Beyond the Beyond: Local Lore – Who, or What, is Penelope?

Beyond the Beyond: Local Lore – Who, or What, is Penelope?

The Sierra Nevada Mountain range is as vast as it is beautiful. It stretches across California and into Northern Nevada, and is dotted with pristine lakes, winding rivers, rugged peaks, and deep valleys. It has been a hub for adventurers and naturalists for centuries. On the west side of these mountains, you will find gold country. Small towns and cities nestled into the foothills. You can visit the giant sequoias at Big Trees National Park or jump frogs at the annual county fair. You can explore mines, taste wine, and maybe even strike it rich panning for gold.

On the east side you will find salt flats, desert valleys, and rocky peaks. Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S., stands at a startling 14, 505 feet. Mammoth Mountain is a popular destination for skiers, hot springs are plentiful, and the Owens River zigzags through the valley, a popular destination for seasoned fisherman. Oh… the east side also has Penelope.

Who is Penelope, you might ask? Perhaps you should rephrase the question: what is Penelope?

The story goes that a husband and wife were traveling down the road, not too far from where I’m writing this now. As their car snaked down a winding road at the edge of a forest during a terrible snowstorm, the husband lost control and the car slid off the side of the road, rolling over several times before finally coming to a fiery stop. The woman, Penelope, was thrown from the wreckage, and when she awoke and looked down, she found her husbands decapitated head half burnt in her lap.

Something broke inside of her then, and she wandered off into the raging storm, covered in blood and screaming.

She survived several days in that storm, living off anything she could and sleeping in a large metal drum she found ripped open in the forest. Whatever that drum had once contained, however, whether toxic waste or nuclear material, seeped into her pours and lungs and changed her irreversibly.

It mutated her into something not human – a grotesque beast with an insatiable hunger. Penelope became a whisper spoken from the lips of campers next to campfires. She became the warning given to children playing too close to the edge of the forest. And when hikers would sometimes disappear and search parties were dispatched, she became the subtle, worried glances that people gave each other as they trudged off in groups to find them.

But these types of stories are everywhere, right? I remember accidentally making a fellow Scout cry on a camping trip by telling “The Hook” story around the campfire. You can find more about that here: https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-hook/

Of course I’ve talked about the Mothman, the Skunk Ape, and even other strange happenings in the Sierra Nevada Mountains like the Sierra Sounds and Lone Pine Devil.

If there isn’t any truth to what are essentially modern-day folk tales, then why do we make them up? Perhaps it’s a way to confront the unknown, to face our fears in a controlled environment. Maybe they somehow reflect our societal beliefs and serve as cultural touchstones. It might be that they create a sense of togetherness of us against the unknown.

Or maybe it’s a way to say to ourselves that we shouldn’t stare too long into the abyss, that wandering into the woods can be dangerous, because sometimes, as the signs used to say… “here be dragons.”

Have you had a strange encounter? Message @beyondthebeyond1 on Instagram.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Sierra Now. Readers are encouraged to conduct further research and consult with relevant experts or professionals before making any decisions or taking any actions based on the information provided in this article.

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TM Rush