Tag Archives: camping

The Skinwalkers of Colorado Deserts

Text:

“Just tell me everything you know about skin walkers.”

Interviewee: “I have friends who would go camping a lot in the desert in, like, places around Telluride, and were genuinely scared of them. Some people, like some, are not friends, but people I knew would cuss you out if you said the word “skinwalk” and be like, why are you saying that?”

“Just saying it summons them?”

Interviewee: “Yeah. And they’re supposedly, like, some sort of mythical creature that’s in the wilderness and, like, this area.”

“The deserts of Telluride?”

Interviewee: “No, if you drive like 2 hours outside Telluride (a town in Colorado) you’d be in a desert.”

“And that’s Colorado?”

Interviewee: “Yeah.”

“And they are only in deserts?”

Interviewee: “Just like campgrounds, I feel like.”

“What do they look like?”

Interviewee: “They’re, like, very tall. They live on ranches. They’re like shape-shifting, witches, and they can transform into wolves and coyotes. Like people say they see them in the form of like a coyote, like they’ll be driving a car and they’ll be something, and then they’ll be driving a car in pitch black and they’ll see something running next to their car and it’ll slowly morph into something else. It’ll morph in and out to all fours, like a wolf or something. The skinwalker will then follow the car.”

“Do you have any specific stories that your friends have said?”

Interviewee: “No.”

“Have you ever been scared of them while camping?”

Interviewee: “No.”

“Have your parents?”

Interviewee: “Not to my knowledge.”

“So, if you say their name, does it summon them?”

Interviewee: “I’m not sure.”

“Why can’t you speak it?”

Interviewee: “I think maybe, like, people don’t like to just hear about them because they believe in them, and if you speak their name, it reminds them of the concept.”

“So did kids at your high school believe in them?”

Interviewee: “Yes. But it’s more like adults believe in it.”

“Really?”

Interviewee: “Yeah, like, *insert friend’s name*, you might have met. He’s scared of them.”

“Really? Does he go camping a lot?”

Interviewee: “Yeah. He thinks that they’re gonna try to kill him and eat him.”

Context:

The informant grew up and lives in Colorado. He is familiar with camping in the area, as he would camp with his father and brother a lot growing up.

The interviewee recounts what he and his friends have heard about skinwalkers in desert and campground areas in Colorado. The story reflects a mix of local beliefs, especially among adults and camping communities.

Analysis:

This is an example of a legend in belief-based folklore. Skinwalkers are described as shape-shifting witches that can take the form of wolves, coyotes, or humans, and are associated with fear and danger. The taboo against speaking their name reflects a magic superstition, where naming a supernatural being is believed to summon or draw attention from it.

The legend regulates behavior in wilderness areas, keeping people alert, cautious, and respectful of the land. While high school students might treat it as a scary story, adults and frequent campers treat the skinwalker as a serious potential threat. The legend blends supernatural fear with practical warnings about the wilderness, creating a shared cultural narrative within the community.

The Legend of Elmer (Pinecrest Lake)

Age: 38
Hometown: Menlo Park, CA
Location: Pinecrest, CA

Context:
Since the 1930s there has been a tradition to call out the name “Elmer” in the Pinecrest Lake/Camping ground. The real identity is debated with some thinking Elmer is a lost child, hiker, or even a bear. Although there is no confirmed missing persons case of someone named Elmer, the tradition continues through generations just like it has with my mom and our family.

Content:
Interviewer: “Can you tell me about the legend of Elmer you taught me when we went camping?”

Interviewee: “When we were kids my Dad used to take me and our family to Pinecrest, CA and there was legend of a lost boy from about 100 years ago. Every evening we would all shout out “Elmer!” And other campers from farther away would chime in, which made it such a fun tradition.

I always looked forward to doing it as a kid, which is why I continued the tradition with you.”

Analysis:
This example is a place-based legend that is sustained through participation in the tradition. The story of Elmer reflects characteristics of a legend because it is potentially true but doesn’t have any confirmed evidence. Its tie to a specific location also allows the story to gain meaning and the act of calling out the name transforms the story into a performance. This performance has created a sense of community among campers and residents of the area helping to pass down the tradition and legend through generations.

“GPS and Cemetery are a bad combo.”

Nationality: Taiwan
Age: 50
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Taiwan
Performance Date: 4/1/2023
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Context:
Informant is a 50 year-old Taiwanese woman and this is her memorate happened on a camping trip. The interview was conducted through a facetime call.

Text:
Informant: It was during summer a couple years ago. I took the kids on a camping trip about an hour away from the city. One of my sister’s kids said that she had something earlier that day and asked us to pick her up at a nearby train station. We arrived at the site in the afternoon and by the time I was supposed to pick her up, it was pitch black outside. There was a cemetery on the side of the road at about halfway between the train station and the camping site. I remembered it because we saw that earlier when we were heading to the site. I remembered setting the GPS map to the train station and I took a quick glance at where the route would be, nothing unusual, just one big straight road that leads to the town where the station is. I started driving and as I was approaching where the cemetery is located, the map start asking me to turn right. There is one small muddy road cutting through the cemetery and the GPS kept asking me to go through there, but it makes no sense at all because the station should be straight ahead down the big road. The closer I got to the intersection, the more I felt weird about the entire situation. The street lights were flickering and glowing in a strange tone and I just felt this uncanny feeling that the something is trying to pull me into the cemetery, down that road. I didn’t dare to look through the passenger window because I was convinced that I might see things that I shouldn’t see. As I drove past and away from the intersection that I was asked to turn by the GPS, the street lights seemed to go back to the normal, dimmed, warm-yellow tone and the strange feeling went away. Anyways, that is why you should always have a basic sense of where you are going and don’t fully rely on GPS. God knows what would have happened if I had just followed the GPS.

Analysis:
The memorate demonstrates the common Taiwanese belief of the existence of ghosts. Cemetery are usually seen as a cursed or bad place where the wandering spirits or hostile ghosts will try to haunt or harm someone, either out of fun or malicious intention. In Taiwan, you often heard that GPS or other technologies involving energy wave passing through air and space often malfunction when the device is near the cemetery. The scientific explanation of this is still unclear. This type of experience therefore was explained way by the common belief of ghost.

The Elmer Call

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Nationality: American
Age: 68
Occupation: Computer Consultant
Residence: Healdsburg, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2021
Primary Language: English

Background:

Every summer during my informant’s childhood she went camping in Yosemite. Among the many other camping traditions that people may hold, it always seemed to her that everyone who regularly attended Yosemite was in on this piece of lore. While she didn’t understand why people did it at first, she eventually learned the story from her parents. Now, she enjoys the idea of the tradition because it reminds her of her childhood.

Context:

While this call-and-response is usually only performed and passed between campers in Yosemite Valley, I was lucky enough to have my informant share it with me during an interview that was being conducted to collect folklore.

Main Piece:

“Some years ago a kid named Elmer was lost in the woods. Every summer from then on someone would shout “ELLLLLMEERRRRR” and every camp through the whole valley would echo the name back.”

Analysis:

Whether or not Elmer ever really existed, I was able to find out by looking further that people have reported hearing his name throughout the valley since the 1930s! Moreover, there was even a children’s book published that describes the phenomenon. This shows that although the tradition remains folklore in Yosemite, its influence has been expanded to the realm of authored literature as well. While some tradition-bearers prefer to act as gatekeepers of their knowledge, I personally believe that the publication of this piece of folklore has been positive. Allowing it to be shared with children who may never get to camp in that region is a very kind thing to do, and it may eventually lead to the tradition being spread and practiced in other areas as well.

For another account of this phenomenon, see:

Yosemite Ranger Notes. “Yosemite Valley: A Land of Beauty, Peace, Sanctity, and ‘ELMER!’ – Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service).” National Park Service, 29 Sept. 2014, www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/yosemite-valley-a-land-of-beauty-peace-sanctity-and-elmer.htm.

White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 7
Primary Language: English

“White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit” is an expression used when people are sitting around a campfire. It is used to get the smoke out of one’s face and by repeating these words, the smoke will change direction. The concept is that the smoke is made up of hundreds of minuscule white rabbits. They only go in your face because they don’t feel appreciated and want attention. By saying white rabbit three times, you acknowledge their presence and therefore, will leave you alone.

The informant learned this folk expression through Boy Scouts. It is exactly the type of silly thing that would be made up by kids. The informant heard it from an older scout while away at camp. They still practice it to this day because it shows a fun, non-serious side.

It seems to me that it is a childish solution presented for a childish problem. Many kids enjoy camping or at least are forced to participate in it. Kids are very focused on the moment, so something like smoke in their face would upset them greatly. This “solution” turns this problem into a fun game that holds, in theory, real-world significance.