Our recent Investigation at the Lodge at Cloudcroft

This is the first of several posts about our experiences at the Lodge this past weekend. The Lodges’ most famous ghost is Rebecca. But there is another lady ghost that resides at the lodge. Many years ago a regular female guest requested that her ashes be placed in the Lodge’s tower room when she died. The hotel graciously honored her wishes. Below is the photograph of this lady; it still hangs on the upper tower room wall.

Here is an exterior picture of the tower room, it has two levels each with a room that has panoramic views of the surrounding Sacramento Mountains that encircle the Lodge. Cloudcroft’s elevation is over 8700 feet.

The morning after our investigation I went out early in order to capture the morning light for my exterior photos of the Lodge. On a whim I decided to visit the tower room once more by myself. I took a digital camera and a camcorder with me so I could capture the panoramic views from the tower’s windows. As it turned out I captured more than I expected.


As I moved around the first and second level rooms I thanked the Lady whose ashes reside there for letting my group do an investigation the night before in the tower. I happily chatted with her, I often speak to spirits I feel they respond when you do this. I mentioned to her that I understood why she wanted to be placed there; that I also found the views from the tower to be beautiful.


Here are a few of the views and interior shots I took as I spoke to her:

As I moved to the entrance stairway to leave the tower, I again thanked the lady for letting our group investigate the tower. Just as I mentioned that I was grateful that she allowed me to spend some time with her, I spotted lights moving across the staircase below. I immediately started snapping photos with my digital camera. I looked on my screen and was amazed to see a dark mist surrounding the stairs. I kept taking photos every few seconds. I turned my camera several times to take pictures of the first level room to see if the dark mist was anywhere else. The room photos all reflect normal morning sunlight.


Here is a photo I took of the entrance staircase as I entered the tower. I place this photo here to show a contrast of what I captured on my digital camera as I was leaving the tower. There is no dark mist in this photo.

The photos below are presented in the original sequence that I took them. What is most startling is that the dark mist lightened and then darkened within seconds from one photo to the next and back again. I spotted moving lights with my own eyes, I do not know if the round lights that appear and disappear from the photos are what I saw as I looked between shots.
Note: The sunlight from the tower windows above was not shinning in the direction of the stairwell.

When I took this first photo of the entrance staircase as I was leaving I was surprised to see a dark mist on the screen.

I took this photo to see if room also had darkened, it hadn't.

Seconds later I took this second staircase photo. The mist was darker and there were lights in the same pattern that I had just seen with my own eyes.

This photo was taken seconds later and the lights were gone and the mist was lighter.

          










I snapped another photo quickly and the lights were back and the mist was darker again.

            In this next photo, again taken within seconds, the lights are gone again and the mist is lighter.

                











I took these two photos to see if room was still mist free.

In this last photo I took of the staircase the mist seemed to be fading.


In the still photos with the round lights they appear to be orbs but I saw lights moving—so I have no idea if I captured the lights I saw or just orbs—but the mist is a definite mystery. Like I stated above I have no explanation for why it so quickly changed back and forth from dark to light and then back. The sunlight in the room was not flickering.


Next, I picked up my camcorder and shot some video as I moved down the stairs to leave the tower.


This video is not as stable as I'd like but the staircase was narrow and I was holding both cameras. I show it here in order to further document what occurred. The large round light is a reflection from my camcorder; the flashing light captured is different than the lights I saw as I stood at the top of the stairs.