Many people got here and went to the old Sierra Sky Ranch within the Sierra Nevada Mountains. From the tragic death of a farm employee to the victims of terminal tuberculosis patients, some guests have never checked out at this historic hotel.
Sierra Sky Ranch has witnessed the ebb and flow of time ten miles from the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park since its founding in 1875 and the unique ranch in 1900.
What began as a modest cattle ranch within the Sierra Nevada Mountains became the most important in the realm before transforming right into a sanitarium for those affected by the scourge of tuberculosis within the Thirties and Forties.
The halls of Sierra Sky Ranch echoed with the footsteps of kids, innocent souls scuffling with an inexorable disease. From the time of the sanatorium, it accommodated terminally in poor health patients until World War II, when it became a middle for helping survivors.
Over the years, the ranch expanded its healing influence to World War II veterans before morphing into the 29-room hotel it’s today – a hotel that not only provides shelter for the living, but in addition harbors the ghosts of the past.
Most often, guests notice that a ghost could also be haunting a room resulting from the smell of perfume when nobody is there, a piano that starts playing by itself, and mysterious cloud-like creatures that enter the room. Strange silhouettes also appear, leading guests and staff to imagine that the hotel is haunted by no less than five different ghosts.
The ghost of Elmer's farm hand
The first and probably oldest ghost to haunt the Sierra Sky Ranch Hotel is believed to be Elmer, who was the unique owner of the ranch when it opened.
It is alleged that old Elmer spent a lot time alone that he took to drinking and ended his life by hanging himself from a tree in the back of the estate. Why he did what he did, nobody knows, some say his house was sold and he had nowhere to go.
Another version of the story is that while chopping wood, his ax slipped and severed the important artery in his legs. He screamed for help, but nobody heard him, so he bled to death.
Many say they’ll still hear his shoes walking within the halls and feel a certain presence after they drink on the bar at Sierra Sky Ranch.
The ghost of Nurse Sarah
Another ghost said to haunt the ranch dates back to when Sierra Sky Ranch was used as a sanitarium. Sarah was supposedly a nurse caring for terminal patients and was said to be kind and calm, even in the best way she haunts the place.
It is that this spirit that individuals most frequently write about within the red guest book, where they record all of the strange and spooky encounters that guests have on the Sierra Sky Ranch.
Ghosts of sick children
Sierra Sky Ranch isn’t any stranger to whispers of the supernatural, and reports of spectral activity paint an eerie portrait of its haunted heritage. At the center of those ethereal stories are the “ghost children”, the spirits of a bygone era who still frolic and play on the hotel grounds. Guests and staff alike report the unmistakable sounds of giggling and whispering echoing through the halls.
It is alleged that the pair of ghosts were siblings in life and haunt them together within the afterlife. They are said to be mischievous children who play and move objects as they might be heard laughing and running around.
Guests complain concerning the sounds of kids after they will not be around, or get up to seek out two eerie little figures at the tip of their beds. Staff find locked doors open and items throughout the hotel missing.
An evening on the haunted Sierra Sky Ranch
In the quiet corners and dimly lit corridors of Sierra Sky Ranch, the past reasserts its presence as talk of ghosts grows. A World War II soldier in a library, ghosts from Hollywood's heyday as a luxury resort in suits for honeymooners.
As guests wander through lands of the living and ghosts, the haunted history of this Yosemite paradise continues to unfold – a testament to the enduring legacy of those that once sought refuge inside its partitions.
Bibliography:
Image Source: Pixabay.com
