Читать книгу Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur. Your complete guide to the trails of Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness, and Silver Peak Wilderness онлайн

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Supernatural Stories of Point Lobos

During the mission period, the Ohlone Indian neophytes at Carmel Mission would go out on foggy evenings to “cheer up” their lonely and forlorn fog spirits. The mission fathers strictly forbade any such pagan activity, and one night they followed them out into the fog and performed an exorcism. The fog spirits flew off angry and offended, departing with howls and causing sadness among the Indians. Some believe poetic justice prevailed, when the priest who performed the exorcism went mad, jumped off a cliff into the sea at Point Lobos, and was drowned.

A Goddess and a Hidden Gold Mine on Pico Blanco

With the discovery of gold and silver in Big Sur in the late 19th century, miners began searching for the precious metals along the flanks and valleys of the Santa Lucias. Today, the Pico Blanco area is littered with the rusting remnants of mining operations.

More than tales of fortunes found, historians have uncovered a curious tale that was circulated in response to the miners’ arrival. According to local legend, an American Indian goddess zealously protected Pico Blanco. Historians recorded these accounts by miners claiming to have encountered the goddess, who cursed them with madness for pursuing gold.