Creepy Stories & Legends About Yosemite

Many hikers have reported a wailing sound erupting from Grouse Lake. The first documented report of this phenomenon came from Galen Clark, Yosemite’s first park ranger in 1867. Clark heard the cries and thought perhaps it was a dog so he asked the local Native American tribe if they’d lost one. They told him it wasn’t a dog and not to go after it.

According to them, an indigenous boy drowned in the lake many years ago and now he haunts it, calling out to those who pass by. If anyone goes into the water after him, he’ll grab their feet and pull them down into the lake to drown.

In February 1999, 43-year-old Carole Sund, her 15-year-old daughter, Juli, and Juli's 16-year-old friend Silvina Pelosso checked into the Cedar Lodge and never checked out. A hiker found their red Pontiac torched deep in the mountains with Carole and Silvina in the trunk, and six days later, the FBI received a map leading them to Juli. Her throat had been slashed.  

Then in July, a teacher at the Yosemite Institute, Joie Ruth Armstrong, went missing. Her body was found 27 feet away from her head in a drainage ditch. The deranged woman-hating lunatic responsible turned out to be Cedar Lodge’s handyman Cary Stayner. He would use his position to gain access to his victims. He confessed to everything, and also confessed he planned to kill his girlfriend and her daughter on Valentine's Day but didn't go through with it.

A ranger for the Backcountry Division in Yosemite Park recalls a strange experience while patrolling on foot. In the middle of a trail, he found a freshly severed deer head. The cut was clean and there was no body or blood to be found. Hunting was not legal during that time of year, so he surveyed the area, buried the head, and continued on. Half a mile later, he found a second deer head in the middle of the trail.

Panic set in as he realized he was 30 miles away from his vehicle and whoever had done this could be watching him. Again, he surveyed the area, found nothing, and buried the head. Before finishing his patrol, he discovered a third deer head, almost completely stripped of skin. He reported the creepy trail of deer heads, but who put them there remains a mystery.

Many children have gone missing in Yosemite with bizarre elements in common. They tend to disappear in locations rich with huckleberries, and many times, a storm follows, washing away tracks or clues. They are found very far away and are always missing clothing or shoes with no scrapes on their feet proving - almost like they teleported to a different part of the park.    
 
Local lore tells of a few beasts that could be responsible, like the cannibalistic Wendigo or the mountain devils called Seeahtiks who possess hypnotic abilities and extraordinary strength.

These mysterious creatures have been spotted and captured on film in Fresno and Yosemite.

The slow, awkward beings, which resemble a pair of white pants, have been given the nicknames “Nightcrawlers” and the “Fresno Alien.” 

Stacy Ann Arras was 14 in 1981 when she was camping with family and friends in Yosemite. Wanting to go capture some photos at a nearby lake, she and an older member of the group headed that way. The older man allegedly stopped to rest halfway there and let Stacy go on ahead. She never returned, and not a single trace of her was ever found despite intense search and rescue attempts. Her widely publicized disappearance garnered the attention of paranormal author David Paulides, who conducted an investigation into the Arras disappearance and ultimately claimed that corruption among national park officials was suspicious and that something sinister might have been purposefully covered up in regards to Arras's strange disappearance.

This has never been proven but has stirred up controversy around an already fearful topic.