived at the fort I did not shine my lights and seen something run past me close enough to touch. I realized that there were deer all around me. I started running through the woods running the deer it was funny they were not very scared of me. Whenever I went a bit to close to them they would trot just a few feet away staring back at me trying to figure out what the hell it was I was doing lol.

After my fun here I took the team down this dirt road which led us to a parking area called Genoa Falls. They are putting in a new hiking trail that goes up into the sierras. I cannot wait till its completed I bet it will be a cool hike for us to do. It would then be time for us to finish off the night at another historic cemetery called Mottsville.

My final take on the Genoa Cemetery that it is haunted. The activity here is very much apparent especially when your seeing apparitions moving around and catching shadows moving about. This is what I live for that element of surprise. Kyle has been witnessing allot of the activity lately including the full experience of the Loganbill Ranch which ill be talking about during my show its good stuff man and away we went to Mottsville Cemetery!

Mottsville Cemetery

You would never know this place exist unless you were actually looking for it. Personally I was not able to find it at first this was because it sits on a dead end rural road parallel with the one that traverses along the bottom of the sierras.

On the way to the cemetery I stopped at a place called Gary's Mill unfortunately nothing was left so I jumped back into the truck and decided it would be time to find this historic graveyard.

When we found the cemetery the gate was rusted nearly shut it was not easy to open as it was jammed. There were a few houses surrounding the cemetery all lit up with Xmas lights. When we started to take photos one of the houses shut off all their lights. Its like hey folks lets not make it obvious here now lol but people sometimes freak out when they see flashes going off at a cemetery.

Many of the stones here were newer however the further we went back the more graves we found from the 1800. There was off in the distance a Xmas tree twinkling off in the distance while many of the graves had wreaths for the holidays.

There was a few early pioneer stones towards the back and center of the cemetery. One of the plots had a bunch of trees growing inside of the wrought iron while the gravestone was smashed onto the ground. While another plot we found was full of brush and trees growing inside of it to a degree that we could not even see the gravestone.

The team went off to the Xmas tree where Kyle showed me a gravestone that was literally in about ten pieces. By this time somebody pulling into there house arrived home watching us from there kitchen window. Then the person turned off all there lights continuing to watch us.

At that point it was time for us to get going so I really didn't have a chance to take to many EVP's or photographs. The people around this area seem to be rather nosy which I can understand its not often people go into cemeteries at night. However with the ghosthunting shows becoming so popular its pretty obvious seeing flashes going off at night that this is what is transpiring.

Like Genoa Cemetery many of the gravestones sat on concrete slabs while some were just surrounded by wrought iron fencing. I do think that for Chris and Brook this was a great starter investigation so they could learn a little more about how we conduct our investigations.

We had taken a team photo of us at the front entrance to the cemetery. The gates had to wreaths gracing the entrance. I was a bit upset about having to cut the investigation short but it was obvious the cops were probably on there way just by how the guy next door was acting all sneaky and honestly I did not want to have to get into a big long spiel with the Police about who we are and what we are doing there 1am

It was cold I believe at this time all of us were freezing to death. Chris, Kyle and Brook all spend time doing winter sports. I am sure they were colder investigating then snowboarding. I cannot wait till I do some snowboarding sometime with them its going to be a blast.

After the investigation we all hung out in South Lake Tahoe talking about the investigation and partying. I think its allot of fun when everyone can chill after the investigation and talk about it a little. I like to hear everyone's views so I can add them into my reports. Chris will take us out on his boat when it warms up then will do some Lake Monster hunting and visit the tea house up at Emerald Bay. I know our viewers are going to love some of our future projects 2012 is just around the corner my friends.

Anyhow It was a nice night drank some Sierra Beer and toked one next to the fire. I got to play with some new dogs Kyle has mentioned bringing the dogs on our Bigfoot hikes and camps so I am all for that. Will be able to integrate our new team members and dogs into the investigation which will produce some really great results this spring and summer when we take on the sierras. I have so many secluded areas that I am almost sure Bigfoot lurks around its going to be goddamn exciting!

The ride home wasn't a pleasant one Tammy gave me her version of going down the Kingsbury Grade at 3am lol. Its okay I didn't mind I just couldn't drive I partied a bit to much with the guys lol. But I have to say it was a blast and I am really proud of my newest team members. They take an active interest on the investigations there is no whining......everyone helps one another out....we all like the outdoors and to have fun. You cannot be successful at this unless your willing to have some laughs too believe me.

Anyhow these our are first investigations in the month of Dec. there will be another outing it may be after Xmas not sure yet it depends what I decide to do. The more I do out here the more I want to see. There will be a gathering at Carson Lanes Dec. 19th please come on out party with the team. Also ill be hosting AngelOfThyNight Radio probably Dec. 23rd or the 30th have not decided this is because I am trying to fit one more investigation in this month to finish off 2011 which has been a truly great year for The Paranormal & Ghost Society.

I would like to revisit both of the locations again when it warms up so we can finish our case files for Genoa and Mottsville Cemeteries. Maybe in the future we can get better equipment or all of us pitch in for a better camera set it up on a tripod see if we can get some physical evidence of an apparition crossing past the lens or something. Right now I am experimenting with new methods and I talked it over with the team so will be trying new things in the future.

I am very excited to see where our group is heading its taken me months to put together a team people who go out consistently and can apply there own theories during the investigations. Once we have established our team the next step will be getting permission into some of these places up around Virginia City and other ghost towns that are rumored to be haunted.

We want to thank Kyle, Tammy, Brook and Chris for there help this past weekend. I know its cold guys but you did well you stuck it through and we put in a nice night of paranormal investigating. I do not think Mottsville Cemetery was very haunted however I definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt feel based on our experiences up in Genoa that the graveyard up there has some pretty strange happenings.

Id like to investigate a cave coming up but our funding is poor right now not getting any donations and with gas prices its expensive for us to travel. We have allot of cool sites its just a matter of getting other members to send in there monthly donations so we can visit these places and put them on our site for your enjoyment. Also I need a new EMF detector and well being I spent so much on Xmas these holidays for my two little boys I may not get one for another month so we can only do our best and always hope we can count on our supporters to come through.
Happy Holidays,
Lord Rick
Founder
Author, Producer & Talk Show Host