It was a dark and stormy night…
No, it was clear….
OK, it was a dark and moonless night….
Uh, no! There was a full moon..
FINE! It was the full moon before Halloween and it was dark. The moon was just rising over the hills to the east of Penasquitos. It was a great night for a ride.
Not another sole around. I headed west towards Side Hill and got my climb on for the night. As I climbed up, the moon lit up the valley and I watched the fog start to pour over the hills. If I had a real camera, it would have made for an awesome picture but I don’t, so you have to take my word for it.
The perfect night for a pre Halloween ride would need more than a full moon to make it cool. Lucky me, the fog, HEAVY fog, rolled in. Visibility was cut down to only 50-60 feet.
As I continued around the mesa top, the moon would pop into view every now and again, heavily shrouded in the fog.
The deeper I rode into the deserted canyons, the foggier it became. The trails became very claustrophobic and unknown in the fog. Does anybody know where I am? I wasn’t 100% sure.
Yet I pressed on. Deeper into the unknown I ventured. There were all sorts of unsettling sounds I the bushes as I rode by. All of this kind of creeped me out. The trails became even more surreal as the fog became even heaver.
Finally after descending a steep fire road into McGonigale Canyon the fog cleared, at least momentarily. Yet somehow the trail did nothing to sooth my frayed nerves.
And the fog came back. I had to press on. Something was calling me. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it yet it lured me, no, pulled me to it. I peddled forward forcing myself to ignore the truly frightening sounds that seemed to be every couple of feet.
And then I arrived….
One of the most terrifying locations I have ever witnessed. It was the lost grave yard of Penasqutios. I have hear rumors, whispers really. The kind that you think you hear but just want to pass it off as wind in the bush. Yet here I was. I left my bike and started to look around. I took a quick pick and turned to flee.
I almost made it back to the bike when I was cut off.
It
was
the
GHOST OF PQ!!!!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!