Wyso And The Other Creepy Kids on Gerard Street
Man's Best
Sparkers
Better Dig 2
The Ghost Town of Alta.
Ghost towns have fascinated modern man since people first gathered their lives into traveling trunks or saddle bags, crawled onto horses or into covered wagons, and abandoned settlements to chase other dreams or to give up on the dreams that enticed them there in the beginning.
As I walk through such haunted places, I can’t help but ask the allusive questions. Why did they come here? Why did they leave? Or more importantly, do their spirits still remain?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, after the death of our grandson, my husband and I made the impromptu decision to sell our home and most of our possessions, play pioneer, and live the life of full-time RVers. We bought a rig—too big a rig but who knew. I mean we are planning to live in it for several years and it is comfortable, but we can’t get it off the beaten path so to speak like we could our teardrop trailer.
Discovery
Ridgway State Park gets a 5 star rating on everything from beauty to awesome accommodations.
We took our daughter and granddaughter on our first big adventure in July. We used Ridgway State Park in Ouray County—the westernmost state park in Colorado—as our base camp. It’s twenty-one miles southeast of Montrose and is close to such historic towns as Ouray and Telluride.
On one of our day outings we traveled to Telluride in search of the Alta Lakes campground as a possible future camp site. We found the roads to be too narrow and rough for our Seneca, but the excursion was not wasted. We discovered the ghost town of Alta.
Some of what remains of the once Gold King of the San Juan mountains.
In 1877, this now deserted area boasted the title of Alta-Gold King until the late 1940s. It was considered the center of mining activity. The picturesque ghost town is perched at an altitude of 11,800 feet among towering pines and ragged peaked mountain. Its south of Telluride and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I’m advised by avid ghost town hunters not to divulge too much about the location in an effort to preserve this piece of our past. They argue authentic hunters will do the needed research to locate Ghost Towns.
(Pssst you won’t see a sign saying—”ghost town this way”—on the road to the Alta Township.)
Skeletal remains of Alta’s true ghost.
During its gold rush glory, it was home to a mere 100 people. Cabins, a boarding house, and outhouse buildings remain among the wildflowers and native grasses that sing in the wind of past dreams and forgotten pioneers, and whisper the names of its people and its ghosts.
Famous American author, Mark Twain, started out as a miner and it was his experience as a gold digger (in the literal sense) that he used for some of his famous short stories, like Roughing It. He described ghost towns as “dashes hopes and disappointments.”
But that was back in Twain’s day. As most things do, ghost towns evolved and instead of being regarded as failures, an aura of romanticism enshrouded the Wild West in a rich history of heroic and pioneering accomplishments. Instead of dead ends, ghost towns became gateways from our past to our future.
The term “ghost town” didn’t become a popular descriptor until the early twentieth century. Up until then, these abandoned settlements were referred to as a “ghost of a city” and eventually shortened to “ghost city.”
Freelance writer, Clint Thomsen, in his book Ghost Towns: Lost Cities of the Old West, defines a ghost town as:
…any established settlement that has been fully or significantly abandoned, of which at least some tangible remains exist.”
Thomsen goes on to make a further distinction between ghost towns categorizing them as Living Ghosts or True Ghosts. Living Ghosts are home to a small population of people who have embraced the label of Ghost Town and used it for commercialism and survival. True Ghosts emanate abandonment in its purest form.
A True Ghost
Plaque that hangs on the main building at the Alta township.
Alta is a True Ghost and possesses a bit of fascinating history—the historic plaque at the site reads:
L.L. Nunn, Nicola Tesla, and George Westinghouse worked at this site with the first industrial use of alternating current electricity. A long distance electric transmission line was completed from the Ames power plant on the San Miguel River below June 21st 1891
(ProbeNote: I believe the spelling of Tesla’s first name on the plaque is incorrect.)
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)—an inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist—is best known for his role in the advancement to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system, also known as our household power.
To Answer My Own Question
Do their spirits still remain? Yes, I believe so. I base my conclusion on two observations.
Nikola Tesla at age 40. He was an inventor and futurist.
First—Nikola Tesla’s quote: If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.
As noted, Tesla had more understanding about energy than the average person.
And if we are honest, aren’t secrets what we are searching for when we visit a Ghost Town? I have for a long time believed that our physical body dies, but our energy remains. Tesla’s quote strengthens this theory.
Second observation—My grand daughter’s immediate reaction to Alta. She hates driving on winding roads because she gets car sick. She was a little green when Alta loomed before us. Then her entire demure changed. The blush returned to her cheeks. She smiled so big I thought her cheeks would burst and jumped out of the jeep before her grandpa could bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
“I love this,” she said. “I want to live here.”
My eleven-year old granddaughter appears to be connecting with unseen energies at the ghost town of Alta.
The pictures I took of her show her dreamy eyed and trapped in the fourth dimension of time—past, present, and future. She appears to be connecting with an unseen energy who loves that she has found him.
Other Quotes by Tesla
The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”” The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.”
I found quite fascinating a PBS news article about Tesla titled, 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Nikola Tesla.
Here are a few.
- He was born during a lightning storm.
- He developed the idea for smartphone technology in 1901.
- He and Thomas Edison were rivals.
- He shook the poop out of Mark Twain.
Sounds like a guy who might not be content to move on when his body does.
Travel Guide
I don’t want my blog to turn in to a travel blog, but there are some things I want to share from my travels, and a few of my reader have asked that I let them know great places in Colorado to venture to. I hope you find these blogs informative. My last blog, with a travel theme, was a year ago and introduced Lake Agnes—an excellent place to hide in case of a Zombie Apocalypse.
My rating Scale 1 to 5. Five being AWESOME.
- Ridgway State Park 5 Stars
- Area (fun things to do and explore) 5 Stars
- Creepy 5 Stars
- Interesting 5 Stars
- Zombie get away 3 Stars
The Probe’s Mission Statement
The Probe is a blog devoted to the exploration of the unexplainable, to finding the truth in occurrences that resemble science fiction, and to researching and reporting on topics that could be flung upon the wall of weird. New posts are featured as often as I can find WiFi, and as often as I have something I think you might find interesting.
Join me here for more close encounters of the alien kind, or ghost kind, or animal kind, or travel kind, and please share your own. Science Fiction or Fact? Doesn’t matter to me. I just like a story that gives me the chills, makes me laugh, makes me think, or makes me imagine.
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- Ghost Hunt — Part 3: Repo House - April 8, 2021
- Ghost Hunt — Part 2: Elementals and Ghosts, Is There a Difference? - April 1, 2021
- Ghost Hunt — Part 1: Carl Sagan’s Flatland - March 18, 2021
Awesome!!
Thank you, RG!!
Interesting indeed. What are your thoughts on Centralia, Pennsylvania? (if any)
By the way, that is a beautiful picture of your grand-daughter. By chance does she have native american blood flowing?
You have a gift for photography. I truly find you snaps amazing.
And lastly, Tesla is a personal hero of mine. He was to Important to live but too rare to die. (his essence reamains in many of us)
Hi Jason,
Please forgive my tardiness in responding to your wonderful comment. I went on another travel adventure to Mooseville— aka Ranger Lakes Campground near Walden, Colorado. There was no cell service and no town for miles with WiFi. I am sorry.
Centralia, Pennsylvania is a compelling setting for a definite paranormal novel. I’d never heard of it until you asked. After a bit of research, I find it fascinating and a “must” see on my RVing adventures. I’m all about the conspiracy theory attached to the location. Thank you for the tip and I will do a future blog on it. Any information that you are willing to share on Centralia would be appreciated.
I worked as editor of the “Texas Professional Photography” magazine for ten years. I was privileged to study under some of the greats back in the days before digital. I guess a little managed to rub off on me. Thank you for the awesome compliment.
I love your quote for Tesla and so very true. It’s a beautiful quote. Is it yours? If so, you have quite a gift.
My granddaughter has the spirit of an Native American, but her most recent bloodlines take us back to Australia, perhaps a little aboriginal. She is in her element when she is in nature and close to the earth.
Thank you for commenting and for the compliments. They really made my day and brought a big smile to my face. Hope you will join us often.
Hi Clara,
Nice to hear back from you and glad I peaked your interest with Centralia……and yes the bit about Tesla is all me.
I enjoyed your post. You have a beautiful granddaughter. She looks like a deep thinker.
Speaking of spirits, let me share something with you.
My sister-in-law (Edna) passed away almost a year ago. Recently another sister-in-law (Ruby – Edna’s sister) fell and suffered a concussion. While she was asleep, her sister Edna came and woke her up at about 5 am. Ruby went to see a doctor and he told her that if she would not have woken up when she did, she probably would never again have awakened.
Thank you, Ike.
So happy to hear from you. My grand daughter is a thinker and an observer. She is very shy and quiet.
I love your share about your sister-in-laws. That is amazing!!