Supernatural S01E06
UNFINISHED
Dropping Amanda off at the Mendocino ranch for a bit took the Remington brothers to California for a little while, putting them in the right spot to be asked to help an old friend and National Park Ranger, Jake Johnson.
Jake called up Josh McHale, a bartender cum hunter from Ukiah (he moved from Chico) to come out to Yosemite to help him with a caseIn a flashback it was revealed that he couldn't get involved in because of his work. He promised Jake a stipend and lodging for the case and said that people had gone missing in the park. He also said he'd hook him up with two friends of his to help on the hunt - the Remingtons. Jake promised to meet all three and tell them the skinny on what was going on when they arrived in Yosemite Valley.
The brothers arrived in the 'Cuda, and after checking into a tent cabin in Curry Village, donned ranger outfits they had used in Alaska and went to meet Jake and Josh at the lodge lounge. Josh was shown arriving directly to the lounge in a early '90's Honda that could barely make the trip, an embarrassing car that he parked far away from the entrance so as not to be seen. He did however order the most complicated drink he could think of, the results of which were okay at best.
In the lounge bar, Jake introduced the hunters. It was revealed in a flashback that when the Remingtons had helped him before it involved dealing with a demonically possessed black bear - which made it act more like a grizzly to the brother's Alaskan eyes. Jake explained that several hikers had gone missing in an area of the park that was known equally for dangerous climbs as for mysterious disappearances - Tenaya Canyon. According to him, over the last season, a record number of hikers had gone into the steep sided canyon, and three had gone missing, a pattern that seemed to replicate one from history, with people disappearing in the 30's and 70's as well. This year, one man named Kevin Louis and two women, Jean MacDonald and Annie Tyler, had disappeared with no trace to their bodies from their groups. There are deaths in Yosemite every year, but not disappearances. According to local legends, the canyon was cursed by Chief Tenaya, the last chief of the Ahwahneechee
He suggested the trio talk to Janet Douglas, a ranger at the museum in the valley who would know more about the curse of Tenaya Canyon, and to Rob Cratchet, a ranger who had been there in the 70's when the previous group disappeared.
The next morning, the trio hiked around Mirror Lake to the threshold of Tenaya Canyon. EMF readers revealed some activity, but without climbing gear, they wouldn't be able to proceed, so they went back to do some investigation. The Remingtons posed as newly transfered Park Rangers Hawkings and Sagan (from Alaska, of course) and went to interview Janet Douglas while Josh did research on the internet about the canyon and Chief Tenaya.
Josh learned that Chief Tenaya fought the forced removal of his tribe from the area, including an escape from a reservation in Fresno, and died by a blow to the head (either accidental or intentional) while visiting his mother's tribe. He also learned (to be on the safe side) that Tenaya's body was cremated, as was his family, in the ways of his people.
The brothers stopped Janet as she was locking up for the day but convinced her to let them in to talk a bit about Tenaya. They got the skinny on the curse he laid, which was directed to the commander of the battalion that came to evict him and his people from Yosemite after his son had been killed. Tenaya said he would be in the air, water, and rocks surrounding the commander. It was also noted that other natives had named the Ahwahneechee the "yo-semite," an epithet that means "the killers." According to Janet, the story of the curse adds to the mystique of the Canyon, and showed the brothers on a map some of the features that made it truly dangerous, curse or no curse. She also pointed out that the museum had some artifacts of Chief Tenaya's in the current exhibit - items that hadn't been shown since the '70's - which they should check out in the morning.
The next day, Josh and Marcus went to speak with one of the native Ahwahneechee at the native village next to the museum to follow up on the curse. Scott took a different path and went to talk to Rob Cratchet. Originally Scott was going to go with Josh and Marcus was going to talk to Cratchet, but they fortunately realized that Marcus sucks at talking to people, so Josh did the talking for him. They found a woman weaving a basket at the Ahwahneechee village. In her opinion, Tenaya would have been more likely to have cursed the commander rather than the canyon because, "Why would you lay a curse on your home?" From Rob, Scott learned that the recent disappearances were reminiscent of a trio of deaths in the 1970's in which two girls and a young man also disappeared. Rob remembered a pattern similar to it happening during the 1930's as well. According to him, the deaths always stood out for two reasons: first, usually the bodies of fatalities are found, and second, since there are fewer female climbers in the park - especially back then - and most of the ones who disappeared were the most novice in their groups, but the men who disappeared were the most experienced in theirs. Later investigations online showed all the disappeared climbers to have been caucasian.
The next morning, the EMF readers came out in force: Marcus hiked past Mirror Lake, the entrance to Tenaya Canyon and Josh and Scott checked the museum's current collection of native artifacts for strange EMF spikes. Both searches proved fruitful, though in more ways than one. Scott found huge spikes over Tenaya's personal items: a hunting knife, a leather pouch, and a lock of hair. [[Category: Campaign Logs]