Hiker discovers mystery car buried in snow on California mountain with note on dashboard
- A hiker came across a car on snowy Mount Shasta, California, USA
- It sparked a long-term mystery nobody can get to the bottom of
- There have been multiple theories, however
Published on Aug 20, 2024 at 7:48 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Aug 21, 2024 at 6:57 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
In 2017, an experienced hiker stumbled across a car in the snow of Mount Shasta, northern California, USA – sparking a long-term mystery nobody can get to the bottom of.
Alarm bells immediately started ringing due to the freezing conditions.
However, there were no reports of a missing person – and nobody knows what happened to the driver.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
The mystery car
Steve Lewis was scaling the mountain with a friend – and had been visiting the Shasta-Trinity National Forest for 25 years.
In a remote area at just under 1,900 meters (6,000 feet) elevation, accessible only by logging roads, the car was completely cut off.
They weren’t too happy when they saw the car partially buried in ice and snow.
“We freaked,” Lewis told The Weather Channel.
“We could have sworn there was going to be a dead body in there.”
Thankfully, a peek through the window revealed only trash.
Nearly 20 feet of snow fell on Mount Shasta’s summit in 2019.
“My main concern was not only the car but who was in it – did the guy make it out alive?” Lewis asked himself.
However, it’s a question that nobody knows the answer to to this day.
In other mystery news, Supercar Blondie may have solved the mystery of the unknown supercar in 1960s London.
The theories
Lewis remembers hearing that the driver might have stopped at a ranger station en route from the woods.
“I never saw the guy,” Don Lee, visitor information specialist for the national forest, admitted.
Lewis reported finding the abandoned car, but a search for the driver never started.
That’s because for that to happen somebody has to be reported missing.
A Google search of the car’s license plate number returned no results for the 2011 Ford Fusion.
“A nicer vehicle like that, it’s kind of weird,” Lee said.
“We get abandoned vehicles all the time but usually they are junk.”
Lee admits that an insurance company did call shortly after Lewis found the vehicle in an attempt to recover it.
The biggest clue that Lewis had to go off was a note left sitting inside the windshield which read: “Broke down, hiking out (Road) 31. Will reclaim when possible, if not impounded.”
It’s signed with either the initials V-H or U-H.
The weirder theories
As is always the way, mysticism has been put forward as one idea as to the mystery and fate of the driver and any passengers.
Mount Shasta is steeped in mysticism with many believing there’s an ancient lost continent with a capital built of crystals buried below the mountain.
Also, some believe that inhabitants come and go in UFOs, with hidden portals leading to the city beneath the surface.
“The mountain’s a big rock,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of energy off of it. It’s one of those mountains where it’s considered a spiritual mountain like Mount Fuji.
“We have people from all over the world coming here looking for an experience, a mystical experience.”
Elsewhere, explorers discovered hundreds of cars abandoned in this mountain cave.
With an eye still firmly on the vehicle he found all those years ago, Lewis claims that the windshield has since smashed from the weight of the snow.
“Whoever had that car I have no idea why they were over there,” he said.
“People just don’t go over there. There’s no reason to go over there, period. I wouldn’t even drive my 4×4 up there.”
Meanwhile, this Mercedes Benz G-Wagon seen effortlessly climbing a mountain like it’s a mogul
It’s not going to end up in any trouble, is it?
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
