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| On Wednesday January 29th, 2003 the KWPRS packed up and headed off for the haunted woods of Ancasters very own paranormal hot spot...The Hermitage. So what do you do on a Wednesday night with nothing to do? Well if your the KWPRS you grab your gear and head off to Ancaster for some good old fashion Ghost Hunting! What did you expect we'd be doing...clubbing? Were ghost hunters...not bar flies! Yep your right, this week your favorite girls of ghost headed off for the old ruins of the hermitage to do some serious ghost hunting damage. So here without a due is your brand spanking new KWPRS ghost hunt...ah, what we dont do for you guys. |
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| The Destination: The Hermitage. The Music: The Lost Highway and Great Expectations soundtracks. Estimated time of trip to Ancaster: 45 min. Actual GGB time of trip to Ancaster: 3 and a half hours...yes its true, what should have been a 45 minute excursion turned into the never ending road trip to Hamilton...hey you try sitting in a car for 3 hours stuck between Corrie and Jen...Its not fun! So we hit the road at 5pm for our destination of Ancaster, hoping to arrive at around 6pm with some daylight to spare..boy were we wrong. Our trip started as they usually do, with a good old sing along while speeding down the highway. The customary ghost hunting food, and in most cases one of us will spot a fellow motorist driving while picking there nose, which instigates a KWPRS member to pull out the trusty video camera to capture the momentous occasion on film. At this time the nose picker will usually spot us, brandish a finger and speed off shamefully...ah common, like you've never wanted to do it! |
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| Once arriving in Ancaster at 6pm, we searched for a McDonalds hoping to ask one of the locals for exact directions to The Hermitage. You'd think that the phrase "searching for a McDonalds" might sound a bit crazy, considering the fact that there is usually one on every corner. But not in Ancaster, apparently there, they like to hide theirs. Once we finally spotted the big golden arches we followed the sign up to a closed building. Baffled we drove around the parking lot again, there was no Mickey D's to be found. But that's when we spotted it, perched a top the closed building was what appeared to be a McDonalds, just sitting there on the roof. Now you'd think that 5 people might be able to figure out why a McDonalds might be situated on top of an empty building...well not us. For what must have been 15 minuets, we stood in the empty parking lot starring dumbfounded up at the fast food place, wondering how in the hell we were gonna get up there. Until someone proposed that maybe we should drive around to the back of the building, and sure enough there it was. Once we made it inside, we asked one of the Ancasterians for directions to the hermitage and sure enough they sent us off in the wrong direction. So after half an hour of driving the wrong way we retraced our steps and were finally on the right path. |
| Once finally making it to Sulfer Springs Road, we descended down the familiar route, which twists and turns until reaching a crossroad. This road is incased on eighter side by a large dense forest, as you travel further and further down the road, it becomes much darker do to the fact that there are not streetlights. We parked the car on what seemed to be a deep part of the shoulder and got out to inspect the map. The woods all around us were incredibly dark, the sound of the wind in the trees was enough to make you want to run in the opposite direction. There was a strong sensation that the 5 of us were not alone, as the distant sound of a man howling in pain rang through the forest. This alone sent us into frenzy as we piled back into the car, tapped of all courage we once had. And that's when we realized it...we were stuck! |
| We tried everything but the newly fallen snow had concealed the depth of the divot, and it became apparent that the only way for us to become dislodged was to get out and push. So very slowly we exited the car and again became exposed to the haunted woods. We pushed and pushed and for 15 minuets it seamed that we were never getting out of the snow. As we pushed we began to hear the haunting sound of a weeping man being carried through the woods on the wind, which almost brought myslef to tears. As we freed the car from the ditch, the headlights revealed that what we have first thought was a divot was actually a hidden passageway into the very woods we were trying to find an entry to. We slowly pulled the car up onto the tiny hidden road and drove forward, disappearing into the forest altogether. |
| The Journey through the wood was very quiet, and as we came to a large clearing, peering through the darkness was the site of an enormous ruined mansion looming down on us. The site was enough to give you nightmares for a week, abandoned ruined home stranded in the middle of a haunted forest, and to add to that the car again became lodged in the snow. As we exited the car the familiar sensation of being surrounded was again upon us, but this time on a much stronger level. As we neared the ruined mansion it was apparent that each person's senses became sharpened. I began to dart my eyes in the direction of the slightest movement or sound...and the sound was all around us. |
| It felt as thought the woods around us were breathing with life, as we investigated the front of the ruins. I couldn't stop my eyes from continually watching the woods, expecting something to stare back at me. The windows and doors were covered with thick bars, which were bent in places. And as you ventured to the back of the ruins you realized that they were completely gone. All that was left, were pieces of the old foundation, which extended back into the woods. Tree branches were breaking, the sounds of wispers and breathing could be herd form the forest all around us. As we took pictures and recorded audio the wind began to pick up and blow gusts of snow around all the while, the thick stones of the Hermitage stared menacingly down on us in the cold. |
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| After collecting all the paranormal data we needed, we packed the gear back into the car and stopped one last time to take in the Grandeur that is The Hermitage. As the wind blew arounds us we stood silently in the snow shadowed by the enoumous home. We felt the spirits of The Hermitage watching us as we walked slowly back to the car and headed down the hidden road. Knowing all the while that we were not alnone in the woods that night, that the spirits that ate, danced, lived and loved at the Hermitage were still there keeping watch over the home that they knew and loved in life. |
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