#GhostHunt No. 5 for new book - The Twin Lakes Inn

All this fall and early spring, we're engaged in our latest book project -- haunted hotels in western and mountainous Colorado -- and we're using our blog to share highlights about our visits (and ghost hunts) to each location. For more context and a bit of back story about the project, you can click on the tab just under our blog banner called "New WIP Ghost Hunt Book."


This time, we report on The Twin Lakes Inn on the road toward Independence Pass -- already closed for the season, but that doesn't stop the permanent residents from staying on!

But first a S/O to GM-chief chef Matt Roberts, owners Marji & Doug Nash and Mark Graff, plus bartender Andy Wald. All were on hand during our time there, each making us feel welcome!

The inn has a reputation for guests hearing the invisible footfalls of heavy boots tromping up and down the upstairs hallway, and housekeeping sometimes finds the impressions of hands and fannies on freshly made beds. One previous owner of the inn saw the apparition of a cowboy standing in a doorway. And in the mid-1980s, a former guest we talked to recounted attending a séance in a second-floor room during a Halloween party, where seven people witnessed the apparitions of a man and a woman with a dress printed in pink Polka dots. The other attendees of the séance reported the same experience, right down to the pink dots. Another guest reported seeing a ghost in the upstairs corridor, and still another saw shadowy arms in one of the rooms.

Lady of the Evening "Dora"

Since the inn had already closed for the season, we had the advantage of access to all the rooms. We started in “Dora’s Room." A plaque just outside in the hallway described Dora as “a Lady of the Evening,” intelligent and refined, and who’d plied her trade in that room. Attempting to speak to Dora, we had EMF (Electromagnetic Field) spikes while inviting her to communicate with us through the Spirit Box and during an EVP session. The box produced words of a fashion-conscious demeanor: “gloves” and “hat” – both suggesting important accessories during her era. Conversely, the box also said “resent,” “miss,” and “wreck.” Perhaps implying the loss of her worldly life or events we'll never know? 

Our EVP session in that room also seemed to reveal a recreated moment from the past that included what sounded like a sharp report from a gun followed by a woman shouting, “Help!” We never got a clear sense of whether our interaction involved Dora or some other resident spirit.

Across the hall, we investigated the “Twin Peaks Room,” where our audio recorder repeatedly shut off while trying to conduct an EVP session, and Mark’s Spirit Box also locked up almost as soon as we entered – puzzling, since the two devices worked fine both before and after this room. Kym’s Spirit Box managed only a few words: “listen,” “special,” “fuzzy,” and “sound.” When we later reviewed for EVPs, we did listen but heard no special sounds, and the track was just fuzzy!

Where cowboy apparition appeared

Then we set up in the “Mount Elbert Room,” scene of the cowboy apparition, taking photos and running the camcorder in the doorway where the figure reportedly stood. The Spirit Box gave us “speak,” “thirteen,” and “sacrilege.” And subsequent EVP analysis produced a human voice uttering two syllables, but neither of us could make out the words.

We enjoyed our time there. The inn has a rich history of paranormal activity and deserves further investigation. And the spectacular views make it worth returning for another chance to interact with what inn manager Matt calls the “permanent residents.”

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Next week, we share highlights of our visit to the Hotel Norwood, where we encounter our strongest physical evidence yet of ghostly interactions!  

Don't forget you can follow along during our investigations as we live-tweet from Twitter @writeinthethick. You can check out our Facebook page for updates about dates and times.