Hell's Bridge

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Details from my most recent ghost hunt... Grand Rapids Paranormal Investigation (G.R.P.I.) Location: Hell's Bridge, Algoma Township, Michigan Date: July 24th, 2009 Approx. Time: 5:45 P.M. - 10:15 P.M. (4 and 1/2 hours) Attending Members: Jen and Megan Equipment: 2 camcorders, 2 digital voice recorders, 2 digital cameras, 2 flashlights Trigger Objects: 1 penny found at the scene Summary of Events: Megan and I arrived at the dirt turnaround and parked. We immediately saw the path leading to the bridge and followed it on foot. There was a lot of mud, so we had to step around it the best we could. After walking about 200 ft., we spotted the bridge. It was quite easy to find. We loaded on the Cutter and prepared to combat mosquitoes. We got out our gear and started questioning the spirits. (We resorted to some taunting a la Zak from Ghost Adventures.) We noted the style of the bridge - a simple iron walkway placed over the river. Not sure when exactly it dates back to, but it is rusty and unstable. Due to erosion of the soil on the far bank, the foundation has been exposed to the elements and is wearing down. The bridge is wobbly and tilts at a noticeable angle toward the far side. There was no activity to speak of until sunset. I captured one questionable image on my digital camera of what appeared to be a face and upper torso in the water. After that, things started to get interesting. Megan and I moved from the far side of the bridge back over to the side with the big tree (the tree which, if you believe the story of Elias Friske, is the likely candidate for the tree to which Friske's child victims were bound and killed). We gradually felt uneasy on the far side. Once near the tree, we sat down. Megan turned on her digital voice recorder and put it on the bridge; it was about a foot away from her. We talked quietly but still felt really uneasy. I asked several more questions. Megan noticed a rather gross smell suddenly come up from the water. It smelled like sewage. This lasted for a few minutes. I thought I heard people coming down the path toward the bridge. Assuming they were coming out to investigate the bridge, we waited, but nobody came. Megan got a blast of coldness that wrapped itself around her back. (Her back was toward the tree; I was facing her with my back toward the trail.) I got a cold chill as well. My whole body started to tense up, and my head felt heavier than usual. It was a headache like none other. We eventually started to feel so awkward and unwelcome that we packed up and high-tailed it down the trail, sacrificing our shoes to mud in the dark. Neither of us felt like turning around. It felt like we were being followed. We spotted the car and hurriedly drove off down the dirt road, thankful to be out of the woods. We returned home and listened to the digital voice recorders with Matt. Matt suggested we plug them into a set of speakers so we could hear extremely well. The recordings taken in the daytime held nothing of significance, but the ones taken when Megan placed the recorder on the bridge at night were bizarre. Our voices were barely audible in the background, though we were a foot away. The first EVP we picked up was that of a little girl saying "this is mine" in a sing-songy voice. We also picked up singing, humming, a man's voice, and two really freaky instances where growling could be heard. There were no animals growling in the woods near us. After we had arrived home, I had noticed three distinct bruises on my right forearm. They were fresh, and I had no way to explain them. I had not grabbed myself hard enough to make these bruises appear, nor, if I had, would they have appeared in this pattern. They look like someone grabbed me from behind with their three middle-most fingers extended in a typical gripping position. I had Matt test his grip out on me, and it was a close match -- but he had not grabbed me, nobody had, during the day. I also discovered a larger bruise on my lower arm. None of these bruises were there before we went to the bridge. I had been wearing a tank top and would've noticed earlier in the day, and I had a hoodie on while in the woods. When I took the hoodie off at home is when I noticed the bruises. Today, Megan and I separately went through our photos. I found several things of interest on mine, including the face. There was another, less human-looking face in another picture, and what appeared to be a female figure in the woods. (Pictures are available on Facebook. Message me for the link to the G.R.P.I. Facebook group.) Outing Deemed: Successful... yet terrifying. Next Outing: Undetermined.