Our Followup Investigations Of The Iron Mtn. Ski Lodge & Tragedy Springs!

I was very excited to the opportunity to conduct follow up investigations like these not only because of there history but also where they are located. Whenever you have a chance to go up into the sierras you take it considering that the snowfall so far up there has been little to mild. I always enjoy doing my Thanksgiving weekend investigations it allows me to burn off all that pumpkin pie that I ate lol.

It was a nice evening out November 24th 2012 with a gibbous moon no clouds a bit crisp and I spent Saturday getting together most of the gear which plays a huge part in the preparations before going off into the woods. We would try dowsing although I am skeptical of it I do think as a founder I should always try new things and keep an openmind.

This is such a great time of year to investigate people stay inside while you have entire locations to yourself. I like that scenario because I can weed out people as a source of certain noises. I sometimes wonder how I get myself in certain situations perhaps fate has a role in our investigations and things happen for a reason.

We were supposed to have more people come out but it came down to Tammy and I. We both enjoy these locations last year took the boys sledding here as over winter a ton of powder comes in great for winter sports.

But it goes beyond winter sports here lets face it this is Bigfoot country and in every part of the sierras is at least one or two ghost stories. Although I visited the Iron Mountain Lodge and Tragedy Springs prior they were daytime explorations. I knew by nightfall these places would be even more eerie and would give off a foreboding feeling.

Personally I was looking forward to just being out in the woods. As some of you know I only live a few miles from multiple national forest and protected wildernesses. After seeing Bigfoot and coming close to him a few times I now will take any chance I have to be up there searching or doing research.

However these investigations go beyond Bigfoot they were more about what lurks on the otherside. The side allot of us refuse to see or experience. Little did I know that our second investigations would produce heavier results however it would be soon I would find this out. So our adventure began here 30 plus miles into the woods at a lodge that sits on a mountain surrounded by woods.

Iron Mountain Ski Lodge
Investigation 2

Tammy and I were able to park behind the main lodge building but we still had to tread to snow to walk up onto it. The snow was not very soft actually it was glazed with ice. All we could see in the distance were mere shadows of various structures surrounding the resort. While some had been covered in ice and snow others were not.

When we arrived at the lodge their were two large trucks parked in front of it. I shined my light on them both I didn't see anyone in the vehicles. It was fairly obvious that someone was in the main lodge most likely downstairs because getting to the upstairs takes a little more skill.

I decided for us to investigate the upstairs first all the suites which generally are two rooms plus a bathroom face the ski lifts. We walked down the long balcony room to room. I had noticed many changes this time around for example most of the rooms walls were busted down you could tell someone was using a hammer as in some spots they were unsuccessful.

There was one room where someone made a homemade table they left a bunch of marijuana stems on it with bottles of Mikes hard lemonade. There was also some fresh cans of soup and ChefBoyardee that were opened. Some were not even fully eaten and although I seen a few mice droppings throughout the lodge there was not many. This might be due to the cold temperatures as snow blows into allot of the rooms.

This time around some of the snow had reached the second floor but unlike April this year it did completely engulf the building leaving many areas accessible that I was not able to get to this time around. During the day people snowmobile up here so they use the heavy snow to launch themselves right off the lodges roof.

I was walking really heavy I figured if there were people downstairs I might scare them and it worked. Two people ran as fast as they could to there trucks peeling out of there. Trust me I stood right above them on the balcony they looked white as a ghost. Not sure if they thought Bigfoot was crashing there party, cops or Lord Rick the friendly ghost.

At this point we had the entire place to ourselves Tammy would be in one room while I was examining another one. The upstairs is a simple aisle of rooms its not as complex as the downstairs but the old shag carpet and cheesy wallpaper gives off that 70's feel.

I remember hearing in the room next to me a man and a woman talking. When I walked on in nobody was there quite strange but then again so is this place. You could also see where others had squatted here like a piece of foam was put down in a room and the glass was all swept to the corners. I expected to find someone here but instead we found nothing but all that was left behind.

We eventually made our way to another hidden area that you had to go downstairs then go back around to get to the upstairs. There was a utility room and we also found a couple rooms we didn't see last time around. One had so much insulation hanging from it that it reminded me of a room full of bodies dangling. It was very dusty and hard to breath the air in here.

We eventually went down a creepy stairwell inside which led us into the lower floor. I heard there is a basement here to I have not found it yet and I may never with as poor of condition as the lodge is in. Tammy pointed out a kitchen and front desk of the lodge which I didn't see my first time here.

We went into every single room to do EVP on the lower floor this time around though most of the bunks had been torn up perhaps for its wood while we found new fresh red graffiti everywhere. Its amazing how just a matter of months a place can transform into something that looks like hell. All the windows are broken so snow just pours into the rooms.

We went through the public bathrooms and showers then explored the rooms on the otherside. It was very cold in the inn I thought to myself what if a bear or even bigfoot uses this place to hide in. As some of you know Bigfoot have been known to hide in abandoned barns and other secluded structures. I kept my mind open the entire time listening hoping to hear more.

When I turned around Tammy was in one of the rooms and down at the end of the long corridor was a ghostly man transparent standing there staring at me. Maybe a maintenance worker type hard to say it took allot of staff to operate this lodge. You didn't just have the hotel but you had sheds, mess hall, restaurant, locker room, maintenance buildings, tanks and ski lifts.

We were glad to have searched the entire lodge when we stepped outside I seen a female looking out the window of her hotel room. Staring at us she looked kind of sad this place certainly is one of the more stranger hotels I have investigated. The woman looked as if she was dressed in clothes from the 70s in a blink she was gone.

We headed on over to another building not sure what it was perhaps where they served food and refreshments at. The building is sort of oddly shaped this time around the door had been busted right open so we walked in took a few photos. The glass crunching was no louder then the ice that surrounded the mountain top. Although there were no winds you could hear a pin drop so our crunching probably was enough to wake the dead.

Another building nearby has a water tank its also maintenance it has a ton of circuit boards inside. The big red tank inside the building may have been the water supply. The tanks on the grounds may have been filled with gas and oil. This building is more like a barn Tammy went around one end my belly got in the way I had to find a different way to get in. The joys of being a kid again I remember those days I could fit into small spaces hell no not anymore though lol.

We found an abandoned RV one that I went inside last time I was here. This time around the entire side wall was ripped off. Its amazing how much humans can cause destruction of a place. I could never understand the need or want to destroy something unless your at an old junk yard. But this RV was actually very nice could have even been restored now its missing a wall.

Tammy and I also went into two abandoned house this time around the mattresses and some of the furniture was missing. Maybe someone burned them to make a fire who knows. But the one house last time had little girls clothes near a mattress. Its a sickening and disturbing find but allot of sickos take the innocent to abandoned places to do there thing. This time around the clothes were gone so its hard to say what the deal is with that.

Tammy and I would finish off our night climbing up into one of the ski lifts. Its a very tall ladder the iron bars are cold I didn't have gloves so my hands were frozen. We climbed where we took ourselves a break overlooking the slopes below. Half of the floors are gone in the ski lifts so we could only sit in one little section of it. By this time the winds were howling and the sierras coldness had set on in.

We also visited another shed hidden under one of the ski lifts which had a ton of electrical circuit boards. Perhaps these controlled all the lifts here while the other building controlled the main lodges power. There are quite a few structures on site including the foundation of a larger building which is now a pile of rubble.

On our way back we flash bombed the front of the hotel in hopes to capture an apparition on film. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not. We didn't get anything off the dowsing rods and it will take time to sift through all the EVP's taken here.

I am hoping to wrap up my case here I never try to visit a place to many times just out of respect for the dearly departed. I generally like to find proof of the unknown then move onto another place. So I will miss the lodge chances are its going to be torn down soon its just to hard to maintain another collapsing structure. They had a wood board trying to keep people from going upstairs the problem is that you can get upstairs four other ways so if people continue to bust in the walls its just a matter of time where it will be gone ghost included.

Tammy and I made our way back to the car we had a few slips and slides but we never once got hurt. I know so many thought id get all hurt but that is only generally during our Bigfoot expeditions where I am gone for days in the wilderness. I felt this was a good investigation maybe a right time and place kind of thing. Its hard to believe so many come here to party and do not see the lodge for what it truly is.

One of the eerie sites I seen that I didn't see before is piles of just ski lift chairs strung out across the field. Last time these were buried in snow. So in reality we seen many new things and it was well worth the trip up into the sierras to once again see this place. Just imagine in another month or two this entire place will be buried under snow that includes the lodges rooms leaving the place inaccessible once more.

We would then take on off to the nearby Tragedy Springs a place where three men in the 1800's were murdered brutally. It was nice to get the heat going and have something to drink. I didn't realize we spent over four hours in this place for us it seemed like much less then that. Perhaps I was abducted by aliens who knows its always something you have to think about when you have missing time or perhaps we just had a kick ass time ghosthunting.

Tragedy Springs
Investigation 2

This is such a beautiful place surrounded by woods its also very historical. The springs I was not able to visit as snow and ice covered them. However we were able to do some work surrounded the gravesite where three men were found murdered. I am trying to clear the native Americans who were blamed for this. I do not think they did this since the men were buried by them with trinkets and other cultural items. So my goal was to work allot with EVP while attending to this investigation.

Tammy and I parked the snow and ice was a bit to rough so we walked the road on in. The trees were bare had no foliage I could hear water trickling downhill. The night was becoming real crisp I mean at times our feet would go threw a 2' hole so our socks were all wet and the feet were getting cold.

I have always thought of Tragedy Springs as a haunted site I think the men who were killed here have a story to tell and nobody ever listens. Hell I may come here in the summer just to camp for a night let the EVP run its hard to say. I just know that there is an entrance to a place called the Californian Trail which is very primitive great for Bigfoot research as well.

Tammy and I made our way tot he memorial this time it was not buried under the snow which talks about the men that were killed. This time around I was able to talk to each of them by name which also can enhance the investigation big time and it did.

My goal however was to search for the actual tree and cairn where the men were buried. I would have to work a little bit to find everything not before continuing down the road to an old cottage in the middle of the woods. We would walk around this old home had to be careful as small creeks flow under the ice surrounding this structure.

The place is all boarded up but I did get something up in a tree before I entered the grounds. I sort of felt as if the men followed us down the road to the cottage. As I loudly continued to call there name in the woods my voice echoed for miles. I thought to myself boy am I waking the dead tonight lol.

As we went back to the memorial I started to climb up into the woods where giant rock formations were covered in snow. It reminded me a bit of Salamanca NY and Kinzua Pa. Ill tell you what those were the good old days back in them days we had pretty large teams everybody had a good time searching for creatures like High Hat and Bigfoot.

When I arrived at the memorial the flags were in poor shape there was a man hiding up in the trees and another one behind me where this big tree stood. Rather then a grave stone it was more like a bunch of rocks held together by some mortar to honor the fallen men. I sensed the men were afraid and I know at least two of the entities of the three men were with us that night.

Tammy didn't get anything off the dowsing rods but suspected that maybe the men were murdered by there own people for whatever reason we may never know. These were scouts sent ahead to do surveying they were armed with knives and guns they were killed brutally at this very site.

All in all it was a good investigation also I heard what sounded like a woman along the banks of the road. I heard some branches breaking and walking. It certainly opened up my eyes and I did bring a spotlight for this investigation. I also used the spotlight for Tammy to help me film some videos not just at the springs but the lodge as well so stay tuned because they are pretty good clips.

I came back down the hillside where I met up with Tammy we both agreed it was time to call it a night. We took tons of photos, evps, dowsed, video clips and explored the region as thorough as we could. I do believe this site is haunted more then likely by the men who were killed here. Not to mention how the men were dug up then reburied it has a very eerie feeling at night here much more then the day as I suspected.

The walk back to the vehicle was nice the moon and stars were out it just was getting cold out. We had a long trip home but agreed to celebrate the investigation when we got home. We always have allot to celebrate for such as the great paranormal activity we see, collect and hear. Just as well as our safety considering we do most investigations understaffed we are very productive and thorough in our work.

Man when I arrived home I made hot coco, ate gourmet vanilla cookies, smoked another cigar, watched a supernatural comedy which really makes a mockery of today's paranormal investigators and started a warm fire. These are the memories we make the journey for us is never ending some of the things that are happening around us are hilarious other things are more serious thus we take our research to a higher level as we learn through the years.

I would like to build a much bigger team but as I tell others being on this team is like nothing your going to experience. We been doing this for years were a licensed business and were good at what we do. Maybe I am not strict enough maybe I need to rewrite our handbook of protocols to weed those out so that we can get others on the team who really want to give a piece of their hearts towards our mission which is truth seeking.

I will say its very rare in the series of a night to have multiple paranormal experiences considering that the Iron Mountain Ski Lodge and Tragedy Springs are two separate locations. What I would like to do next summer is visit Tragedy Springs a third and final time perhaps hike the Californian Trail see if I can uncover any other mysteries. It is possible that these men ran into a clan of Sasquatch's it is true that since the emigrant trail came into play they have been pushed deeper into the sierras. I know that Snowshoe Thompson never ended up murdered and he traveled this route many times bringing medicine to other pioneers in the sierras never once carrying a weapon so right now we can only speculate.

All these little places more then often are ignored and sometimes those are the best places to investigate. With December coming up I look forward to pulling out my Santa hats...and beard and bringing our viewers some really stellar locations and new places to finish out 2012! Its going to be grand and do not forget Dec. 21st is our Doomsday show which is also our holiday event LIVE at AngelOfThyNight Radio where I will also be talking about all my investigations and Lord Rick craziness this past year. I should have one or both investigations added to our site by this weekend so we can prep for Decembers upcoming excursions.

Peace,
Lord Rick
Founder