The Haunted West

It is August 11 th , night of the Perseids meteor shower. G. and I have made plans to revisit the Geiger Grade lookout for the event. Mariah wants to investigate the weird creature story, and to tell the truth, I am a little curious myself. Will it still be hanging around there after all these years? As we're getting ready for our little excursion, Levi and 5 of his buddies show up and spread out on the deck. G. tells them the story of the creature we saw so many years ago. After a lot of boasting, posturing and shouldering each other, the guys decide that they want to search for the creature too (one of them even made the claim that he would catch it and eat it!). Ah...to be 18 again. We head out around 12:30 a.m. It takes us about 45 minutes to reach the lookout. There are several vehicles there, other astronomy enthusiasts, scanning the night sky. Our group, 9 in all, head out across the clea ring to the far end and up to the stone seat. As luck has it, we have the lookout sea...

Looking at the calender, I am reminded of an incident that happened ...oh, more than 20 years ago. My longtime companion and I had just started dating. He came by late one evening and asked me out for a drive. It was a beautiful clear night in August, and right around the time of the Perseid meteor shower. We decided to get out of town, away from the city lights and take in the show. We headed south on 395, then left onto 341 toward Virginia City. About 4 1/2 miles up the grade, we pulled into the Geiger Grade turnout. The Geiger Grade is named after Dr. Davidson M. Geiger, a local physician who financed the building of the original road back in 1862. The road allowed the movement of gold shipments, supplies, and stagecoaches to and from the Comstock. Because of its many twists and turns, it was a popular spot for robberies. The road was rebuilt in 1936, and the turnout area with its stone walls and seating was built as a dedication to D.M. Geiger. It affords a spectacular view of the ...

Okay, so I'm on vacation from my job right now, and I've yet to complete any of the projects I had planned to do, or read any of the books on my summer reading list. I've pretty much just zoned on the couch, ate way too much junk food, watched far too much SciFi (excuse me, SyFy) and Discovery Channel, and logged a bazillion hours on the Internet. Should I clean out the storage closet like I planned? Reorganize my office? Catch up on over due bills and correspondence? No. No...I don't think so. What I need to do is get out of the house completely. I want to go exploring. Go on an adventure. Delve into the rich history of the Old West. In other words, do a little ghost hunting. What to do, where to go... I don't know. I'll have to think on it.

A couple of things we learned from our previous visit to Gold Hill, come early if you want something to eat, and the chance to explore the Silver Terrace Cemetery; which is larger than it first appears, and closes at dusk. With this in mind, Paula , Jessie and I met at the Gold Hill around 3 pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We checked into the cabin, unloaded our gear, and set off to the Silver Terrace Cemetery. Driving through Virginia City on this trip was a completely different experience than we had when we were up here in February. The good weather had brought out the bike enthusiasts by the hundreds. The town was hoppin '. We drove to the north east edge of town to the cemetery. There were quite a few visitors exploring the cemetery. Paula wanted to see if she could find any tombstones of miners of the Comstock Era that had died around the same time as the Yellow Jacket fire. No such luck. While there are some impressive marble to be found, I believe that miners, being of the...