The Dark Watchers
Description: Dark human-like figures draped in capes and wearing a large hats. Thought to be 7 feet to 15 feet tall. Often seen with a large walking stick. They tend to disappear when approached.
Location/Range: Avila Beach and clifftops throughout Big Sur and the Santa Lucia Mountains in central California.
Sightings: Spanish Settlers in the 1700s wrote descriptions of "Los Vigilantes Oscuros" which translates to the Dark Watchers. There have been periodic sightings ever since.
Fun Fact: John Steinbeck wrote about The Dark Watchers in his 1938 collection of short stories The Long Valley.
"Pepé looked suspiciously back every minute or so, and his eyes sought the tops of the ridges ahead. Once, on a white barren spur, he saw a black figure for a moment; but he looked quickly away, for it was one of the dark watchers. No one knew who the watchers were, nor where they lived, but it was better to ignore them and never to show interest in them. They did not bother one who stayed on the trail and minded his own business."
-Exerpt from John Steinbeck's Flight, included in the 1938 collection of his short stories The Long Valley.