Highway Hauntings and Spirits on the Canyon's Edge

Saturday, October 23. To continue my tales of spooky encounters, we head east on the haunted highway of I-64, where I got a glimpse of an unusual rock formation in the Grand Canyon from the opposite side of the road.


It was an unmarked area with no paved access or pathways--just a part of the wilderness beside the two lane road.



I was captivated by the quick glimpse of light and majesty so I pulled the Zanne-Van off the road as much as I could, and with blinkers on and camera in hand, I crossed the highway to see a spectacular drama unfold over the next 30 minutes or so.


Pushing through trees and bushes, I scaled the rocky embankment to a view that abruptly descended into the depth of the canyon...


Here's my shadow indicating where I'm standing taking photos on the ledge...it's a straight shot down from here!


You can see the drop off here into the seemingly bottomless canyon floor.



My ledge-view exposed a vast ascending canyon "mountain" which looked like an an ancient Indian ruin of some sort...


...and was quite compelling as the light danced over its curiously sharp crown and ribbed staircases...


...making it appear sometimes like a priestly temple ruin...


...and other times like an enchanted dinosaur fossil.


I cautiously crawled around the cliff's edge...


...and up onto some boulders for a less branch-obstructed view.


The craggy boulders were covered with bright rust and turquoise colored lichen.



I hung out next to this ghostly whisper of a bush for company. I was quite enjoying my view and feeling very close to God and mediating on the greatness of life...when I was suddenly interrupted by a very unusual growling noise. "Gllllllrrrrroowl...glllllrrrrrroowl....glllllrrrroowl," it announced, whirling around my head!

With dive-bombing sensations and growls on my left, I startled but saw nothing. Then I felt a sudden swoosh and heard the "gllllllrrrroowl" on my right. I abruptly turned right only to feel a swooping presence overhead, accompanied by the chilling growling.


Instinctively ducking, I looked up to see huge birds dodging in and out of the air currents and then circling back over me as if something were dying. At first I thought they were buzzards, but then I saw some ravens diving close to me. Hmm. OK, I thought, we have Edgar Alan Poe sized ravens here and they are tempting me with an Alfred Hitchcock moment. I'll just ignore them and they'll go away, I thought.


(These canyon ravens were photographed later in my trip, and were extremely vocal, protective, and somewhat aggressive and unafraid of humans. The huge birds made very unusual noises...but not quite that same growl I'd heard.)



So I continued taking photos and enjoying the light playing off the majestic scenery. But is wasn't long before the I noticed that the bushes around me were moving...and not in just one spot...all over! I was surrounded by bushes that were jittering with excitement.


Hmm. I did see sign not far back warning me of cougars over the next 10 miles. Maybe I'd better get in the car, I wondered casually. But surely a mountain lion would have pounced by now? Oh well, I am on a schedule and need to head back to Texas soon, I thought.


More curious than disturbed, I began descending the boulders when I became captivated by the multi-colored lichen and moss in the rocks. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed the eerie faces and skull-like Indian faces in them. What do you see?






Anyway, I made it unscathed to my car and did a U-turn, only to pull over to the same spot! I hadn't realized that I was being drawn to this location again, until I got out to take more photos. That was weird. But I didn't think much more about it until I mentioned this incident along with the ghostly visitation at the Best Western Squire Inn to the hotel clerk. She reported that highway 64 is quite actively haunted and that the area is also known for its skinwalkers. She said that my growling incident sounded like I may have encountered such shape-shifters. Spooky!


Skinwalkers are attributed often to spirits of the Native American Navajo witch doctor who changes from human form into animal, usually coyote, wolf, owl, fox or crow, but other animals as well. In fact, werewolve fables seem to have their origin in the Native American skinwalkers. These spirits are not friendly and after further research, seem to be given credit with pushing tourists over the edge of the Grand Canyon...perhaps taking credit for the numerous "suicides" that seem to take place in this area annually.

Skinwalkers can supposedly make various animal and human noises, even of your loved ones or a baby crying to lure you out. They have been thought to have attacked homes and even cars.


I also happened to zoom in on a shot of my car parked across from this area. Do you see the strange animal looking presence in front of my car? Not sure if you can make out the ears, but it looks like something more animalian than a tree stump, don't you think?


Well, I'm not really sure what I encountered, but I do know that it was very different than anything else I'd ever felt before. I was just so grateful that my thoughts had been so full of love and light and heavenly inspiration...I'm sure it was my protection! And perhaps they sensed that I respected their hallowed grounds and meant no harm. At any rate, I'm glad I stayed on the path the rest of the time...maybe that was part of God's sign to me: Healing in Progress: Please stay on the trail!

Ghosts of the Grand Hotel

Friday night, October 22, I had a bone chilling experience during my stay at the lovely, grand Best Western in Tusayan, AZ, off 180 near 64.

Located very close to the park's south entrance, it's about 40 minutes from the southeast Desert View entrance where I drove from earlier that evening after my first glimpse of the Canyon.


There was art every where as the hotel was partially a museum depicting western cowboys...


...and of course, Indians.


My room was upgraded to one of the large suites, complete with a wet bar and spacious living room...


...a master suite with 2 sink vanities, jacuzzi, walk in shower, toilet and even a bidet!

After a nice dinner downstairs and a relaxing soak in the jacuzzi, I feel asleep, exhausted and eager to wake up early the next morning for one more visit to the Grand Canyon before embarking on my long drive back to Texas. What I didn't realize was that my comfy suite would soon be visited by some very unwanted late night hotel guests.

Around 1:30 a.m. I woke with a start from a sound sleep...my heart pounding and the hair sticking up on the back of my neck, tingles running down my spine. I couldn't move; I was terrified. Not hearing or seeing anything, I could only say that I FELT something close by, rather large and imposing--watching me.

I began to pray like crazy! One Mind, God is All-in-All...all God's creatures are harmless, useful and indestructible, clad in the panoply of divine Love, nothing scary can touch you, etc. Having just come from Sedona, I wasn't sure if I was dealing with a belief of aliens or ghosts...but I knew this wasn't a human presence...and it wasn't a particularly nice one either. So about an hour later I began turning on the lights all over the place and returned to the bed to pray for another hour or so. I finally felt whatever it was to be gone, so I turned off most of the lights (leaving a few on!) and was finally able to go back to sleep for a couple of hours before the alarm went off.

Earlier, I had texted a friend back in Austin to see if he was up to pray with me. He hadn't been awake and I didn't think about the incident again until I was discussing it with him tonight. After all my unusual spiritual experiences in Sedona, I knew something about the Best Western incident to be very different. I decided to call the hotel tonight and ask about any paranormal activity. After a long pause, the hotel clerk confided that there were all kinds of ghosts there, just not normally in my part of the hotel! And, she said, there are also Skinwalkers around the Grand Canyon off 64...where something else even more creepy happened to me that next day! She said I wasn't crazy, just super sensitive to them, as most of the guests were not aware of their presence. (To be continued...)

Regarding some of the local hotel ghosts, I found this posting from the Tusayan Community Newspaper online:

Haunts in the Hotels of Tusayan

Tusayan and the Grand Canyon are epicenters of culture, history and entertainment. However, people with a pulse are apparently not the only ones enjoying the area. Numerous Tusayan and Grand Canyon residents shared their experiences and stories to show the darker, haunted side of the community.

The Best Western Squire Inn is home to many guests – some of whom refuse to check out, even in the afterlife. According to staff, the hotel’s Navajo Room and kitchen are heavily haunted locations.

“If you come up here in the evening time you’ll start feeling something really weird… uncomfortable,” said Weldon Johnson, a kitchen employee.

Johnson added that he and some of his co-workers have experienced several occurrences including doors swinging uncontrollably and a mysterious sighting of a shadowy female figure.

Johnson said once, he and another co-worker were standing at the foot of the stairs in the Navajo Room’s back kitchen when they saw a dark figure toward the head of the stairs. When they looked closer, it “faded away.”

Johnson also described a similar experience that a former employee of the Best Western had one morning.

“He said there was a lady in all black,” Johnson said. “She was gliding across the room over here and her hair was over her face.”

Johnson believes that something happened in the Navajo Room that is causing the hauntings.

“I wish I knew what happened to somebody there because you can feel its energy in here,” Johnson said.

The Best Western is not the only Tusayan hotel to experience unexplained events. Leeta Sombrero, the night audit at the Holiday Inn Express, described some of the things she has heard and seen. Sombrero said sometimes while she is working behind the counter she sees somebody walk across the room out of the corner of her eye. When she looks up, she sees that there is nobody there.

There are also unexplained noises in the kitchen. She said it sounds like chairs being moved and invisible knocks on the back door, even when she is the only one around.

She said she actually saw something once around 2 a.m. when she was getting coffee from the kitchen.

“Right by the fireplace there was somebody there, a lady with shoulder-length hair,” Sombrero said, adding that she is now used to the hauntings.

“The first time I saw that, it was scary,” Sombrero said. “I’ve learned to ignore it. If they don’t bother me, I don’t bother them.”

The causes of the hauntings remain shrouded in mystery. However, it seems apparent that the hotels are so nice, that leaving is not an option -even after checking out of the mortal world.

Post Published: 11 November 2009
Author: rromero
Western Times