Spooky freakiness

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Aug 13 2002 9:53 pm

This thread is in response to the postings about my commments in "Just Curious" about a weird Mesa.

This is a topic that I think deserves it's own thread (not to horn in on the topic posted by Mrs. Cakewalk). So here is the question:

Have you ever had an experience that you would term "supernatural" or unexplainable in any way?

P.S.: a similar thread existed on the old site, and I was sad to see it go - had some really good stuff in there.

joebartels · Post by **joebartels** » Aug 13 2002 10:00 pm

Does this mean we're never gonna get any more details on the location of the mesa?

Shall we start guessing.

Okay, I'll rule out the Alskan Islands

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Aug 13 2002 10:15 pm

olesma wrote:The freakiest thing that happend to me personally was getting lost on top of a mesa that is no more than 1/4 mile accross and 1/3 mile in length - only 3 trails over the top, one straight across, the other intersecting at a T. That happened more than once - I hiked the darned thing probably 12 times, been lost on top 4 of those times. Freakiest thing ever.

I know a couple of individuals who had even wilder things happen up there, and one of them vowed he would never go within 100yds of the top of the mesa. He generally stayed away from it if he at all could as a rule anyway.

The mesa in question is called Uraca mesa. It is a rather tall mesa, but not terribly large in size with a really beautiful rim around the top - one side has a cliff that is around 200 ft. high. It is located in an area called Philmont in NE New Mexico. That is where I was a ranger for a summer.

The mesa is steeped in supernatural and haunted lore. There are quite literally hundreds of stories about strange experiences on top of that thing. A few of them are used to scare the crap out of the young campers that hike into the camp for a night. They have a great campfire ritual/story that can really scare the beejeebies out of some of the young men - and occasionally the grown men too. I normally discount stories like that - I'm not a believer in "haunted" things - they're fun, but not terribly believable in my mind. For me, however, having experienced some freaky things up there personally - I tend to grant a little more credence to the stories.

My friend who swore he would never return? Well, I don't know what his story was. I was never able to get it out of him. But you could see the color drain from his face whenever you mentioned you were going to go across the top of it. I was with him once as we approached the top. There are two ways to get from where we were to the camp on the other side - over the top (a trip of just over 1/3 of a mile) or around the side (adding almost 3 miles to our rout). We tried to convince him that it was cool and we were all together, but he just about freaked out on us and insisted - with real panic in his eyes and in every movement of his body - that we go around the base of the mesa. He wouldn't stay at the camp one minute longer than necessary either. He was waking us up at first light of day, already packed and antsy to move out.

The whole area on top has a very surreal look and feel to it as well. I was there once when I was 14, we were hiking across the top to get to the camp, and I had to obey the call of the wild. Our group stopped, and I went off trail about 10 yards to the nearest tree. I did my business, turned around - and couldn't find my group. I walked back (remember that I didn't leave far enough to have them out of my sight) and I couldn't even find the trail! I walked a bit further - looking around for them - then stopped. I turned back around, sure that I hadn't walked that far off the trail to begin with, and thre they were, right where I remembered them - but back the other direction from which I had just walked. I came back to the group - they all asked how I got on that side of the trail. I told them not to bother with it and let's just get the hell off this damned mesa.

I never enjoyed going across the top of the mesa after that - sometimes it felt wierd, sometimes it didn't. I was always careful and wary, and I was never sure if I would make it off the top without incident. I have several friends who had similar (or very different) experiences, and I also have some friends who have never had anything happen to them on top.

The most common experience was getting lost on top - which as I said, looking at a map, and if you ever saw it, seems almost impossible to do.

Go figure.

joebartels · Post by **joebartels** » Aug 13 2002 10:28 pm

Say that was quick! Good to read too!

I think I found a spooky-potential hike. I'll post an invite in hiking partners.

Wiz · Post by **Wiz** » Aug 14 2002 6:17 am

Well, I don't know if this qualifies, but..
I like to explore all the canyons and mountains is the area near my home. Several months back I was checking out two close mesas, and I decided to go ahead and climb another nearby one before heading home. I crossed the area between mesas and climbed about 300' to the top of the third one, and instantly knew something was different here, there was something here. It was a very wierd feeling, like when you're being watched. I'm not metaphysical in any sense, but neither do I ignore what my senses are telling me. I walked very slowly across the mesa, looking all around me constantly. I found the remains of a deer, looked like a cat had brought it down. No sign that anyone had been there before. The feeling went away as soon as I left the mesa. I subsequently took someone else up there who IS metaphysical and very sensitive to these things, giving her no prior information. She instantly felt it too.

I've found old ruins on top of some of these mesas, but never felt anything like this before in the area. You've all felt the power of certain spots, power that goes beyond just grand views and invigorating air. This was kind of similar, but more of a presence, I guess you'd say.

Sounds kind of silly now that I write it down, but I wish I knew what is really up with that mesa.

pixelfrog · Post by **pixelfrog** » Aug 14 2002 9:28 am

Great stories Olesma! I found this little map after a quick search,

http://www.biomedcomp.com/Guests/PhilJrnl/map1.html Looks like a beautiful area.

Oddly enough, I could find no mention of Uraca Mesa or Philmont on Topozone, weird. You're right it is a spooky mesa!

P

VegasHasher · Post by **VegasHasher** » Aug 14 2002 11:17 am

Philmont is a Boy Scout Camp.

Their URL is: http://www.philmont.com/

joebartels · Post by **joebartels** » Aug 14 2002 1:26 pm

Welcome to HAZ vega!

Made me reaquaint myself with the ol' hash thread

http://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic.php?t=329

which BTW contains a funny olesma quote
Snick is likely to be three sheets to the wind before we even get started.

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Aug 14 2002 11:15 pm

pixelfrog wrote: I found this little map after a quick search,

Looks like a beautiful area.

Oddly enough, I could find no mention of Uraca Mesa or Philmont on Topozone, weird.

That's the spot. I remember that map well. You can see the shape of the top of the mesa looks like a skull. Very striking in appearance and just beautiful to hike around.

VegasHasher is right - Philmong is a ranch owned by the BSA. Scouts go there for 10 day hiking adventures. They cover anywhere from 30 to 100 miles in the period they are there. And you're right - it is beautiful. It is where I really fell in love with hiking and backpacking. I covered most of the ranch in the 3 months I was there as a ranger. Best summer of my life.

Spooky freakiness

Spooky freakiness

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