Latest / Amigos, Afraid! / 60. Markers and Mist: Mt. Everest Part 2 & The Green Mist of Carbon Canyon

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60. Markers and Mist: Mt. Everest Part 2 & The Green Mist of Carbon Canyon · Amigos, Afraid!

0:00
Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of
0:04
Amigos Afraid. This week we're descending Mount
0:07
Everest for my Part 2, starting with Rob Hall and Scott Fischer
0:11
and the disaster that unfolded in 1996.
0:14
From there, we'll locate all of the route markers and landmarks,
0:18
making Everest the tallest cemetery in the world.
0:21
And have you heard of Carbon Canyon?
0:23
Growing up near Chino Hills, my childhood was plagued with
0:25
stories of Colts, murder, and an ominous green mist that would
0:29
take over the winding roads at night.
0:31
In this episode, we discover what is true and what was local
0:34
gossip turned legend. Is this the a a meeting?
1:16
Yes, we've been expecting you. Oh why?
1:20
Why did the doors close like that?
1:21
Welcome to a A, Jerry. Hi.
1:28
You may sit here. There's there's a name on this
1:32
chair. I don't think I can.
1:33
Can I sit here? Sit wherever.
1:36
No, just sit your ass down. Fuck man, grab a microphone.
1:43
I'm back. Hey everyone, welcome to your
1:48
weekly A a meeting. It's like I've seen God, whoa,
1:52
OK, reappear. It's like I had a vision.
1:56
That's how bad I need to look here Last week, Gary, last week
1:59
was so stressful. But I'm glad you're better.
2:02
I'm glad you're back. Thank you, friend.
2:03
I want to just shout out Brian for killing it last week.
2:06
If you listen to it, that was a really fun episode.
2:08
Before we get into it, Brian, just wanted to shout out
2:11
everyone listening today. And then if you're new, welcome
2:15
to your weekly a, a meeting, not that one.
2:17
Please like and follow the podcast to secure your seat next
2:21
week. We've been expecting you all
2:25
grab a seat, but don't not grab a mic.
2:28
Don't grab a mic but make sure you bring a friend.
2:30
Yes, please, because this is Amigos.
2:32
Afraid. Good to be back, Brian.
2:35
Yay, where have you been explaining to them?
2:37
I had to entertain them last week and it was difficult.
2:40
All right, y'all, so your boy was like down bad, like sick,
2:45
like sick. Like I haven't been in such a
2:46
long time. Of course I didn't feel 100% to
2:50
come sit down next to Brian, get him sick.
2:53
No, potentially. I'm glad someone else did.
2:55
Oh, not me, but it it was it was it was definitely a week.
3:00
It was hot. It was a super, super, super
3:02
muggy week being sick and then just dying every single day.
3:07
So it was not fun. But I'm I'm back.
3:10
I'm better now that sounds. Devilish, being sick and it's
3:13
like 100° outside. I would not wish it upon my
3:15
worst enemy. Wait, you got sick though?
3:19
Yeah, but not as bad as you did. I was fine.
3:21
I woke up on Sunday with like an itchy throat, some mocos but
3:27
like 2 days in I was fine. But mocoso yeah, it.
3:31
Is you know. Yeah, so it was, it was tough,
3:35
y'all, but I once again shout out to you for holding it down.
3:38
And it was super, super fun listening to those two stories.
3:42
They were, they were intense, dude.
3:43
Like read it. They had it, had some fingers.
3:46
R/NO sleeve everyone please take a moment to go and just read
3:50
stories there. They're all really, really
3:51
scary. They're written really well.
3:54
That's what I really enjoyed so and just your your voices dude.
3:57
Shout out to you for doing that English accent.
3:59
You killed it. You mean my British?
4:01
Accent. You fucking killed it mate.
4:03
Oh, it's like I'm born. I've been born in Britain now
4:07
and I had a bottle of water. Yeah.
4:10
Across the pond, yeah, with the Queen and I had trumpets and no
4:14
crumpets. It's crumpets and a couple
4:16
biscuits. Went a little American at the.
4:20
End Sometimes I ended up southern.
4:25
I'm from southern England. Wow, I'm sorry.
4:29
Man, go listen to the Christmas episode.
4:30
Is that still up? Do we still have?
4:32
That no, that one's archive. Well, one day when we have
4:35
hundreds of thousands of listeners and we need to make
4:37
money. Open up that Patreon.
4:38
Yeah, the Patreon is going to get all the deleted episodes.
4:41
OK, well that was a fun one. How you doing Brian?
4:46
I'm just happy you're back. I appreciate it because I've
4:48
been waiting. You've been waiting for Part 2,
4:51
Mount Everest, dude. I've been like at the edge of my
4:53
scene. I did shiver.
4:57
From the fear or from the cold? From antis patient recipes, I
5:09
mean, are we ready? I mean, I have nothing to update
5:12
these people on. I was here last week.
5:13
It's all on you. That was my update, nothing
5:16
else. I'm ready to get into it,
5:17
friend. You know what's been haunting me
5:19
this week? Recovering from sickness.
5:22
I feel like I'm just catching up.
5:23
Like mentally and then physically, my body is trying to
5:25
catch up to like a week's worth of just being just down in the
5:29
dumps. But.
5:30
I did the body good, you came in looking extra snatched.
5:33
Thank you friend. That's honestly all the liquid.
5:36
It was a liquid diet. I only had water in Metamucil.
5:40
And a bunch of Nyquil. But we are going to start our
5:45
Part 2 of Mount Everest. Yay.
5:48
Everyone sit down, take your seats.
5:50
Their names that you signed. There is waters in the back,
5:52
snacks in the back, bathrooms are to your left.
5:55
And the Bible is under the chair.
5:57
For some of you, if you if you happen to have one with the
5:59
golden ticket, you have earned a.
6:02
Kiss from me. Or Willy Wonka's Factory tour.
6:05
But sure, everyone has a golden ticket under their chair.
6:10
All right, well, let's recap because I want to say that I
6:12
ended off on a cliffhanger last week.
6:14
Get it? Oh.
6:14
My God, the clamps of Mount Everest.
6:17
We're going back to May 10th, 1996. 1996 Ah, you can't escape
6:23
in 1990. 6. Wow, the year of my birth.
6:27
May 10th. I said the year.
6:29
Oh my. He's still recovering.
6:31
Guys. Give him grace.
6:33
All right, so I think we left off and I'm going to repeat some
6:36
stuff just because I want to set the scene again.
6:38
Yeah, we know your attention span's not great.
6:40
You've it's been 2 weeks. So you guys, you.
6:41
Guys have forgotten. Thank you.
6:42
Listen again. I forgot.
6:44
It began a summit day. Several commercial expeditions
6:48
were preparing to make their final push towards the top of
6:50
Everest. Among them were teams led by two
6:53
experienced guides, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer.
6:57
Remember that. Remember those.
6:58
I. Remember that there was an
6:59
Irvine. Those were the first.
7:02
Oh, the one. Yeah.
7:03
That was the first story. That was Part 1.
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But you're a You're not wrong. You're 50.
7:07
You're 50% of the way. Thank you.
7:11
The last thing I said before I ended the episode was that in
7:15
Everest, reaching the summit is only halfway.
7:18
You still have to get back down. Blew my mind with that one.
7:22
So Rob Hall had established A strict turn around time for his
7:25
climbers. If they had not reached the
7:27
summit by a certain hour, they were supposed to abandon the
7:30
attempt and head back down. It didn't matter how close they
7:33
were. Unfortunately, the teams
7:36
experienced delays. Climbers began reaching
7:39
bottlenecks where they had to wait for others to move through
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narrow sections of the route. Some climbers encountered
7:45
problems with fixed ropes that were supposed to help them
7:48
navigate difficult areas. Time started disappearing, and
7:53
at that altitude, time is oxygen, time is warmth, time is
7:58
the difference between reaching camp before dark and getting
8:01
trapped on the mountain overnight.
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Some climbers reach the summit far later than they should have,
8:07
but after spending weeks climbing towards this moment and
8:10
pushing their bodies to the limit, turning around becomes
8:12
psychologically difficult. You're so close you can see the
8:16
summit. You tell yourself you'll only
8:19
need a few minutes. But Everest has killed people
8:21
who thought they only needed a few more minutes.
8:24
The weather began changing. A storm moved across the
8:28
mountain, wind speeds increased and snow began blowing across
8:31
the route, causing all visibility to cease.
8:35
Climbers who had just reached the highest point on Earth were
8:38
suddenly struggling to find their way back down.
8:41
Imagine being in that situation, Brian.
8:43
No, I don't want to you're. Like, no thanks.
8:45
OK, Next, you're more than 5 miles above sea level and you're
8:50
exhausted. Your brain isn't receiving
8:52
enough oxygen. You're wearing thick gloves and
8:54
a mask, and the wind is so strong you can barely stand.
8:58
The landmarks you're using to navigate have disappeared.
9:01
At that point, I feel like you're just trying to find the
9:03
correct path down the tallest mountain on Earth while the
9:06
storm is erasing everything around you.
9:08
Several climbers became separated.
9:10
One group became lost near the South Cole High Pass wedge
9:13
between the world's highest mountain, Everest, and its
9:16
fourth highest mountain, Lots. They're right next to each
9:19
other. There, I mean they're it's in
9:20
between. The same mountain range.
9:22
There's multiple mountains that make up Everest, and then
9:24
there's different heights and different paths.
9:25
Metal, metal. Is Everest OK?
9:29
Among them were Beck Weathers and Yasuko Namba.
9:32
Both have been climbing with Rob's Halls expedition.
9:35
During the storm, they became incapacitated by the cold and
9:38
altitude. Other climbers eventually
9:40
reached them and made a horrible decision.
9:42
They believe there was nothing they can do.
9:44
Trying to rescue someone from that altitude requires an
9:46
enormous amount of strength. You can barely carry yourself,
9:50
let alone another adult human wearing heavy climbing
9:52
equipment. So Weathers and Namba were left
9:55
behind. What people saw them struggling
9:58
and they said we got to keep going.
10:00
They said put your what is it your oxygen mask on first before
10:03
you help someone else. Oh you, I don't like this.
10:09
You can't see what's in front of you.
10:11
You can't see the route down. So what do you do?
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You hunker down, try to survive. At one point, your body's going
10:16
to give out, you're going to fall asleep.
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And you're not going to wake up. Namba never woke up, but Beck
10:24
Weathers did. What?
10:26
And his survival story almost sounds impossible.
10:29
Weathers had spent the night exposed to the storm.
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His body was severely frostbitten.
10:34
He had already been left for dead, but somehow he regained
10:36
consciousness. He was disoriented and barely
10:39
able to function, but he stood up and kept walking.
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What imagine the people at camp seeing him approach?
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It's like a ghost. They had already accepted that
10:49
he was dead by leaving him on the mountain, and now, through
10:51
the snow, this man they believed was a corpse was somehow walking
10:55
back towards them. Imagine you're like, Oh my God,
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he's come back to haunt us. Like he, he knew what we did.
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Imagine already having a guilty conscience, which I think you
11:05
have to have. You can't be doing this and just
11:07
not batting an eyelash. Like, Oh no, he's back because
11:10
we failed him, but he survived. Weather survived.
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I'm a survivor. I'm not going to give up.
11:20
I'm a climb Mount Everest. Unfortunately, Everest have
11:24
taken a terrible toll on him. The frostbite was so severe he
11:28
eventually lost his right arm, part of his left hand and his
11:31
nose. He survived the mountain, but
11:34
part of the mountain came home with him.
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Brian, what would you rather lose to frostbite?
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Your big toe or a finger from your dominant hand.
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OK, I've heard that you need your big toe for balance.
11:47
I don't know how far in medical science we are with prosthetic
11:50
big toes. OK, OK, I know.
11:53
I've seen hands where they have like fingers that can't
11:57
Ambiguity, ambulate, ambi ambidextrous.
12:02
Yep. So I would lose a couple
12:03
fingers, OK. I don't want to be able to not
12:05
stand OK because I stand on business.
12:07
OK, Yeah. What's not clocking that I'm
12:11
standing on business. And then people don't want to
12:14
work nowadays. It's like no one wants to work
12:16
these. Like no one wants to work
12:17
nowadays but you stand on business but I.
12:18
Stand on business and I don't have a couple fingers and that's
12:21
fine. OK, so fingers I I was going to
12:23
say the same because even though if it's one of my dominant hand,
12:26
I still feel like I can get back.
12:28
I've always. Wanted to be left-handed.
12:31
And it would. It would help with the
12:32
ambidextrity. Yeah, maybe it'll make me more
12:33
creative. Strengthen your Yeah, your
12:35
mobility in your left hand. Yeah, the Stranger Hand Weekend.
12:38
I don't know. It's hard to say when you don't
12:40
have it, but when you have it and then you're trying to close
12:42
your hand with one less finger. But I agree.
12:45
So let's talk about Rob Hall. Got to take a second here.
12:48
One SEC, SpongeBob meme holding the The Cave.
12:53
Rob Hall was not as fortunate. Hall had stayed behind near the
12:58
summit with one of his clients, Doug Hanson.
13:01
Hanson was struggling, and the two men were now dangerously
13:04
late. The weather was getting worse
13:07
and eventually Hall found himself stranded high on the
13:09
mountain. Doug Hansen died.
13:12
Hall remained alive through the night.
13:13
Somehow, despite the freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen,
13:16
he managed to communicate with base camp by radio.
13:20
Another one. Eventually he was connected by
13:23
satellite phone to his wife. Wait, what year was this 1996?
13:27
They had phones back then. Like satellite phones?
13:29
Yeah. That work on mountain crazy OK.
13:32
They have anything, they're higher.
13:33
So that's how. I believe you have the
13:34
information, I'm just. They have some great service out
13:37
there. Actually, you're real close to
13:38
the antennas. If you notice like the the
13:40
different like phone provider maps, Mount Everest is always
13:42
like super connected. Got 6 GM there.
13:47
So he was connected by satellite phone to his wife Jan Arnold who
13:50
was back in New Zealand. Jan was pregnant with her first
13:55
child. This disaster, happening
13:58
thousands of miles away, became something painfully personal.
14:03
She was speaking to her husband. He was stranded on Everest and
14:07
there was nothing she can do. The people at base camp couldn't
14:10
reach him either. Hall was simply too high on the
14:12
mountain and too badly affected by the cold.
14:16
During their final conversation, Hall said goodbye to his wife,
14:20
according to the account reference by the History.
14:22
He told her. I love you.
14:24
Sleep well, my sweetheart, please don't worry too much.
14:30
Imagine hearing that if your husband is alive, you can hear
14:33
his voice, but he's standing on a mountain where nobody can
14:36
reach him and you know that eventually the radio is going to
14:39
go silent. Rob Hall died near the summit of
14:42
Everest. Eight people died during the
14:45
1996 disaster. The event became one of the most
14:49
infamous tragedies in the history of mountaineering and
14:52
later inspired books, documentaries, and films.
14:55
One of the strangest things about Everest is that those
14:57
stories don't completely disappear after someone dies.
15:00
On most mountains, a person might die and eventually be
15:03
brought home. On Everest, that isn't always
15:06
possible. According to one of my articles,
15:09
the mountain has become a kind of map of human tragedy.
15:12
The bodies of climbers who died there have, in many cases,
15:15
remained on the mountain for years or even decades.
15:19
And because climbers repeatedly travel along the same
15:21
established routes, some of the bodies became known landmarks.
15:24
I hate that. Think about what that means.
15:26
You're climbing. You're following the route.
15:28
Your guide is telling you where to go.
15:30
But instead of them saying, when you see that tree turn left,
15:34
there are places on Everest where climbers have historically
15:37
been able to say, when you reach this body, you're getting
15:40
closer. One of the most famous examples
15:43
was a climber known as Green Boots.
15:46
For years, climbers traveling along the northeast Ridge would
15:49
pass a body lying inside a limestone cave near the summit.
15:54
The body became known for his bright green climbing boots,
15:56
still visible on its feet. Nobody needed a sign or marker
16:00
there. He was a dead man in a cave for
16:04
years. People attempting to reach the
16:05
summit would walk past him. They would see the boots and
16:08
would know exactly where they are.
16:09
Big Think has a map that documents several of these
16:12
locations, showing where climbers have died across
16:14
Everest and identifying some of the bodies that became
16:17
recognizable landmarks. There was the German, the
16:20
Saluting Man, Icefall Body, Sleeping Beauty names giving to
16:26
people whose final resting places became part of the
16:29
geography of Everest. I think that detail really
16:32
changes the way we look at this mountain.
16:34
Although we're not talking about ghosts today, and nobody's
16:37
claiming they're haunted or need a paranormal explanation to make
16:39
Everest terrifying, this kind of horror is real.
16:43
A climber can spend years dreaming about standing on top
16:46
of the world, only to die somewhere along the route.
16:48
And because recovering the body could put more people in danger,
16:51
they might remain there. The history of Everest feels so
16:54
much different than some other disasters.
16:57
The evidence is still there, and the mountain doesn't let us
16:59
forget. George Mallory disappeared in
17:01
1924, and Everest held them for 75 years before finally
17:04
revealing his body. Rob Hall died near the summit in
17:08
1996 after saying goodbye to his pregnant wife.
17:10
Over the satellite phone and scattered across different
17:13
routes are the people who never made it home, some of whom
17:16
became familiar to climbers that were giving names, landmark
17:19
markers. One of the articles describes
17:21
Everest as the world's highest cemetery.
17:23
It becomes difficult to see some of these summit photographs the
17:26
same way again. Every climber standing on top of
17:29
Everest had to get there by passing through a mountain
17:31
filled with stories of people who didn't make it.
17:34
That's so dark. Somewhere beneath the snow is a
17:37
clue of what happened to Andrew Irvine.
17:39
Somewhere on the mountain are places where climbers spent
17:42
their final hours and freezing cold.
17:44
That's not funny. Why are you laughing?
17:47
So maybe the most terrifying landmark on Mount Everest isn't
17:50
the summit. It's the dead climber who tells
17:52
you how close you are to it. And if that doesn't make you
17:55
uncomfortable, remember this. Every single one of those
17:58
landmarks was once a person who was climbing, talking, and
18:02
possibly afraid. So here's a little recap.
18:07
During the May 10th and 11th 1996 summit push, a total of 37
18:12
people were directly part of the main climbing teams led by Rob
18:15
Hall and Scott Fischer. Out of those teams, 5 people
18:18
died in the storm. There was 3 climbers, however on
18:22
the other side of the mountain that perished, making it eight
18:25
that night. Separate, not involved with the
18:27
big group, but the rest still mountain those same days.
18:30
During that specific Blizzard, here's a breakdown of their
18:33
casualties. Rob Hall, The Adventure
18:35
Consultants. One of the leaders like right?
18:37
Yeah, his group had a total of 19 people.
18:40
This included Rob Hall, 2 guides, Mike Groom and Andy
18:44
Harris, 8 pain clients, including John Krakauer, we'll
18:48
get back to that. And eight Sherpas.
18:51
There was 4 fatalities on his team.
18:53
Rob Hall was a leader, Andy Harris the guide, Doug Hansen
18:58
client and then Yasuko Namba client.
19:02
Scott Fischer's team or Mountain Madness total of 18 people on
19:06
this expedition. This included Scott Fischer, 2
19:09
guides and Anatoly Boo Creve and Neil Beetleman, 8 playing
19:15
clients and seven Sherpas, 1 fatality.
19:18
Scott Fischer and then all the Fishers, clients and remaining
19:21
guide survive the storm. Three additional Sherpa climbers
19:24
from the Indo Tibetan Border Police expedition died on the
19:28
northern Tibetan side of the mountain during that same
19:30
Blizzard. Sewang Smandla, Dorj Maroop and
19:35
Sawong Paljor. Sorry if I mispronounced any of
19:38
those names. Sherpas are people from the
19:41
east, reflecting their ancestral migration from eastern Tibet to
19:44
Nepal between the 12th and 15th century.
19:46
OK. Thank you.
19:49
So I'm going to reference the name again.
19:51
So on Rob Hall's team, one of those survivors was John
19:54
Krakauer. OK.
19:57
There was a book recommendation that was given to Dulcer from
20:01
Danny and. I checked it out.
20:03
I had a look at it. I didn't read it.
20:05
Start off there. I did not read this book, but I
20:08
had to do some deep dive because I am going to recommend it.
20:10
It's called Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, one of the
20:13
surviving members of Rob Hall's team.
20:15
It's a definitive account of the deadliest season in the history
20:18
of Everest. He examines what it is about
20:20
Everest that has compelled so many people, including himself,
20:23
to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved
20:26
ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk,
20:28
hardship and expense. Crookhower's eyewitness account
20:31
of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular
20:34
achievement. But I think it is worthy of
20:36
checking out. I myself would probably be
20:38
checking it out for my local library.
20:39
So I did have to also like, just check, like, how did he make it?
20:43
Like, what did he do different? He had an early summit and a
20:45
fast descent, so he did all the heat check.
20:48
Up, he said he has to be there by a certain time.
20:50
OK, Yep. Yes, Sir.
20:51
He was among one of the first climbers to reach the summit on
20:54
May 10th, arriving at 1:12 PM. Because he did not delay, he was
20:58
able to begin his descent well ahead of his clients who
21:01
summited late. He reached camp just in time.
21:04
He collapsed into his tent at Camp 4, located on South Call,
21:07
at approximately 6:30. He was safe inside his tent just
21:11
as a storm intensified into a full, blinding Blizzard that
21:14
trapped and disoriented to more than a dozen other climbers
21:16
outside. And that's Part 2 of my Mount
21:22
Everest. That was so sad.
21:25
That was really, really depressing.
21:27
Yeah, that story about Hall calling his wife.
21:31
Dude, he didn't even give me time to breathe or time to
21:33
grieve. You had a whole week.
21:36
I didn't know that was happening.
21:38
I had five seconds and then you're like time for the next
21:41
victim. It's so sad and it was really,
21:44
really depressing and dark, but once again, a true horror like
21:48
this haunted me. And all these people went
21:50
willingly. They wanted to do this.
21:53
Yeah, worth the wait, right? Oh my.
21:56
Gosh, I I think it's hard to put myself in the scenario of the
22:01
desire to want to do this because I feel no desire or urge
22:08
to test what is the human limit. I'm perfectly comfortable in my
22:12
day-to-day life for sure. I I don't understand that
22:16
mindset. To each their own of.
22:19
Course their own. Yeah, this is probably if to the
22:22
survivors, this is probably the highlight of their life.
22:24
I imagined it would be mine too, but I don't know.
22:28
I think that's an an athlete's point of view and I'm not an
22:31
athlete, so I can't put myself in that headspace.
22:35
Very recently, as of today, I saw a video of this girl who was
22:42
doing a not a decathlon, some sort of like CrossFit, some
22:47
championship challenge thing where it's all work out all the
22:51
time. Girly shit herself fully like
22:56
blasted diarrhea down her leg, down her shorts, kept going, no
23:02
one batted and I just let her walk around spewing sewage.
23:08
But she felt accomplished. Gnarly.
23:11
She posted a photo from her hospital bed saying we did it.
23:14
Wow, in the words of the great Brian, to each their own.
23:19
Yeah, I did. Whatever floats your boat.
23:21
Like if if you're putting your body and subjecting it to these
23:24
like intense workouts and climbs, then hey, if that makes
23:29
you happy regardless of the repercussions, do it.
23:33
And you have the the mental capacity to just move past it.
23:36
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Keep going.
23:38
I would have been like, OK, we're done.
23:39
Yeah, yeah. I have to go because this is the
23:41
worst thing that's happened. Oh, my nose is like completely
23:43
just frosting. Probably have to get it, yeah.
23:45
Frost, my nose lost my arm. Yeah, what else did he lose?
23:51
Hands. Foot.
23:53
Mouth. Disease.
23:54
Mouth disease. Oh yeah, yeah.
23:56
That's yeah, that's tough. Aye.
24:00
Yeah. Well, I hope it was.
24:02
Worth the wait. I hope you all enjoyed.
24:04
That was what I was sitting on since last week.
24:06
It just happened a deep dive in have too much information.
24:10
I wish I would have been able to share it last week but I was
24:14
climbing up Mount Everest. I guess the only thing is what
24:20
haunted you this week. Wow, you're telling me that and
24:22
I just realized I didn't even ask you, I just expected it.
24:24
That's crazy. Why?
24:26
Did I get to work? I asked myself that technically.
24:28
What haunted me this week, Jerry, if you're dying to know.
24:32
I'm not dying anymore, no. Well, if you really want to know
24:37
is some of our old episodes. Was it the audio quality?
24:43
But that's part of it. Was it the heavy breathing?
24:46
Hey, hey, I'm trying to not do that now I have to actively
24:48
think not to breathe into the mic.
24:50
Love it. So I've been slowly uploading
24:53
the old episodes onto YouTube by making them like little videos.
24:56
Nothing super exciting, very simple, just to give people
24:58
another place to listen. So please check out Amigo's
25:02
Afraid on YouTube if you're not subscribed yet.
25:04
We do have a vlog on there from when we spent a night at the
25:07
Queen Mary, which I think is really fun.
25:09
It's honestly one of our best work.
25:10
I loved it is one of my favorite experiences to share with Jerry.
25:15
It would, yeah, highlight for sure, for sure.
25:18
I ended up listening to episode 11 where we talked about our own
25:21
personal paranormal experiences and yours was so good I forgot
25:27
you're talking about your cousins and like.
25:29
That's right, hide and seek. Yep, Yep, Yep.
25:31
And have me thinking, what other weird stories, paranormal
25:34
experiences have I heard of growing up?
25:38
And then I remembered the local lore of Carbon Canyon.
25:42
I know that place. Hey hey hey, I was going to ask,
25:44
do you know where that is? Shit, you're reading my mind.
25:48
It's a super winding Rd. slash highway that connects the city
25:51
of Chino Hills to Brea. Honestly, it's really pretty,
25:54
especially in the rainy season when it's like overcast and the
25:58
trees and the plants have been hydrated so they're nice and
26:00
green. You know, you know, sorry, I
26:02
just, you know, it's one of my favorite memories of Carbon
26:04
Canyon. What playing pickleball on like
26:06
those crisp nights where it's just like cold and like, you're
26:10
just like running around playing pickleball, but it's like nice
26:13
and. Chilly.
26:14
It's crispy, you feel in the air.
26:15
You can. You can wear shorts and a
26:16
sweater. That's Oh my.
26:17
We're almost there. Give it a couple weeks, some
26:19
praying. Middle.
26:23
You kind of forget that you're like in the middle of the IE in
26:26
Orange County, like you're right at the border.
26:28
You don't think Beautiful scenery, cliffs, mountain tops?
26:34
Wait, sorry, you said the middle of the IE.
26:36
No, I mean, yeah, I did say that, but I meant like the
26:38
border of IE. Gotcha, gotcha.
26:40
Gotcha. County.
26:40
I was like, I don't think we're close to that.
26:42
No, sorry. There's a small community up
26:44
there named Olinda, and I think one of the neighborhoods is
26:47
actually called Sleepy Hollow. Cool, I have seen that actually.
26:52
Honestly, it is a very wicked drive.
26:54
If you're not used to sharp turns and curves, you drive on
26:57
the edge of a steep Cliff so it could be kind of scary to drive
27:00
through. There's been quite a few deadly
27:03
accidents on those roads. The most recent happened a year
27:06
ago on September 28th, 2025. Whoa.
27:08
Where driver was hit head on off of Carbon Canyon Rd.
27:12
Wow. I lost my fear driving through
27:14
it kind of early on in college because I was scared to drive on
27:17
freeways and for some reason driving through the Canyon a lot
27:20
less scary. Like, yeah, my drive off this
27:23
Cliff doesn't matter. No I didn't even think about it.
27:25
I'm just driving real slow in my 2004 Honda Agora.
27:29
Amazing my little 2 door sports car.
27:32
Also I grew up in Chino so going from Chino to Brea for school.
27:37
When I went to Fullerton it was just my day-to-day so I didn't
27:40
use anything of it. Easy drive.
27:42
It's actually kind of pretty to go through if you're driving
27:44
safely because there's a lot of blind turns that kind of creep
27:47
up on you suddenly like sharp, like 90° turns even tighter I.
27:52
Think I feel like there is one that's a complete like 180.
27:55
You kind of like do a few. Yep, the whole U-turn.
27:59
But it wasn't always like that. In high school, I was afraid.
28:05
For today's episode, we're going back in time about 15 years to
28:09
high school aged. Brian damn, 15 I'm sorry.
28:13
I'm started high school. I'm sorry.
28:16
This week I'm haunted by Carbon Canyon, a home to murder Colts
28:22
and an alleged radioactive green mist that flows through the
28:25
Canyon late at night. What?
28:28
Do you have any scary stories about your city growing up?
28:32
I mean, the only one that rings a bell was like downtown San
28:36
Diego. What Old Town?
28:38
The Whaley House. It was like the one known
28:40
location, but I mean, around my local neighborhood.
28:44
I mean, I feel like there's always a Oh, my school's
28:46
haunted. There was no like, oh, haunted
28:48
house or like, Oh my God, the murder down the street, nothing
28:51
like that. Not that.
28:52
Not that I not that I remember. We grew up in different lives.
28:56
This week I reached out to some Chino locals to make sure I
29:01
wasn't making any of this up. I have big memories about
29:04
hearing about the Green Mist and the Colts, so I wanted to see if
29:07
those had any validity or if they're just like, local gossip.
29:11
I asked the Girdles, Liz, Melissa and Gloria if they
29:15
remembered anything. Did they?
29:18
Melissa said the green misk sounded familiar.
29:21
She mostly heard about murders in the area.
29:24
And that's where Liz chimed in and she said, Oh yeah, the
29:26
murderer, Kevin Cooper. Kevin Cooper was a man that
29:29
killed four people in Chino Hills, but that was back in the
29:32
80s. Oh, OK, OK.
29:34
That case is wild dude. Are you familiar with the Chino
29:37
Chino Hills area? None.
29:38
None. Whatsoever.
29:39
A men's prison. OK.
29:41
Chino State Prison. Yes, I've been there.
29:43
Bordering. OK, I'm not going to ask
29:45
questions, but bordering Chino. Chino Hills.
29:47
I think it's on Chino Hills Pkwy.
29:48
So it leads you up into that area.
29:50
Yeah. But Kevin Cooper had escaped
29:53
from the Chino men's prison, and police found him hiding in a
29:56
vacant house a few yards away from the crime scene.
30:00
An unassuming neighborhood home where 4.
30:02
Bodies were discovered in the same location.
30:04
Down the street. Oh, OK, got it.
30:06
Wow, he. Was in an empty house like 2
30:08
doors down. Was an insane murder scene.
30:11
You figure you'd try to be like away from these bodies.
30:15
The thing is, keep your enemies close.
30:17
Keep your crime scene. Closer.
30:19
I guess so. However, this happened a few
30:23
minutes out from Carbon Canyon though, so it's not exactly
30:26
pertinent to what I wanted to dig into.
30:28
But still, it's pretty close and it's pretty scary.
30:31
What I do want to get into are the paranormal, cultish
30:35
occurrences that have plagued the area for decades.
30:39
Decades, Jerry. Wow.
30:42
First, let's get into the green mist.
30:45
OK, green mist. From what I remember, the word
30:48
on the street was that like late at night during the colder
30:50
months, a green mist would kind of come out of the ground and
30:53
hang around the hills of Carbon Canyon.
30:55
I assumed it had ties to Halloween.
30:57
I felt like that's the only time I ever heard about.
30:59
It the immersion. My friends and I might have not
31:02
have had the full story of the Green Mist.
31:04
We were a little further out in regular Chino, not with the rich
31:07
people up in the hills. Our drinking fountain water was
31:11
a little brown. The brown water.
31:14
That was a scary parts of my neighborhood.
31:18
So maybe things are a little bit different for those that grew a
31:20
little closer to Carbon Canyon. Maybe to them it was like a rite
31:24
of passage to go and see the green mist.
31:26
You drive up the Canyon on the weekend, see if you can come
31:29
across the mist, and you come back Monday, tell everyone the
31:32
story about how you barely survived.
31:35
That's what I would have done because I was drama club vice
31:37
president and I live for the drama.
31:40
I would have made it a whole scene.
31:42
We went up to the hills and saw the radioactive mist.
31:45
We barely escaped. That's how I acted in high
31:48
school. Did you really?
31:49
No. What?
31:51
That was better. I don't want to scare my
31:54
neighbors with all the screaming.
31:55
No, I get you. I get you.
31:57
Because yes, allegedly, the mist was radioactive.
32:01
What? A rumor has it that the
32:03
government had been conducting nuclear experiments up in Carpen
32:06
Canyon. Out of all places.
32:09
Right in your backyard where the rich people lived are real
32:12
crazy. Yeah, real funny.
32:14
Yeah, that's that's normally not the case.
32:16
Well, I found an article about someone's first hand experience
32:18
with the green mist. The article is posted on a blog
32:22
written by a police officer of almost 28 years who grew up in
32:25
or near Chino Hills. The website iscalledbadge415.com
32:30
and he has a very detailed encounter of going up to see the
32:33
green mist. OK.
32:34
Before I get into that, I do want to talk about some of the
32:37
comments that I saw on this post because they're so good.
32:41
There are people posting who graduated from the area dating
32:44
back all the way to the 60s and up through the 90s talking about
32:48
the green mist. OK, apparently back then the
32:51
area was even more isolated so it was kind of the go to party
32:55
spot. One comment said that they grew
32:57
up in the green mist and that people from all over the state
33:01
would come to try and get a glimpse of the paranormal
33:03
phenomena. Another comment said that
33:05
legends told of a man with a pig head mask that would walk
33:09
through the green mist to scare kids.
33:13
I want to note that a lot of them refer to the green mist as
33:16
like a specific place. Like they talk about going to
33:21
the green mist got it in the green mist.
33:23
Not like the green mist is a thing that's happening.
33:25
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I wonder if it used to be
33:28
like the nickname for the hangout spot that somehow lost
33:31
its like original meeting and it ended up as like an actual
33:35
supernatural fog instead of just like the hangout spot.
33:39
Yeah. But was it radioactive?
33:41
Did it actually exist because of hazardous waste left deep in the
33:45
hills? Well, according to this police
33:48
officer, the true story isn't that far off.
33:51
Instead of referring to the area as green mist, he knew it as
33:54
Aerojet, a missile launching site.
33:59
According to him, it was a rite of passage to go and see the
34:02
mist. One night during his senior
34:05
year, he went up there. He drove up Peyton Drive until
34:08
it ended up into a wooded area with no lights.
34:11
It was completely pitch black. There alone, he came face to
34:16
face with the green mist. Except there was no green mist,
34:21
no satanic cult, nada. Just a locked gate with security
34:26
cameras pointing at him. They went even further just to
34:30
say they made it, that they overcame the green mist.
34:33
But according to them, the fear came from the journey up there.
34:36
What's scary is the possibility of seeing something, not
34:39
actually seeing something because they didn't see
34:43
anything. Well, later in life, the name
34:46
Aerojet came up again, but by then he was already a police
34:49
officer and had an interesting conversation with a civilian in
34:52
the Chino Hills area. He met a man that said he worked
34:56
for Aerojet. The officer was kind of shocked
34:58
that someone recognized the name and more shocked that it was
35:01
something that existed. So of course, he asked me
35:03
questions and the guy told him, quote, yeah, they were defense
35:07
contractor that made weapons up in secluded area of Chino Hills.
35:11
So yes, the government was in Carbon Canyon conducting test.
35:16
They were making weapons, not nuclear weapons, land mines.
35:23
Allegedly, during the Vietnam War in the 70s, they had been
35:27
testing different types of land mines up in a restricted area of
35:30
Carbon Canyon. According to a story, they would
35:33
take human remains up there to blow up and see how the mines
35:37
would damage a body to help refine the bombs.
35:40
That's cruel. I guess they needed the bomb
35:42
formula to be just right, which is a wild statement to have.
35:47
Yeah. The bombs would be made of
35:49
different chemicals, so sometimes when they exploded, it
35:53
would be different colors. Quote Sometimes there was fog
35:57
and they would turn green from the gas.
35:59
It was a green fog. There it is.
36:04
The green mist was real. It was human.
36:07
Human remain. Oh my God.
36:10
Isn't that crazy? Yeah.
36:12
How would you feel knowing that you grew up in an area where
36:14
they planted landmines just a couple miles out?
36:18
I mean, because it's such like I would say a more affluent area
36:22
compared of other areas because the hills, I feel like the the
36:27
narrative is normally the opposite where like tests and
36:31
things like this that are going to release certain things into
36:33
the air never happened in these. Areas where they put train
36:36
tracks. Look at where the cheap housing
36:39
is. Yeah, train tracks.
36:40
Where are they trying to do affordable housing near train
36:43
tracks? SB79.
36:44
Look it up. Yeah, where is hazardous gas
36:48
leaks and potential explosions happening?
36:51
Interesting. So, so, so sorry to answer your
36:54
question. I would be tripped out like
36:56
especially if it's like classified and really hush hush
36:59
it would it would be it would raise an eyebrow like, Hey, what
37:01
do you what are you guys trying to hide?
37:03
So I'm not a spy. I don't know.
37:06
Well, how do you feel knowing that we were hiking up there?
37:10
Carbon Canyon connects to the Chino Hills State Park, which
37:12
is, yes, which we were where we were hiking.
37:14
Wow. Me and Jerry went up there and
37:18
the scariest thing that we experienced was that we kept
37:21
getting lapped by that one kid with.
37:23
With, with her dad. Yeah, yeah.
37:24
Which we talked about in an early episode.
37:26
Wow, what episode was that? It might not be uploaded. 1
37:33
That's pretty cool I mean it's cool knowing that it's all
37:36
connected and we were super close to a potential landmine
37:40
site yeah like of course it's gnarly I wouldn't want to step
37:43
on one but if if we become the myth the.
37:46
Green no, we can haunt, rather stay alive with all my body
37:50
parts. But then you can haunt people.
37:52
No, that's the green Brian. Green, Brian Eventually they
38:00
shut down the facility and all its testing as a city expanded
38:03
by 1995, so they knew Brian was coming in the next year.
38:06
We got to stop. He might end up here.
38:08
He's going to drive through here in the future.
38:10
If they set out landmines, how do they know where to pick them
38:14
up? I hope there is a map or I hope
38:16
they were all detonated. Were they, were they like given
38:18
trackers or something that like what if there was someone in
38:20
charge of just like putting them out and then they called off and
38:23
then they like collected as many as they could and then there's
38:26
still some out there. They're like, yeah, I mean, I
38:28
got most of them. Yeah.
38:30
Today's my last day. I'm not going to come back.
38:32
Yeah, we got shut down. Who cares?
38:35
I hope we're all accounted for. So the police officer back to
38:40
the article said he went up that same path as an adult with his
38:44
own son. Years later he found the same
38:46
St. the same dirt path and he was met with the same gate and
38:50
security cameras. However, this time he noticed
38:53
the sign. Danger, explosives, hazardous
38:57
waste area. Nice.
38:59
Not like they're trying to hide anything from anyone.
39:01
No, it's there. It's crazy.
39:04
The green mist is real cool. Not in the same way people
39:07
thought. Yeah, yeah.
39:08
But not too far. It's still creepy as hell, like
39:11
coming across green gases floating fog.
39:16
Say that three times. No, no, I'm going to give myself
39:19
an aneurysm. And it all comes back to people
39:23
love to tell a story and exaggerate it each time.
39:27
It took maybe one generation of people witnessing this, like the
39:31
small community that existed there at the time for it to
39:34
become like local lore and it shifts to like it's a toxic gas
39:39
that comes from the ground. No, it happened one time when a
39:41
bomb went off. Radioactive I grew 1/3 arm.
39:47
Keep that in mind. OK.
39:50
While I was doing this research, I did hear back from someone who
39:53
said that they heard about the green mist growing up.
39:55
They will remain anonymous because they said that they
39:58
mostly use that area to smoke pot.
40:00
Oh nice. Yeah, so they're more scared of
40:03
getting caught high than breathing in some radioactive
40:05
smoke. They were the ones pushing out
40:07
the green mist. I was about to say there's a
40:09
joke in there somewhere. Some of the comments I didn't
40:14
mention earlier confirmed the existence of Aerojet.
40:17
Some commented wondering if their autoimmune disease was a
40:21
result of the fallout from the facility.
40:23
Another said that their mom worked there as a lead
40:25
inspector. That the company would rent out
40:27
Disneyland for their workers. Crazy that people profit off of
40:31
war. Ain't that crazy interesting?
40:36
Things don't change. History will choose to repeat
40:38
itself over and over. Another comment by end time
40:43
epics, End time epochs. What is that epics?
40:47
EPCOEP and Time epics. Epic epoch epic.
40:53
EPOCH. Epic Games for.
40:56
We're leaving all of that in This person believes that the
40:59
occult was involved in developing the weaponry.
41:02
Whoa. Sounds like an insane theory,
41:05
but when I asked Alexa what she knew about Carbon Canyon, she
41:09
said, Oh, you mean the Colts up there by the park?
41:13
Yes, I said Colts. Up there by the park.
41:16
Yep, first is green mist, second is cult activity.
41:21
Do you know any local cults in your neighborhood?
41:25
No, I know a few. Let me cross my leg.
41:30
I know a few. OK.
41:32
Alexa grew up in Chino Hills so she was way more involved in the
41:34
area than I was. I'd also heard about the Colts,
41:37
but I just figured it was like a group of hippies up there
41:41
sharing land building a commune somewhere like off of a main
41:44
road. But I was genuinely shocked with
41:47
what I discovered. Alexa said she was a walking one
41:50
of the trails near Vilano Park off Wood View Rd. with her dad
41:53
one evening. They walked for a bit before
41:55
they ended up finding a locked security gate with a bunch of
41:58
cameras. Sound familiar?
42:00
Yep, Yep, Yep, Arrow. Sounds just like the cop story,
42:04
right? What was it?
42:05
Aerojet? Aerojet Well, here's where it's
42:09
a little different, because when Alexa walked up, an alarm went
42:13
off. She didn't remember seeing or
42:15
feeling anything like too peculiar about it, other than
42:19
whatever group was up there did not want any visitors.
42:22
She said there was a lot of lights too, but that they
42:25
weren't motion sensing. She thinks someone was turning
42:29
them on manually. And what's wild is that someone
42:34
spoke through security speakers telling them to leave the
42:36
premises. Hell no.
42:38
Sketchy. What could be up there?
42:42
Not wanting anyone to come in, she thought it was the alleged
42:46
cult. But when I cross reference the
42:48
location with Aerojet's history, it should have been the weapon
42:52
facility. The Colt lives on the other side
42:55
of the Canyon. Who was at that facility that
42:57
closed 30 years ago? What's happening there?
43:00
I couldn't find any. Aerojet .2 Point O.
43:04
We are back at war. I'm sure that land wasn't sold.
43:11
No, they just let it vacant for a little while until they needed
43:13
it again. Conspiracy.
43:15
You see how easy it is to conspiracies?
43:18
We're just saying nothing. Nothing is true.
43:20
Allegedly. What I do know is that there's a
43:24
very private religious facility on the other side of Carbon
43:27
Canyon that also has a heavily secured fence with round the
43:31
clock security team. Religious, society, cult.
43:36
Are they the two sides of the same coin?
43:39
What do you think? There's a famous saying from a
43:44
philosopher, or I forget who it was, but it's a tomato, tomato,
43:49
potato, potato. Yeah, I think it was Veggie
43:51
Tales. Well, on the side of the Canyon,
43:55
closer to Brea but still considered Chino Hills, is the
43:58
compound for Saint Josephs Hill of Hope.
44:01
I found an incredible resource for all things Carbon Canyon on
44:05
the blog called Carbon Canyon Chronicle.
44:08
It's been over years and it is still being updated.
44:11
I couldn't find out who was updating the website if it's a
44:14
person or a team. But dude, they have to be some
44:16
sort of like local historian because they document
44:19
everything. Hell yeah.
44:21
They talk about crime, local events, and even comment on like
44:24
some of the supernatural lore. You know how a couple weeks back
44:28
we talked about the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow?
44:31
Yes. Well, I think in the 90s or
44:34
early 2000s, that would be an attraction that they would put
44:36
on that They would just borrow two horses from a local rancher.
44:40
That's awesome. And they would have a whole bit.
44:43
They'd have a little like fall time, Halloween fair, and they
44:47
would just have recreations of that.
44:49
That's awesome. But that they don't do it
44:50
anymore. What happened to Whimsy?
44:53
Well, from what I read, it was the women's club that put it on,
44:56
and I think it kind of like not dissolved.
44:58
I wonder if they're still still there.
45:00
But from my experience with women's clubs, those ladies have
45:03
lived long lives. I'm familiar with 1, so yeah.
45:07
Some traditions probably go with them.
45:09
It's so funny that you mentioned that because today I saw a video
45:12
of this college who's apparently mascot is the Headless Horseman.
45:16
So every like game, a Headless Horseman leads the like the
45:20
football team. That's cool, yeah.
45:22
It's pretty sick. Tis the season it's Halloween
45:25
thought. You were going to say football.
45:28
Never, never that. Tis the season.
45:31
Football. No, not me.
45:33
Well, one of the things that they've written about is about
45:37
the alleged cult sitting at the top of Carbon Canyon.
45:40
Allegedly. So growing up, I had heard that
45:43
there was some sort of cult up there somewhere, but as I
45:45
mentioned, I thought they were hippies.
45:46
Yeah, but maybe people are confusing a cult for a religious
45:50
group that's been operating under the direction of Francis
45:53
Mary Cluck. So I'm going to tell you a
45:56
little something about Miss Francis.
45:57
OK. She had been a local attendee of
46:00
a Catholic Church in Placentia, CA, just down the road from the
46:03
Brea side of the Canyon. That was until God started
46:07
talking to her. Allegedly, she started
46:10
experiencing visions from God in 1967 and God was the only one
46:14
talking to her. She admitted to being taught by
46:16
God, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and a whole bunch of other Saints.
46:21
OK, so everyone. Everyone.
46:23
She was just the the local operator of the spiritual phone
46:27
line. Gotcha.
46:27
The vessel. Hello, operator.
46:29
How can I direct your spiritual teachings?
46:31
Yeah. Driven by this divine
46:33
intervention, she felt the need to break off from the church.
46:37
You know, start something on her own.
46:39
She was real grassroots with it. Since God was talking to her
46:41
directly, she knew the Realty. The number of supporters grew
46:45
quickly. She had started doing like
46:48
little sermons at her house, but once it got to 1200 people she
46:52
knew she had to figure something out.
46:53
Yeah, and her husband, very supportive man.
46:55
He said whatever you want to do, babe, I will be there for you.
46:59
She had the numbers. Now she just needed a place to
47:01
house them. She ended up buying a massive
47:03
440 acre lot at the top of Carbon Canyon.
47:07
She moved in with her husband and began construction on what
47:09
was expected to be a massive religious and medical complex in
47:13
God's name. She had a very unique take on
47:15
religion based on the revelations that she was given.
47:19
On top of the 10 commandments, she had her own list of evils
47:22
she called the Seven heresies #1 is pentecostalism #2 as a few of
47:27
them lumped together, so #2 is homosexuality, lesbianism, and
47:32
abortion. OK.
47:33
Those are all #2 OK #3 is promiscuity #4 is communism #5
47:40
organized crime 6 the satanic movement and #7 hypocrisy, duh.
47:47
Wow, obviously hypocrisy. Wow.
47:51
She sounds like a terrible time and she was a terrible planner.
47:57
She bought this massive property on a hill where there's only A2
48:01
lane highway to get to the top and to the bottom of a
48:04
treacherous Cliff side property. She bought this property
48:09
anticipating it to be a place where she can hold massive
48:12
religious events. However, that was not the case.
48:15
She tried to raise $1.5 billion to help build this compound and
48:22
get the necessary approvals from local government agencies.
48:25
It was a massive flop, the Champion newspaper wrote.
48:29
Quote San Bernardino County denied plans in 1976 to build a
48:32
massive quote City of God with a basilica, a hospital, grottos, a
48:38
monastery, convent, Pilgrim village.
48:40
And residences, her home, her a whole.
48:43
Little city everything. Yes.
48:45
She wanted to call it City of God.
48:46
Yeah. All they managed to build was a
48:48
security gate closing the perimeters, a house, a Chapel
48:53
and some religious monuments kind of sprinkled around the
48:56
property. OK.
48:58
I feel like I've seen that. When you go up and you see that
49:00
little white shack, that's the security entrance.
49:04
And then? Right next.
49:06
To side like a bunch of little like religious.
49:08
Figures. I have not seen the religious
49:09
figures. Am I just making that up right
49:11
now? You might probably.
49:12
Because it's the entrance, you have to drive real high.
49:15
OK, probably not that it's right before you get to any of the
49:19
neighborhoods if you're going up the Brea side, OK, Like as soon
49:23
as you pass that front gate, you see the entire neighborhood.
49:26
And it's also right before you see what's his name?
49:30
Bonesy. Little the little, the little
49:32
the little. Skeleton.
49:33
Yeah, he has his own lore. I didn't get into it this time
49:35
because, guys, I wrote a lot. That's cool.
49:38
We're still going strong and it's almost an hour, but I'm
49:40
almost done now. It just kind of exists there in
49:43
LA. Times article from 1990 talked
49:45
about a wildfire that burned down a section of the property,
49:48
but it didn't end up impacting any of the buildings it.
49:50
Was it impacted half the gate? And that's it.
49:54
That's most of the buildings. At the time, Francis was 69
49:59
years old and even back then, mystery surrounded the lot.
50:03
Hardly anyone was seen coming and going.
50:05
There was round the clock security at the front entrance.
50:08
A reporter tried to visit the property but was turned away.
50:12
Too many people had tried to break in, so no outside visitors
50:15
were allowed. Weird.
50:18
When her husband was asked what the Hill of Hope is doing, he
50:20
said, quote, we have a nonprofit charitable corporation and we
50:24
mind our own business. Oh, OK.
50:27
In the same LA Times article, it mentions the Catholic Church as
50:30
a whole has turned Francis and Saint Joseph's Hill away.
50:32
They believe that Francis's personal revelations are false
50:36
and advise Catholics not to financially support the
50:38
compound. Wow, not backed by the religion
50:41
itself. No, the Pope allegedly said.
50:43
We want nothing to do with that, Yeah.
50:46
Frances passed away in 2009, and she claims to have been
50:50
experiencing revelations up until her death, all of them
50:53
having been recorded and stored at the hill.
50:55
They would have been put into books, and they are kept at a
50:57
library there. The property is up for sale, and
51:01
her descendants still reside and attend the hill.
51:03
From time to time, the family has tried to demystify and
51:06
dispel rumors. In October of last year,
51:09
descendants of Francis held an info session with the Chino
51:12
Hills Historical Society. There, Francis's daughter
51:15
Roberta and her husband talked about Francis revelations and
51:18
the history of the organization. David Allen, a writer for the
51:22
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, was in attendance.
51:25
They ended up holding AQ and a session for anyone that was
51:28
curious. Someone asked why is there
51:30
security? They said it's a fire prone
51:33
private property. Someone said is there a
51:36
broadcast tower? No.
51:38
I heard there were exorcisms, no?
51:42
Just deny, deny, deny. Nope.
51:44
The article did say if maybe they weren't there, people would
51:48
have been more open to asking questions.
51:50
But still, the author was like, let me, I need to get to the
51:54
root of this. So he went and introduced
51:55
himself to Roberta, her husband, and he ended up securing an
51:58
invitation to visit Saint Joseph's Hill of Hope a couple
52:01
months later. OK, OK.
52:04
They tried to demystify. Yeah, they let very select few
52:08
people up there. Demystify the green mist.
52:10
Talk Connected. It goes straight to the top of
52:15
Carbon Canyon. He said that they held a service
52:18
in as a memorial for Francis, which wasn't too different from
52:21
traditional Catholic churches. However, they did include some
52:24
portion of her revelations there.
52:26
He also met other churchgoers who had been members for
52:28
decades. Wow.
52:30
One man swore to have been there to witness many of the
52:32
revelations in person, The story goes, she would like get into a
52:36
trance. She would throw her head back
52:39
and speak as though a spirit possessed her body.
52:42
She'd recite monologues as if God or Joseph or some other
52:46
entity was using her as a vessel.
52:48
When she was reciting these, there would be no brakes, no
52:51
interruptions. She wouldn't even trip on her.
52:54
Words, sounds, rehearsed. Imagine she had them pre
52:58
written. She practiced her monologues in
53:00
the mirror. Yep.
53:01
She was also a thespian. So is it a cult?
53:05
According to Britannica, a cult is usually a small group devoted
53:09
to a person, idea, or a philosophy.
53:11
In recent years, the word cult has been most commonly used as a
53:14
term for a religious group that falls outside the mainstream
53:18
and, by implication, engages in questionable activities.
53:21
Is Saint Joseph's Hill of hope a cult?
53:25
I mean, it's an offshoot of Catholicism.
53:27
At what point does a religious group constitute a cult?
53:31
In my digging, I didn't find any questionable practices going on
53:33
at the Hill. It's mostly the secrecy and the
53:36
security that kind of makes people a little weary.
53:38
Yeah, but at the end of the day, to each their own.
53:42
To each their own. It's.
53:43
My property, I own it. Why are people trying to come
53:46
in? Maybe Colt is a stretch.
53:49
Their numbers have dwindled. Not many people are seen coming
53:51
and going. I couldn't find a census listing
53:54
how many people live on the property currently, so I'm going
53:57
to say it's not a Colt, but I could easily be convinced
54:01
otherwise. I know I mentioned murder at the
54:04
start of this and I dropped one little mini true crime Yeah
54:09
story at the beginning, but I have fortunately have gone on
54:13
for far too long. Are you sure the listeners
54:16
really want to? I don't have anything written.
54:18
Oh God, I got it. Yeah.
54:19
There is a crazy story about an orchestrated hit of a strip club
54:24
entrepreneur, but that might have to be a future episode.
54:27
OK, OK. But that was it.
54:29
I was haunted by the paranormal events and cults of Carbon
54:34
Canyon. You had your very own MMC today.
54:40
Mist Mysteries. And cults, Oh my God I love an
54:44
MMC murder mystery and cults. That's amazing, friend.
54:48
That's all. There's so many things and just
54:50
and to think that it's so close to us.
54:51
I know it's a drive away. Sorry, and it's a backtrack
54:54
really quick too. Like you said, one of the people
54:57
that she would be possessed by or communicated to by was Saint
55:02
Joseph. Who doesn't wear, who doesn't he
55:04
wear like a green like overall thingy?
55:08
They'll connect green, green mix.
55:11
What happens when it rains? The plants turn green.
55:14
Ohio What happens in the fall? What the leaves fall so it's no
55:20
longer green anymore, It's more like brown, like grey and stuff.
55:25
But then what happens in the spring?
55:26
It turns green green. You also just mentioned you know
55:31
how the the leaves fall off the tree.
55:33
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The head fell off of the
55:35
Headless Horseman. Sleepy Hollow I talk connected
55:38
conspiracy theory this made. Me want to go driving up there
55:42
like once it's a little like cooler.
55:44
Yes, I was gonna. Say really, driving up in the
55:47
summer freaking sucks, dude, it's hot.
55:49
Doing that in your 04 Honda? Oh no, it's terrible, dude.
55:53
Terrible. I can't imagine I've I've driven
55:55
a couple times, mostly to go see you guys when you guys live
55:58
though. Yeah, when there's traffic on
56:00
the freeway. Yep, Yep, and it takes you to
56:01
Carbon Canyon. Pretty creepy since I've gone.
56:05
Pretty creepy, a little isolated that it.
56:07
I think it's just worse because it's a 2 lane highway or two
56:09
lane Rd. We'll drive up there and then
56:12
I'll point out everything, anything to you.
56:13
I'll be like, this is the place where the stripper entrepreneur
56:16
was murdered because it's right off the entrance.
56:19
Whoa. Not the entrance, it's right off
56:21
the street. Oh, OK, OK.
56:22
Like it's like right there. If you've ever see driven by and
56:25
you're like, is that a road? And you see like a brown iron
56:29
fence that's like all rusted and has, I think, a horse on it.
56:32
That's that's where it happened. Wow, that's cool friend, thank
56:37
you for sharing. Yes, I'm sorry if I yapped a
56:39
really long time. I should have given you more
56:40
space. You were the one who was gone
56:42
last week. No, that was awesome.
56:44
But I was so invested this week. If you're a local, go check it
56:49
out. Take a drive.
56:50
Hey, let's let's do Amigos afraid meet up.
56:54
And Carbon Canyon, but everyone stay in your.
56:55
Cars everyone stay in your cars and look out for green toxic
56:59
mist. I did post on my story today a
57:03
little like question box saying if anyone who grew up in Chino
57:08
has any scary stories to please let me know.
57:11
And I did get a response from Liz that says I've gotten stuck
57:15
behind a garbage truck on my way to class.
57:18
That sucks. No, that's, that's terrifying
57:25
that I would never want to do that.
57:28
There's like always debris that falls back and stuff and then
57:30
you can't keep your AC on. No, dude, that's nightmare fuel
57:33
right there. Damn, Liz, that's terrifying.
57:36
Thank you for sharing. Nothing scarier.
57:38
Nope. Nope.
57:40
Well, thank you guys for listening.
57:41
Do you have a song recommendation?
57:43
I do so 2 days from now, Orville Peck is releasing his new album
57:48
Mule, so I'm going to be recommending Orville Peck's Too
57:51
Little too Late. I have been seeing him all over
57:56
my feeds because I saw you posted for Playgirl.
57:58
He didn't and he looked snatched.
58:01
I'm still on my Rebecca Black kick so I'm going to recommend
58:05
what I think is the Best Song on the album.
58:07
It's called Corset tree, good listen.
58:10
It's really good. Corset tree Too little too late.
58:14
OK Oh my God, the. Ghost my phone started playing.
58:19
I want to hear that. Play it now.
58:22
We hope you enjoyed scaling Mount Everest, driving carbon
58:27
Canyon and, and, and driving through carbon canyons.
58:30
Toxic green mist, Yeah. Breathing in the fumes, looking
58:33
at the cults potential. Cults Potential alleged alleged
58:37
a Catholic religious group, an offshoot of Catholicism.
58:42
And murder locations. Yeah, that I will tell you
58:45
another day in the future, who knows when, but maybe.
58:49
Thank you for listening. As we said, if you want to
58:52
secure a spot for next week, make sure you like and you
58:55
follow and you send a friend in. And if you have a story, please
59:00
check out the website amigosafraid.com.
59:03
Put in your story so we can share.
59:04
We'll shout you out. It was fun having you here.
59:08
Don't forget to take the snacks. We're not going to take those
59:09
home with us, so please take everything you can.
59:12
Take the waters. Everything.
59:14
Leave the Bibles. Leave them under your chair.
59:16
They were not you. Won't leave the golden tickets.
59:19
Leave the golden tickets. Brian will collect and ensure
59:22
you wrote your name down. He will be passing out the
59:25
smooches next episode. Yes, Where's huge anus?
59:29
Huge anus Hugh. Who's Hugh Anus?
59:33
Hugh. Hugh to the front and you guys
59:35
were saying bye. Great Thursday, Bye.