Ghost hunting adventures!

On Saturday night, Alyse, Blythe and I set out on our first planned paranormal adventure in Salt Lake City.

The Smart House

With google on our phones, we started with a search in the avenues for Elizabeth Smart's house. It's located in Federal Heights, which is right next to campus. We knew it was next to the medical center, along the mountainside's big, flashing U. We drove up and down Federal Heights Drive, turning off onto Federal Heights Circle. At the end of the circle, there was a large stone fence/gate, with a security guard house and a "no tresspassing sign." It was tempting to just drive right in, as the gate was open, but we opted not to. Returning to our first path, we turned onto Fort Douglas Circle. This street seemed like the closest we'd gotten, and at the very end culdesac, we may have found it. Maybe we can go back in the daylight and get a better look. My gut tells me it's behind the huge gate, though.

Salt Lake City Cemetery

Next, we drove past the Salt Lake City Cemetery, which sits on top of the Avenues. Every prophet of the LDS church is buried here, along with many other prominent people in church history. It's truly a massive cemetery, spanning some insanely large amount of land. Well...we were on the search for this lunatic of man who sits atop his wife's tombstone every single night (in rain, sleet, snow...anything) in a white robe. Alyse had gone to see him three times before Saturday night, once in a blizzard, and he's always there. She told us that she goes back in the morning, and he's gone. If you drive up to the fence, you can see him about 3 or 4 rows in. The scariest part is first laying eyes on him. It's so insanely creepy. This man is truly insane. He has apparently been coming to the grave every single night for 10 years. People allegedly attempt to communicate with him, or bring him hot chocolate and blankets, and he completely ignores everyone. Even if they leave it at the fence, the hot chocolate will be untouched in the morning, and the blanket still folded. If you look really closely, you can see him occasionally moving his arms and being crazy. Alyse rolled Blythe's backseat window down a little bit, unannounced, and Blythe screamed. Even that didn't get the man's attention. He's psycho.

The Old Mill

After we were thoroughly spooked, we set off to Cottonwood Heights, about 15 minutes south of campus along the Wasatch, in search of the abandoned Old Mill. This was by far the most difficult establishment to find. I googled the address several times, and could never find anything concrete - only intersections that it was near. After much circling the area, and driving into a couple different national parks....we finally found it. It is apparently haunted by two men and a dog that were killed in the mill's first fire. I was particularly surprised by how close it is to the road. Many people venture inside of its fences and walls, but it was condemned by the city in 2005. There is also a $500 fine to anyone caught trespassing.

Gravity Hill

Our last destination for the evening was Salt Lake City's own Gravity Hill, next to the capitol building. The story is that back in the day, teenagers, etc would race along it's bendy U-turn shape, and lose control along one of its turns, killing themselves in a fatal crash. At a certain turn along this crazy hill, it's custom to stop the car and put it in neutral. The ghosts then supposedly push the car uphill, and out of Gravity Hill. We attempted this last semester, under Blythe's directions, and actually were pushed uphill (or so we think). On Saturday night, however, we decided to put baby powder on the back of Alyse's adorable Mazda and check it out after exiting Gravity Hill to see if there were any handprints from pushing the car. After putting the car in neutral, etc, we stopped in front of the Conference Center (good lighting) and checked it out. There should be some pictures on facebook. It was pretty interesting. The baby powder was all over the hatchback...from the ghosts? :)

Baby powder experiment

Needless to say, it was a fun, sketchy, and thrilling evening. You should give it a try! Our next adventure will be to find the old Children's hospital that burned down. I heard that you search and search and search for it, and then it just appears. Crazy!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!